Specialty Lines
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September 23, 2024
Insurer Freed From Damaged Blood Plasma Suit
A supplier of blood plasma can't secure coverage for a nearly $820,000 blood plasma shipment declared a total loss because of excessive temperature variation and shipping delays, a Georgia federal court ruled, finding the supplier failed to abide by separate temperature and delay warranties in its policy.
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September 19, 2024
Proposed $4B Hawaii Fire Deal Faces Insurance Questions
A proposed $4 billion settlement made on behalf of the victims of a 2023 wildfire in Hawaii could be imperiled depending on how the Hawaii Supreme Court approaches key questions concerning insurers' rights to recoup payments made to the victims.
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September 19, 2024
Baltimore Bridge Crash Suits Add To Massive Insurance Toll
Federal and local officials are seeking hundreds of millions from the owner and manager of a cargo ship that crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, raising the insurance stakes of one of the costliest maritime disasters in history.
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September 19, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Ninth Circuit upheld tribal jurisdiction over the Suquamish Tribe's COVID-19 coverage claims, a New York federal court ruled that an insured's untimely notice doomed its coverage bid and a tax court rejected an oil leasing company's $1.1 million deduction for what the company called a "microcaptive insurance" program. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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September 19, 2024
No Coverage For Santander Shareholder Suit, Allianz Says
Allianz told a Massachusetts federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to Santander Holdings for an underlying class action brought by shareholders over the company's $2.5 billion deal to take its consumer finance entity private, arguing that multiple exclusions bar coverage for claims arising from the transaction.
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September 19, 2024
11th Circ. Asked To Revisit Coverage Ruling Over Comma
Food company owner ECB USA Inc. is asking the Eleventh Circuit to reconsider a decision clearing a Chubb insurance unit from covering a $4.2 million settlement agreement over the lack of a comma in a professional services policy, arguing the ruling misapplied New Jersey law.
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September 19, 2024
Insurers Wrestle With 'Cyberwar' Policy Exclusions
The evolving cyberinsurance market could be heading for a seismic shift if more insurers scale back standard business IT breach policies to limit the impact of state-backed cyberattacks on their bottom line.
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September 18, 2024
No Excess Coverage For Atos' Trade Secrets Suit, Judge Says
A Liberty Mutual unit doesn't owe coverage to a subsidiary of French information technology giant Atos for an underlying trade secrets suit, a New York federal court ruled, saying the company failed to provide timely notice of the claim as required by its $10 million errors and omissions policy.
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September 17, 2024
Insurer Must Defend Ga. Hotel In Sex Trafficking Suit
A Georgia hotel's insurer must defend the hotel in an underlying suit brought by a woman claiming she was a victim of sex trafficking, a Georgia federal court said, finding that an exclusion for injuries arising for abuse or molestation did not apply.
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September 17, 2024
Lawyer Cleared Of Dishonesty Over Insurance Failure
A solicitor was cleared of dishonesty on Tuesday after he was accused of lying to his insurer to hide the acquisition by his company of another firm's work and staff after his insurer refused to offer cover for the change.
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September 16, 2024
Insurers Bring Curtain Down On 'Cats' Tour Injury Dispute
Two insurers agreed to settle a dispute in Massachusetts federal court over coverage for a touring production of "Cats" at a Rhode Island theater where an employee was severely injured by set equipment.
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September 13, 2024
The 2024 Regional Powerhouses
The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.
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September 12, 2024
Towers Watson Can't Duck Bump-Up Exclusion, 4th Circ. Told
Towers Watson's latest effort to get its directors and officers insurers to fund a $75 million settlement in a shareholder suit over its merger with Willis should be tossed, the insurers told the Fourth Circuit, saying the bump-up exclusion unambiguously applies to bar coverage.
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September 12, 2024
RealPage Win On Phishing Recovery A Policyholder Boon
A federal judge's holding that an AIG unit cannot lay claim to RealPage's recoveries of phishing losses that it did not originally insure is a win for policyholders as disputes over cyber loss coverage and related subrogation become more common, experts told Law360.
