Specialty Lines
-
March 06, 2025
Fla. Report Draws Serious Accusations Of Insurer Misconduct
A Florida analysis showing that carriers in the state were reporting millions in income losses while affiliated companies were earning billions is helping to reveal a long-standing pattern of insurer misconduct, according to consumer advocates.
-
March 06, 2025
Experts Stress FAIR Tweaks After NM Proposes Fire Insurance
The announcement of a study looking into the creation of a state-sponsored fire insurance program in New Mexico outlined steps the state is taking toward enhancing its insurance market while underscoring the need for changes to the state's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan and mitigation practices, experts say.
-
March 06, 2025
Pricey Privacy Suits Prompt Insurers To Assess Coverage
The Sixth Circuit's ruling earlier this year that an electronic data exclusion in Home Depot's insurance policies barred coverage for a $50 million claim stemming from a 2014 data breach is the latest example of the potential cost of privacy litigation to policyholders — even those who believe they have ample coverage.
-
March 06, 2025
Cobalt Miner Gets OK For Debt-For-Equity Swap Ch. 11 Plan
A Texas bankruptcy judge Thursday approved the reorganization plan of Australia-based cobalt mining and refining group Jervois Mining Ltd., overruling a shareholder objection about the case's speed and U.S. ties.
-
March 06, 2025
Insurers Seek Toss Of Meta's Social Media MDL Coverage Suit
A group of insurers urged a California federal court to either toss or stay Meta's suit seeking to pause all coverage litigation regarding underlying claims that the company deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, saying the first-to-file rule applies to the carriers' Delaware state court suit.
-
March 06, 2025
Reddy Ice Must Cover Walmart's Slip-And-Fall Settlement​​​​​​​
Bagged ice seller Reddy Ice Corp. must indemnify Walmart Inc. for the retailer's settlement of a woman's slip-and-fall lawsuit, an Arkansas federal court ruled Thursday, noting it is "undisputed" that the woman fell because of water originating from a faulty freezer display owned by Reddy Ice.
-
March 06, 2025
Mich. Supreme Court Preview: Sex Offender Tracking, Rentals
The Michigan Supreme Court is gearing up to hear arguments next week on the constitutionality of making sex offenders wear location-tracking devices for life, whether short-term vacation rentals fit into the definition of residential use of a property and whether political parties have standing to sue when a community's election workers are overwhelmingly from the same political party.
-
March 06, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Colorado's last-resort property insurer partnered with an artificial intelligence company, a Hawaii federal court admonished insurers for not complying with an arbitration order, a New York federal judge found reasonable contract interpretations on both sides of an insurance dispute and a Delaware judge sent a coverage battle to trial. Here, Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
-
March 06, 2025
Fla. Coverage Bill Could Add Pressure To Struggling Condos
A Florida bill that would require condominium associations to comply with building safety laws or risk their last-resort insurance option is well-intentioned, but could result in a slew of negative consequences for condo owners, insurance experts say.
-
March 06, 2025
Pigment Co. Not Covered For Asbestos Suits, Court Told
A Liberty Mutual unit doesn't owe coverage to a cosmetic pigment manufacturer in underlying suits alleging injury from exposure to asbestos-containing materials, it told a New York federal court, saying certain claims fall outside the scope of coverage because they're not based on the company's work.
-
March 05, 2025
Goldberg Segalla Brings On Insurance Pro From Connell Foley
Goldberg Segalla grew its New Jersey presence this week with a former of counsel at Connell Foley LLP specializing in insurance litigation and bringing in-house experience from Cure Auto Insurance.
-
March 04, 2025
Insurer Says Claims Of Illegally Tracked Info Erase Coverage
An insurer for a fertility treatment provider told an Illinois federal court that an exclusion on the disclosure of personal information precludes commercial general liability coverage for a lawsuit accusing the provider of unlawfully installing tracking technologies to collect website users' private information.
-
March 03, 2025
Insurer Seeks Exit After Doctor Rejects Mistaken Surgery Deal
An insurer for a doctor accused of performing the wrong surgery should no longer have a duty to indemnify him after his refusal to ink a settlement, the carrier told a California federal court, noting the doctor's underlying counsel already obtained settlement authority from the insurer.
-
February 27, 2025
Calif. State Farm Meeting Raises Solvency Concerns
State Farm's emergency request for a 22% premium increase in California has raised questions about the insurer's financial health, but a prominent consumer group says the carrier hasn't justified that request and several others that would raise premium costs.
-
February 27, 2025
4th Circ. Says Trustees Can't Settle Co.'s Suit Against Ex-CEO
Separate bankruptcy trustees for a company and its former CEO have no right to settle the company's fraud claims against the CEO with insurance proceeds from a directors and officers policy, the Fourth Circuit ruled, agreeing with the insurer that only the former CEO himself has consent-to-settle rights.Â
-
February 27, 2025
Facility Says Insurer Flip-Flopped On Wrongful Death Defense
The operator of a skilled nursing facility in Los Angeles told a California federal court that its insurer wrongfully flip-flopped on defending it against a wrongful death suit, telling the court that despite $1 million in coverage, the insurer twice assigned and withdrew defense counsel.
