General Liability
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May 28, 2024
No Coverage For IT Co.'s 'Collusive' Settlement, Insurer Says
Chubb unit ACE American Insurance Co. told a Colorado federal court it owes no coverage to an IT company found liable by a jury for making fraudulent misrepresentations and breaching its cybersecurity agreement with an investment company, arguing the parties' post-verdict settlement was merely a workaround to "create insurance coverage."
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May 24, 2024
No-Show Plaintiff, 'Jackass' Atty Booted Too Fast, Court Says
A Michigan appellate court sympathized with a trial court dealing with a no-show plaintiff and his lawyer who acted like a "jackass" — according to one appellate judge — but ruled Thursday that the trial court needed to do a better job documenting why it tossed the case instead of issuing a lesser sanction.
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May 24, 2024
Insurer's Coverage Suit Premature, Ga. Apt. Complex Says
An apartment complex facing negligence claims over a shooting told a Georgia federal court that its insurer's suit seeking to avoid coverage must be tossed, arguing that without any factual findings in the underlying state court action, any finding on the insurer's duty to indemnify would be premature.
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May 24, 2024
Insurer Owes Coverage For School Defect Claim, Builder Says
A general contractor told a Washington federal court it is entitled to coverage under a subcontractor's commercial general liability policy with a Liberty Mutual unit for defects and damage that a school district alleges was caused by the subcontractor while working on a school expansion project.
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May 23, 2024
Calif. High Court Deals Loss To Policyholder In COVID-19 Suit
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the coronavirus generally doesn't cause the kind of damage to property that would trigger coverage under an insurance policy, handing a win to a Chubb insurance company in one of the last major venues for pandemic coverage litigation.
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May 23, 2024
Colo. AI Bias Law Brings Little Certainty For Insurance Sector
Colorado enacted the nation's first comprehensive regulatory scheme for protecting consumers from discriminatory and biased artificial intelligence systems, sending a warning signal to an insurance sector bracing for increased scrutiny and risks related to the technology.
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May 23, 2024
How An Ex-Attorney Turned Mediator Approaches Conflict
Drawing from his 25-year career as an attorney litigating primarily insurance coverage disputes, Steven Schulwolf founded Schulwolf Mediation to help parties reach effective resolutions in even the toughest cases.
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May 23, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Policyholders suffered losses over COVID-19 coverage claims before the California Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit, the California high court weighed whether an exclusion rendered virus coverage illusory and if a policyholder's unfair competition claim against State Farm was untimely, and the Tenth Circuit questioned the scope of absolute pollution exclusions.
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May 23, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives Insurer's $2.5M Suit Over Valuation Software
The Second Circuit on Thursday revived an insurer's indemnification bid against software company Audatex for $2.5 million in costs from a suit alleging its use of Audatex's valuation software resulted in underpayment for totaled cars, concluding the lower court erred in finding the suit didn't result from the insurer's use of Audatex's software.
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May 23, 2024
NC High Court Grants Review In Clothier's Virus Coverage Suit
North Carolina's top court on Thursday agreed to take up a clothing company's coverage appeal for COVID-19 losses against Zurich after a lower appellate panel found the virus did not cause the kind of physical loss or damage necessary to invoke coverage.
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May 23, 2024
Antitrust Concerns Persist For New UN Insurance Group
A new United Nations insurance-climate initiative demonstrates a continued interest among regulators for promoting a more sustainable industry, but experts say antitrust concerns and industry participation raise questions about its potential efficacy.
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May 23, 2024
4th Circ. Rules No Coverage For Mars' COVID Losses
Candymaker Mars Inc. can't get coverage from Factory Mutual Insurance Co. for its COVID-19-related losses, the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday, further rejecting Mars' bid to certify a question to the Virginia Supreme Court.
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May 23, 2024
Estate Sues Hanover For $13.4M Judgment In Death Suit
The Hanover Insurance Group has refused to pay a judgment of nearly $13.4 million to the family of a man who died in the care of a Connecticut group home, according to a lawsuit in state court.
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May 23, 2024
Coverage Suit Paused Until Resolution Of Gun Sales Dispute
A California federal court paused Crum & Forster's suit against a police gun and fitness club and the city of Los Angeles over coverage for underlying actions brought by officers accusing the club of selling them stolen handguns, citing factual overlap between the actions.
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May 22, 2024
Seattle Sues Train Cos. Over Bike Track-Crossing Suits
The city of Seattle says two short-line railroads have breached agreements to maintain liability insurance and indemnify the city in lawsuits from cyclists injured crossing tracks along a perilous stretch of a popular bike trail, according to a complaint filed in Washington state court.
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
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May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
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May 20, 2024
10th Circ. Oral Args. Poised To Shape NM Pollution Coverage
The Tenth Circuit said there were "good arguments on both sides" of an appeal at oral arguments Monday over whether absolute pollution exclusions doomed a New Mexico property owner's quest for defense coverage of underlying contamination litigation, in a case that could set the tone for insurance battles in the state.
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May 20, 2024
3 Insurance Execs Can't Hit Pause On Asset Theft Claims
Three former Sherbrooke Corporate Ltd. executives accused of stealing assets when they left to form their own venture lost a bid to halt the company's lawsuit, after a North Carolina federal judge doubted that their efforts to toss the case would succeed.
