Jones Lang LaSalle says its insurer agreed to defend it, then left it to defend itself.
The facilities management firm sued American Southern Home Insurance Co. on June 15, 2026, in federal court in Alabama, claiming the carrier accepted its defense and then never delivered one. The case lands on a question every claims professional knows by heart: what does "accepting tender under a reservation of rights" really require an insurer to do?
The backstory is grim. JLL handled facilities management at Tuskegee University under a services agreement signed December 18, 2023. According to the complaint, a mass shooting hit the campus on November 10, 2024, during Homecoming, killing one person and injuring others. Lawsuits followed in Macon County Circuit Court, naming JLL alongside the university. JLL says it denies all material allegations, including any suggestion that it handled security or risk management.
The coverage fight turns on an additional-insured clause. American Southern issued a general liability policy to Tuskegee, and JLL says it qualifies as an additional insured because its services agreement required the university to name it as one. The policy extends coverage to "Any person or organization to whom [Tuskegee] is required by written contract, agreement, permit or authorization to provide insurance." That services agreement, the complaint says, required Tuskegee to carry commercial general liability coverage of "not less than $10,000,000 each claim and in the aggregate."
The policy gives the insurer "the right and duty to defend the insured against any 'suit' seeking those damages." That single line is what the case is about.
JLL's version of events is where it gets uncomfortable for the carrier. It says American Southern, through third-party administrator Wright Specialty Insurance, agreed in March 2025 to defend JLL under a reservation of rights, then said the same again in February 2026. Yet JLL claims the insurer "has not actually tendered a defense," "has not paid one penny" toward it, and ignored an August 22, 2025 request to cover defense costs.
Then there's the conflict-of-interest claim. JLL says the insurer assigned Butler Snow LLP to defend it - the same firm already defending Tuskegee, against whom JLL says it may have "competing or conflicting claims." JLL says it raised the conflict in April 2025, heard nothing until February 2026, and that shifting the work from Butler Snow's Birmingham office to its Ridgeland, Mississippi office did not fix it because, JLL says, the conflict applies across the whole firm.
For insurers, the legal backbone is Alabama's "enhanced obligation of good faith," which JLL says kicks in when a carrier defends under a reservation of rights. Citing L & S Roofing Supply Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., the complaint spells out the duty: investigate thoroughly, hire competent counsel who treats the insured as the only client, keep the insured fully informed, and never put the insurer's money ahead of the insured's risk.
JLL brings three counts - declaratory judgment, breach of contract, and bad faith. One of its requests stands out: "an unlimited policy limit," on top of compensatory and punitive damages, interest, and fees.
The lesson for claims teams is in the gap JLL is highlighting. Accepting a tender and reserving rights is not the same as actually defending, and the choice of panel counsel can become its own bad-faith problem when the insured and the named insured are at odds.
These are allegations. American Southern has not yet filed a response, no court has ruled, and the claims have not been tested in court.
