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General Liability

  • April 21, 2025

    Calif. Homeowners Say Insurers Colluded To Limit Coverage

    California property owners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires accused over 300 insurers of conspiring to eliminate competition in the marketplace, forcing consumers to instead obtain fire insurance from the state's insurer of last resort, according to two lawsuits filed in state court.

  • April 21, 2025

    Insurers Clash Over Coverage In Racetrack Injury Suit

    Acuity Insurance LLC wants a Pennsylvania federal court to join two other insurers to its defense of a client accused of designing inadequate safety barriers at a Lancaster County raceway, claiming the other companies had wrongly declined coverage for subsidiaries of the insured.

  • April 18, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Fla. Lodge's Bad Faith Claim Over Shooting

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday reversed a $3.3 million judgment against a Florida lodge over a shooting that resulted in a woman's death, finding in a split ruling a jury should decide the bad faith issue of whether its insurer should've offered to settle based on the premises' liability.

  • April 18, 2025

    No Coverage For $1M Mechanical Bull Injury Suit, Insurer Says

    An insurer said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a party equipment rental company in an underlying suit over injuries a child suffered while riding a mechanical bull at an event, telling a Texas federal court Friday that a mechanical bull exclusion in the company's policy bars coverage.

  • April 18, 2025

    Insurer Says Smoke Shop Not Covered In Nitrous Oxide Suit

    An insurer for a smoke shop told a Florida federal court it owes no coverage for a proposed class action accusing various shops of selling nitrous oxide products for recreational drug use, pointing to an exclusion barring coverage for injury arising out of "psychotropic substances."

  • April 18, 2025

    Ill. Justices To Weigh Scope Of Standard Pollution Exclusions

    The Illinois Supreme Court will consider whether pollution exclusions in standard-form commercial general liability policies apply to industrial emissions allowed under a regulatory permit, the court said Thursday, agreeing to take up a question certified by the Seventh Circuit.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost

    Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.

  • April 17, 2025

    Liberty Mutual Says Other Insurer Owes $500K For Crane Row

    A Liberty Mutual unit said it is owed over $500,000 for defending a contractor in underlying litigation over a crane incident, telling a New York federal court that the contractor qualifies as an additional insured under a subcontractor's commercial general liability policy.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    Auto insurers can't shake feds' "forced coverage" claims, the Suquamish Tribe asks the U.S. Supreme Court not to weigh in on its COVID-19 coverage case, saying its court has jurisdiction, IBM wants coverage for $900 million in environmental expenses and Consumer Watchdog sues California's insurance chief over proposed post-wildfire insurance surcharges.

  • April 17, 2025

    Coach USA Insurer Seeks Coverage Clarification In Ch. 7 Case

    An insurer for bus operator Coach USA Inc. asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to find that it does not owe commercial auto liability coverage for certain claims arising out of Coach's operations that are insured by its captive insurer.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurer Owes No Coverage For Fatal Facade Collapse

    An insurer has no duty to defend a roofing contractor in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that two individuals died from the collapse of a building facade, an Illinois federal court ruled, finding a prior works exclusion applicable.

  • April 17, 2025

    General Aviation Insurance Stays Steady Through Turbulence

    The general aviation and airline insurance industry remains steady despite supply-chain concerns and a rise in accident rates. Here, Philip Stafford, a senior partner in Gallagher's aerospace division, shares his thoughts on the current state of this sector with Âé¶¹´«Ã½360.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Regulators Urged To Address Climate Change Risks

    Insurance regulators must strengthen their understanding of the threats posed by climate change and better consider how those risks will shape the stability of the sector, a group of international regulators said in a report.

  • April 16, 2025

    IBM Sues Insurers Over $900M In Environmental Expenses

    IBM has taken several of its excess commercial general liability insurers to New York federal court, arguing that following IBM's coverage settlements with underlying insurers, they are now on the hook for over $900 million in environmental remediation expenses incurred under policies issued between 1961 and 1970.

  • April 16, 2025

    Texas Oil Cos. Seek Pass-Through Pollution Claims Coverage

    Oil and gas companies told a Texas federal court on Wednesday that their insurer must pay to defend them against pass-through claims in connection with underlying pollution lawsuits thanks to a purchase and sale agreement they entered into with another company.

  • April 16, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Late Settlement Notice Means No Coverage

    A healthcare company was rightfully denied coverage for a settlement over the erroneous approval of a Florida Medicaid recipient's out-of-state treatment, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, finding the company breached its policy when it failed to inform its insurer of the agreement in advance.