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May 20, 2024
Auto Accessory Co. Secures Partial Coverage For BIPA Row
An insurer must defend an automotive accessory company in a proposed class action alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Seventh Circuit ruled, finding that unlike the company's primary and excess commercial general liability policies, an umbrella policy "lacks an exclusion pertaining to nonpublic information."
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May 17, 2024
Colo. Precedent Barred Insurer's Crash Liability Challenge
A Colorado state appeals court affirmed a lower court's finding that a Progressive unit couldn't contest liability in its policyholder's car crash case involving an uninsured driver, saying the lower court correctly applied binding Colorado Supreme Court precedent.
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May 17, 2024
$5M Candy Recall Coverage Dispute Moved To Texas Court
An insurer's lawsuit disclaiming coverage for a candy manufacturer over a near $5 million recall over metal fragments found in certain gummy candies belongs in Texas, a New York federal judge has ruled, finding that the action was "filed preemptively to deprive the natural plaintiff of its choice of forum."
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May 17, 2024
5th Circ. Won't Rethink SXSW Ticket Coverage Ruling
The Fifth Circuit will not reconsider ordering a Chubb unit to cover defense costs incurred by Texas music festival South by Southwest from a class action by ticket holders seeking refunds after Austin officials canceled the festival in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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May 16, 2024
Convicted Insurance Mogul Says He'll Trim Empire
Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg told the North Carolina Supreme Court he's relinquishing control of portions of his enterprise to fulfill a deal to restructure them with independent oversight, according to court filings.
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May 16, 2024
Justices Dodge Class Action Queries In $3.5B Insurance Row
The U.S. Supreme Court left open the question of when class actions should be relegated to state courts by declining a mutual insurance company's appeal of claims that it failed to return $3.5 billion in profits back to policyholders.
Expert Analysis
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NY Rulings Show Shift In Insurance Priority Approach
Some recent New York state decisions considering coverage priority of primary and excess insurance policies and contractual indemnity claims run against clear policy language, which should trump extrinsic evidence of intent, says Dan Kohane at Hurwitz Fine.
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Tips For Plaintiffs Attorneys Ahead Of Expanded Fire Season
With the expansion of fire season — both in length of time and geography — plaintiffs lawyers can expect fire-related litigation to increase this coming year and need to prepare themselves and their clients for claims that are complex, time-consuming and costly, says Gerald Singleton at Singleton Schreiber.
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Pollutant Insurance Case Holds Clues For Ohio Train Litigation
A recent Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in Regan Heating v. Arbella could mean that the wide-reaching impacts of the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, will trigger the enforcement of any total pollution exclusion contained in Norfolk Southern's commercial general liability policy, says Kayla O’Connor at Saxe Doernberger.
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Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation
Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Using ChatGPT To Handle Insurance Claims Is A Risky Move
ChatGPT gets some insurance law questions surprisingly wrong, and while it handles broader coverage concepts significantly better, using it to assist with coverage questions will likely lead to erroneous results and could leave insurers liable for bad faith, says Randy Maniloff at White and Williams.
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Fla. Bill Would Rein In Personal Injury Litigation Excesses
A recently proposed bill in the Florida House that would change bad-faith laws and the admissibility of medical bills for services performed under a letter of protection would provide reasonable checks on practices that are far too common in personal injury cases in the Sunshine State, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Takeaways From Tree-Clearing Co.'s 11th Circ. Insurance Win
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Frankenmuth Mutual v. Brown's Clearing, interpreting the extent of knowledge required to trigger an insured's notice obligations under a commercial general liability policy, is both a welcome sign and a cautionary tale for corporate policyholders, say Garrett Nemeroff and Christopher Kuleba at Reed Smith.
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High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Why General Liability Carriers Are Wary Of SEC Climate Rule
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rule to require companies to formally report climate change risks could come into play in five areas that should be concerning to companies and their general liability insurers, says Eric Scheiner at Kennedys.
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Wis. High Court Ruling May Open Door To Coverage Exception
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dostal v. Strand finding that an insurer had to defend a civil action following the defendant's criminal conviction on the same facts nonetheless may suggest an exception to the complaint test for determining an insurance company's defense obligation, say David Hollander and Clementine Uwabera at Stafford Rosenbaum.
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A Litigation Move That Could Conserve Discovery Resources
Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben proposes the preliminary legal opinion procedure — seeking a court's opinion on a disputed legal standard at the outset, rather than the close, of discovery — as a useful resource-preservation tool for legally complex, discovery-intensive litigation.
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Trial Lawyers Rejoice: Justices May Clarify Issue Preservation
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent grant of certiorari in Dupree v. Younger should be a boon to trial and appellate lawyers as the decision will likely standardize a rule for appellate issue preservation, bringing much-needed clarity to an area critical to general litigation success, says Jeremy Christiansen at Gibson Dunn.
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Policyholder Lessons From 1st Circ. Duty To Defend Ruling
In Lionbridge Technologies v. Valley Forge Insurance, the First Circuit recently held that the obligation to defend an insured is not limited to the specific causes of action expressly stated in a complaint, providing policyholders with persuasive arguments in support of the duty to defend, say Catherine Doyle and Caroline Meneau at Jenner & Block.