General Liability
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October 04, 2024
Death Suit Coverage Dispute Must Be Heard In State Court
An Oklahoma federal court declined jurisdiction over an insurer's coverage dispute against a construction company stemming from an underlying wrongful death lawsuit, finding that keeping the action in federal court wouldn't settle the controversy and would "impede upon principles of federal-state comity."
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October 04, 2024
Insurer Can Legally Pay Only 1 Fla. Mass Shooting Victim
An insurer isn't required to pay anything to two families whose loved ones died in a mass shooting at a Miami mall because it already exhausted all its proceeds in paying one other family $50,000, a Florida federal judge ruled.
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October 04, 2024
Denver Charity Drops Fraudulent Grant Coverage Fight
A Denver-based nonprofit has agreed to drop its suit over insurance coverage for $349,000 in grants it gave to a different charity whose founder was accused by Colorado authorities of lying about its nonprofit status, according to court filings Friday.
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October 04, 2024
NY Appeals Court Won't Trim Sex Abuse Coverage Dispute
A New York state appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling declining to dismiss The Rockefeller University's claims that its insurers acted in bad faith and conducted deceptive trade practices while handling the university's coverage request for underlying allegations of sexual abuse.
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October 04, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Gibson Dunn, Weil, Simpson
In this week's Taxation with Representation, DirectTV buys EchoStar's video business for $10 billion, Marsh McLennan inks a $7.75 billion deal for McGriff Insurance, and PepsiCo closes a $1.2 billion deal to purchase Siete Foods.
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October 03, 2024
10th Circ. Denies Gunshot Injury Coverage To Hookah Lounge
The Tenth Circuit backed an insurer's win Thursday against a hookah lounge seeking coverage of underlying litigation over paralyzing gunshot wounds a man suffered in 2019 during a shootout between lounge security guards and an armed patron.
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October 03, 2024
Helene's Devastation Worsened By Inadequate Insurance
Hurricane Helene's devastating path across the southeastern U.S. has brought concerns about inadequate flood insurance and resilience measures to the forefront of a national conversation on the risks of extreme precipitation.
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October 03, 2024
12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar
One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.
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October 03, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Employees in Colorado can seek coverage beyond workers' compensation after crashing at work, a suit over the demise of a tunnel-boring machine is finally over, the Alaska Supreme Court iced out businesses seeking COVID-19 loss coverage and Atari was allowed to pursue State Farm for using its game in a commercial. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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October 03, 2024
D&O Expert Talks Market Trends And Predictions
Directors and officers policyholders should keep a close eye on an evolving regulatory environment and risks related to artificial intelligence, but they can expect the market to remain stable over the next year due to increased capacity, according to CAC Specialty Senior Vice President Robert Regueiro. Here, he sits down with Law360 to talk about those issues.
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October 03, 2024
TikTok Ruling Expected To Spur Major Coverage Review
The Third Circuit knocked a hole in social media companies' liability protections by reviving a lawsuit challenging TikTok's algorithm, potentially multiplying litigation risks and costs and prompting a major reevaluation of those companies' insurance coverage options.
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October 02, 2024
Gordon Rees Atty Asks Judge To Rethink Malpractice Ruling
A Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney urged a Washington state court to reconsider a recent ruling denying the dismissal of legal malpractice claims brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer, saying the assignment and subrogation of professional liability claims is improper.
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October 01, 2024
Convicted CEO Narrows Fee Bid Against Conn. Utility Co-Op
A former Connecticut utility CEO has dropped some attorney fee claims against his onetime employer following a jury conviction for stealing public funds, telling a federal judge on Tuesday to focus on a bid for fees should prosecutors choose to litigate a second indictment.
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October 01, 2024
Calif. Judge Won't Let Insurers Slip Mold Coverage Suit
A California federal judge mostly refused to allow a group of insurers to escape a suit filed by the owner and operator of a 231-unit California apartment complex seeking coverage for mold under a $69 million builders risk policy.
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October 01, 2024
Military Contractor's Widow Can Continue Death Benefit Suit
A widow's pursuit of $670,000 in benefits following her husband's death in Afghanistan while training the country's police force can continue, an Illinois federal judge ruled, trimming claims against the man's employers and benefits administrators but leaving her breach of contract claim against an insurer intact.
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October 01, 2024
Battery Companies' Fire Cleanup Fight Trimmed In Ga.
A Georgia federal judge trimmed a battery reseller and its recycling counterpart's lawsuit against their insurer over claims that the carrier failed to fully cover them after a two-week-long fire ravaged their property, finding that the insurer didn't owe additional coverage for the companies' personal property losses.