  • April 15, 2025

    Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit

    Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act. 

  • April 15, 2025

    Nonprofit's Prior Loss Coverage Limited For Worker Theft

    A nonprofit cannot get more coverage from Auto-Owners Insurance Co. for an employee theft scheme that caused losses totaling roughly $554,000, a Kansas federal court ruled, interpreting the scope of a "prior loss provision" that covered losses occurring before the policy's coverage period.

  • April 14, 2025

    Chubb Units Owe $9M For Sex Abuse Settlement, Court Told

    A former student of a Brooklyn private school said two Chubb units are on the hook for a $9 million settlement he entered into with the school to resolve sexual abuse claims, telling a New York federal court that the insurers unreasonably delayed and refused to settle his claims.

  • April 14, 2025

    Insurers Not Liable For Counterfeit Drug Suit, 6th Circ. Says

    Insurers do not have to cover a Michigan pharmacy accused of selling counterfeit HIV medication, the Sixth Circuit affirmed Monday, finding that policy exclusions prevented the coverage.

  • April 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Says Car Insurance Fee Schedule Not Retroactive

    A Michigan appellate panel said a fee schedule governing benefits auto insurers must pay injured parties does not apply to injuries sustained before the fee schedule became law, determining the state insurance regulator's 2024 memo misinterpreted the rules.

  • April 14, 2025

    1st Circ. Can't Hear Class Suit Coverage Row, Oil Co. Says

    A heating oil company urged the First Circuit to toss an appeal its insurers filed following a ruling that they must continue defending the company and several executives in a class action over alleged damage caused by oil containing elevated levels of biodiesel, saying the court doesn't currently have jurisdiction.

  • April 11, 2025

    Insurers Allowed To End Chemical Explosion Coverage Suit

    Insurers were allowed Friday to dismiss their case in Texas federal court against Team Industrial Services Inc. seeking to disclaim coverage for underlying suits filed against the company in connection with injuries from a 2021 explosion at a chemical plant.

  • April 11, 2025

    7th Circ. Asks For Ill. Justices' Input On Pollution Exclusion

    A Seventh Circuit panel considering whether an insurer for Sterigenics and its former parent company could avoid paying $150 million in legal costs for defending the company from a torrent of pollution suits has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to weigh in on how to apply a pollution exclusion in the relevant policy.

  • April 11, 2025

    2nd Circ. Tosses Mid-Case Appeal In Asbestos Coverage Row

    A Second Circuit panel dismissed on Friday a mid-case appeal in a dispute over coverage for hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits, saying that resolving certified questions, including whether an insurer must defend a suit that doesn't name its policyholder, won't substantially advance the litigation.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways Attorneys Can Emotionally Prepare For Trial

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    In the course of litigation, trial lawyers face a number of scenarios that can incite an emotional response, but formulating a mental game plan in advance of trial can help attorneys stay cool, calm and collected in the moment, says Rachel Lary at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Presidential Campaign Errors Provide Lessons For Trial Attys

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    Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign employed numerous strategies that evidently didn’t land, and trial attorneys should take note, because voters and jurors are both decision-makers who are listening for how one’s case presentation would affect them personally, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 3 Policyholder Lessons From NY Bad Faith Ruling

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    A New York appellate court's recent decision finding that Rockefeller University alleged viable bad faith claims against its insurers reinforces the principle that insurers may not elevate their own economic interests over those of their insureds, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Total loss valuation cases and labor depreciation cases dominated the past quarter of insurance class actions, with courts continuing to reject challenges to condition adjustments in the former, and a pro-insured trend persisting in the latter, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Consider The Impact Of Election Stress On Potential Jurors

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    For at least the next few months, potential jurors may be working through anger and distrust stemming from the presidential election, and trial attorneys will need to assess whether those jurors are able to leave their political concerns at the door, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • NC Ruling Takes Practical Approach To Duty-To-Defend Costs

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    In Murphy-Brown v. Ace American Insurance, a case of first impression, the North Carolina Business Court adopted the commonsense rationale of many state courts in holding that policyholders' defense costs should be deemed presumtively reasonable when a insurer breaches its duty to defend, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling

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    Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • 7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight

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    Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling

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    In Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance, the Hawaii Supreme Court became the first state court to classify greenhouse gasses as pollutants barred from insurance coverage, a ruling likely to be afforded great weight by courts across the country, say Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Group.

  • NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.