-
February 27, 2025
Insurer's Bid To Dodge $1.4M Bank Scam Suit Premature
An insurer cannot yet escape an attorney's demand for coverage in an alleged scheme to steal $1.4 million from a New Jersey development company, a Connecticut federal judge ruled, saying the carrier didn't follow court procedures before it moved to end the case.
-
February 27, 2025
Q&A: Minnesota Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Prof On Hard-To-Read Insurance Policies
How hard is it to understand a homeowners insurance policy? For many, reading a policy will often raise more confusion about what's covered than if they hadn't read a policy at all, according to a new paper from experts in insurance and consumer law. Here, Âé¶¹´«Ã½360 discusses the subject with Daniel Schwarcz, a University of Minnesota Âé¶¹´«Ã½ School professor who has built a career in studying the transparency of insurance markets.
-
February 27, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
New York's insurance regulator imposed over $20 million in fines against auto insurers, the Eighth Circuit found that a Missouri law barred an insurer's $60 million asbestos coverage suit and the Tenth Circuit affirmed that AIG doesn't owe coverage to a Colorado ski resort's homeowners association.
-
February 25, 2025
Fla. Bill Targets Last-Resort Coverage For Unsafe Condos
A bill introduced ahead of Florida's 2025 legislative session looks to bar the state's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from providing or renewing coverage policies for condominiums that fall short of inspection requirements.
-
February 24, 2025
Insurer Won't Have To Cover Sports CEO's Child Sex Suits
An insurance company doesn't have to defend the former leader of a sports equipment company against allegations of sexual assault against minors, a Washington federal court said Monday, making final an earlier ruling that said the policies offered no conceivable coverage.
-
February 24, 2025
Lloyd's Says Cadwalader's Suit Claims Nonexistent Tort
A Lloyd's of London syndicate has urged a North Carolina judge to toss part of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP's coverage lawsuit stemming from a data breach, saying there's no tort remedy for the allegation that the insurer exposed the firm's confidential information in a court filing.
-
February 24, 2025
Insurer Needn't Cover Hospital's $2.5M Virus Vax Probe Costs
A Chubb unit has no obligation to pay an Illinois hospital for $2.5 million in legal costs associated with responding to federal and state probes into its COVID-19 vaccine distribution program, a federal court ruled, finding that the policy's $1 million regulatory claims sublimit applies.
-
February 21, 2025
NJ High Court Takes Up Pharma Co. Fraud Coverage Row
The New Jersey Supreme Court will review an appeals court's ruling against indemnification in a case of first impression on the applicability of an exclusion barring directors and officers coverage for wrongful acts "in any way involving" an insured's work for an uninsured entity, the high court announced.
-
February 21, 2025
Morgan Lewis Adds Partner To Insurance Recovery Practice
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced that it has added a new partner and insurance expert in its Chicago office, in a move to bolster the firm's insurance recovery and dispute resolution capabilities for corporate policyholder clients.
Expert Analysis
-
Reps And Warranties Insurance Considerations As M&A Slows
The first six months of the year have seen increasingly favorable rates and policy terms for the representations and warranties insurance market, and policy purchasers are right to pay close attention to pricing, coverage, exclusions, structures and claims as the M&A market cools, say attorneys at Cooley.
-
8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
-
Managing Legal Risks After University Gaza Protests
Following the protests sparked by the war in Gaza, colleges and universities should expect a long investigative tail and take steps to mitigate risks associated with compliance issues under various legal frameworks and institutional policies, say Wiley's Diana Shaw and Colin Cloherty.
-
An Insurance Coverage Checklist For PFAS Defendants
With PFAS liability exposures attracting increased media attention, now is a good time for companies that could be exposed to liability related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to review existing and past insurance policies, and consider taking proactive steps to maximize their likelihood of coverage, say attorneys at Nossaman.
-
Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation
A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.
-
Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.Â
-
Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
-
Leveraging Insurance Amid Microplastics Concerns
A pending microplastics lawsuit — New York v. PepsiCo Inc. — may be a harbinger of what is to come for companies whose products are exposed to the environment, so any company considering how to address microplastics liability should include a careful assessment of the potential for insurance coverage in its due diligence, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
-
Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Amid Deluge Of Claims
After a federal court certified an Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act class action in August, claims under the law have skyrocketed, so employers, insurers and others that collect health and genetic information should ensure compliance with the act to limit litigation risk, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
-
An American Policyholder's Guide To UK Insurance Arbitration
No matter how experienced U.S. policyholders are in stateside disputes, the procedural quirks of U.K. insurance arbitration mean Americans should learn a few key differences between U.S. litigation and London arbitration before heading across the pond, says Robert Jacobs at Blank Rome.
-
5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
-
Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS
As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.
-
Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.