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California Insurance Code \\xa7 533 Prohibits Insurance for Wilful Acts of \\nthe Insured\\n\\nAspen Specialty Insurance Company appealed from the district court order\\n dismissing its complaint against Miller Barondess, LLP, and several of \\nits partners (collectively "MB"). Aspen appealed to the Ninth Circuit in\\n Aspen Specialty Insurance Company v. Miller Barondess, LLP Louis R. \\nMiller; James Goldman; Alexander Frid; Jason Tokoro, No. 22-55032, \\nUnited States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (March 15, 2023) who \\ninterpreted California Insurance Code \\xa7 533.\\n\\nDISCUSSION\\n\\nUnder California statutory law, "[a]n insurer is not liable for a loss \\ncaused by the wilful act of the insured." [Cal. Ins. Code \\xa7 533.]\\n\\nSection 533 is considered a statement of the public policy of the state \\nof California. It was enacted to prevent encouragement of wilful torts.\\n\\nSection 533 is a codification of the jurisprudential maxim that no man \\nshall profit from his own wrong. It is an implied exclusionary clause \\nwhich, by statute, must be read into all insurance policies. As a \\nresult, the parties to an insurance policy cannot contract for such \\ncoverage.\\n\\nTHE TRIAL COURT\\n\\n\\nThe district court concluded that \\xa7 533 did not apply because there was \\nno final adjudication that the insureds engaged in malicious \\nprosecution. The California Court of Appeal had concluded that \\xa7 533 \\nprecluded indemnification for an underlying malicious prosecution \\naction, even though the matter had been settled without a final \\nadjudication. California precedent confirmed that courts examine the \\nallegations of the underlying complaint, not whether there has been an \\nadjudication of the allegations, in determining whether \\xa7 533 bars \\ncoverage. Insurance coverage is precluded by Insurance Code \\xa7 533 as a \\nmatter of law.