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September 10, 2024
Ky. Breeder Not Covered For Horse's Death, Court Says
A horse breeder has no coverage for the death of a stallion that occurred after he was given an injection to increase his libido as the injection triggered an exclusion for unauthorized medications, a Kentucky federal court said Tuesday.
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September 10, 2024
Atlanta Consultant Didn't Deal With Cyber Hackers, Suit Says
An Atlanta-based insurance industry consulting firm failed to negotiate with hackers and didn't pay a ransom to protect user data after its network was compromised, despite promises to keep customer information safe, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday.
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September 10, 2024
London Reinsurance Sector Grew To £11B In 2023
The value of reinsurance transactions written in the London company insurance market grew by 33% in 2023 on the back of a harder pricing environment, according to figures published Tuesday by a trade body.
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September 09, 2024
Insurer Needn't Cover Lab Fraud Suits, Ill. Judge Rules
An insurer has no obligation to defend or indemnify a property management company or its owner in two underlying lawsuits accusing the owner of concealing financial information from a minority owner in a jointly formed laboratory, an Illinois federal judge said, finding that the underlying suits alleged intentional misconduct.
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September 09, 2024
No Coverage For BNSF In Flood Suit, Travelers Says
Two Travelers units told a California federal court that they owe no additional insured coverage to railway giant BNSF over claims that a track relocation project it undertook caused significant flooding on a property owner's land.
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September 09, 2024
AIG Unit Sees Recovery Funds Dispute With RealPage Pared
A federal judge trimmed a lawsuit an AIG unit filed seeking to recover over $1 million it paid to property management software company RealPage after a phishing attack, rejecting both the insurer's stance that the covered fees fell under a recovery provision and RealPage's accusations of Texas Insurance Code violations.
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September 06, 2024
Calif. Panel Rejects PE Exec's Excess Coverage Claims
A California state appeals court upheld the dismissal of a private equity executive's claims that two excess insurers had to cover the millions he said he and his companies incurred in litigation with his co-founder, finding he didn't sufficiently allege that underlying limits had exhausted first.
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September 06, 2024
Property Co. Not Covered By Excess Carriers In Antitrust Row
A property management company is not owed coverage from two excess insurers in an underlying multidistrict litigation surrounding allegations of a price-fixing conspiracy involving software company RealPage Inc., a Massachusetts federal judge ruled, finding the excess insurers had no obligations under the management company's primary policy.
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September 06, 2024
Insurer Tries To Stop Asset Transfers In $2.6M Builder Lawsuit
An insurance company has urged a Montana federal court to temporarily block a group of construction companies from transferring assets, alleging they owe more than $2.6 million in payments, claims and attorney fees related to projects in Montana and Wyoming.
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September 05, 2024
Poor Communities Least Insured, Congressional Analyst Says
Flood risk in the United States is understated by official maps, and lower income communities have less insurance protection for greater risk — two problems that come as threats to U.S. housing grow, a congressional budget analyst said Thursday.
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September 05, 2024
3rd Circ. Relieves Insurer Of Additional UIM Coverage
The Third Circuit reversed an early win a lower court handed to a couple whose son suffered serious injuries in a motorized dirt bike accident, finding that the couple's insurer needn't pay an additional $250,000 under another household policy because of the policy's household vehicle exclusion.
Expert Analysis
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M&A In The AI Era: Key Deal Terms To Watch
As the artificial intelligence market matures, so will due diligence needs, as M&A deals aimed at consolidation and new synergies raise unique legal and regulatory challenges, including potential antitrust and national security reviews, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.
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Del. Bankruptcy Ruling Will Give D&O Insureds Nightmares
In Henrich v. XL Specialty Insurance, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court recently found that a never-served qui tam claim had been "brought" before a D&O policy's retroactive date, thereby eliminating coverage, and creating a nightmare scenario for directors and officers policyholders facing whistleblower claims, says David Klein at Pillsbury.
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Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Law 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.