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September 30, 2024
NC Builder's Insurer Must Cover Death Suit, Estate Says
The estate of a woman who died while working on a roof replacement project said it's entitled to coverage under a construction company's policy, telling a North Carolina state appeals court Monday a lower court wrongly held that the woman was an employee barred from coverage.
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September 30, 2024
Insurer Says BIPA Row Not Covered Due To Prior Settlement
The insurer for a Chicago-based seat manufacturer told an Illinois federal court it owes no coverage for an underlying lawsuit accusing the company of violating the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, noting it already reached a coverage settlement with the company in a prior BIPA class action involving similar claims.
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September 30, 2024
MetLife Can't Get Early Win In Pensioners' Mortality Table Suit
MetLife lost its bid for an early win Monday in a federal benefits lawsuit from pensioners alleging the company lowballed their annuity payouts by using outdated mortality data when making conversions, with a New York federal judge concluding that disputes over actuarial assumptions should proceed to trial.
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September 30, 2024
$143M Seattle Tunnel Insurance Suit Settles Midtrial
A Seattle construction contractor that claimed it was wrongly denied more than $143 million in coverage for damage to a massive tunneling machine has settled its case against insurers, the parties told a Washington state judge Monday on the second day of a jury trial.
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September 30, 2024
Marsh McLennan Paying $7.75B For McGriff Insurance
New York-based global professional services group Marsh McLennan said Monday it has agreed to buy insurance brokerage McGriff Insurance Services, an affiliate of TIH Insurance Holdings, for $7.75 billion in a deal that included guidance from Troutman Pepper, Wachtell Lipton and Simpson Thacher.
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September 27, 2024
Hurricane Helene Losses Could Exceed $5B: Market Analyst
The losses from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Florida's panhandle Thursday evening, could exceed $5 billion and challenge insurers dealing with high reinsurance costs, according to an early estimate from the insurer credit rating company AM Best.
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September 27, 2024
$36M Oil Cleanup Row Isn't A Case For Fed. Court, Judge Says
An Oklahoma federal court tossed a pipeline owner's lawsuit seeking coverage from its excess insurers for an oil spill on tribal land that it said cost over $36 million to clean up, finding the court lacked the subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case.
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September 27, 2024
Colo. Law Voids Cos.' Coverage Agreement, Judge Rules
An oil and gas production company isn't owed coverage by an electrical drilling company for an underlying lawsuit brought by an injured worker, a Colorado federal judge ruled, finding that defense, indemnification and insurance provisions within the companies' agreement are void under state law.
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September 27, 2024
Mich. Justices Take Up Another Auto Reform Coverage Case
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a crash coverage dispute concerning whether changes to the state no-fault act's medical care reimbursement rates apply to post-reform treatment, weighing in on a case where the injury occurred after the June 2019 statutory amendment but before the July 2021 effective date.
9th. Circ. To Weigh If Geico Favored Noninsured In Auto Suit
The Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments Wednesday over whether Geico acted in bad faith when it prioritized a release of its policyholder's father-in-law during failed settlement negotiations with the family of a pedestrian fatally struck by the insured driver, focusing on whether a "permissive-use provision" extended coverage. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance.
5th Circ. Silo Damage Reversal Sends Warning To Insurers
The Fifth Circuit sent general liability insurers a warning over attempts to flatly deny construction defect claims amid complex facts by reversing an insurer's early win in a dispute over what proportion of the damage to two faulty grain silos constituted covered property damage.
AIG Ghost Gun Win Shows Potential Tort Coverage Difficulties
A New York federal court's finding that AIG has no duty to defend a Texas-based firearms retailer against allegations it contributed to gun violence by selling "ghost gun" components could make getting coverage for mass torts more difficult based on theories of negligence.
Expert Analysis
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NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
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.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.
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3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim
The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks
With all the regulatory activity surrounding antitrust and unfair competition claims, as highlighted by last month's D.C. federal court decision that Google is a monopolist, businesses must not only ensure compliance, but also understand their potential insurance coverage when such claims arise, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes
As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.
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Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.
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6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror
Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.
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Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses
Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.
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Ore. Insurance Litigation Is Testing The Bounds After Moody
Despite the Oregon Supreme Court’s attempt to limit application of its 2023 decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, which for the first time awarded extracontractual damages stemming from alleged negligent claims handling, recent litigation shows Oregon insurance companies face greater exposure, says Sarah Pozzi at Cozen O’Connor.
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What's In NYDFS Guidance On Use Of AI In Insurance
Matthew Gaul and Shlomo Potesky at Willkie summarize the New York Department of Financial Services' recently adopted circular letter on the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing, and highlight the material changes made to it in response to comments on the draft circular letter.