General Liability
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March 04, 2024
Insurer Secures Win In $3.7M Pool Damage Row
A construction company's insurer does not have to cover a $3.7 million judgment awarded to homeowners for the faulty construction of a pool, a Montana federal court ruled, finding that business risk and professional liability exclusions barred coverage under the company's general liability policy.
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March 04, 2024
No Coverage For Amazon Warehouse Collapse, 8th Circ. Rules
An insurer for an Amazon warehouse developer does not owe coverage for multiple personal injury and wrongful death suits filed in the wake of a tornado, the Eighth Circuit affirmed Monday, upholding that the warehouse was not included in a policy's "schedule of locations."
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March 01, 2024
11th Circ. Revives Alabama Life Insurance Class Action
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Friday revived a South Carolina man's Alabama class action alleging his life insurer's costs on his $100,000 policy weren't linked to life expectancy, though the policy said they would be.
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March 01, 2024
Clyde & Co Adds Former Hinkhouse Atty To Chicago Office
Global law firm Clyde & Co added a former Hinkhouse Williams Walsh LLP attorney as a partner in its North American insurance practice in Chicago who said she is "thrilled" to continue building client relationships in her new role.
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February 29, 2024
9th Circ. Sends COVID-19 Coverage Row Back To Tribal Court
A Ninth Circuit panel unanimously affirmed the Suquamish Tribal Court's jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage dispute, finding in a published opinion Thursday that although the tribe's insurers weren't present on its land, a consensual business relationship means tribal law applies.
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February 29, 2024
State Farm Must Face Bad Faith Claims In $3M Crash Row
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday clarified a prior ruling reviving bad faith claims against State Farm for rejecting an offer to settle a car crash injury suit that led to a $3 million verdict, saying the insurer could still have acted in bad faith in handling the settlement offer even if it had no obligation to accept it.
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February 29, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Texas Supreme Court found that a handful of insurers may be on the hook for a $220 million bankruptcy settlement, while another state Supreme Court said it will take on underpayment claims against Geico, as insurance experts heed emerging privacy risks and prepare for more PFAS litigation. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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February 29, 2024
Valencia Fire Renews Concerns Over Materials, Insurance
A deadly apartment fire in Valencia, Spain, is drawing renewed attention to the use of flammable materials on building exteriors, a global problem that insurance experts say implicates complicated webs of liability and a need for strong government oversight.
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February 29, 2024
Texas Justices' Unusual Remedy Presents A Win For Insurers
The Texas Supreme Court handed several carriers a victory in its ruling that a $220 million settlement between now-bankrupt Cobalt International Energy Inc. and its investors is not binding on the energy company's insurers to establish coverage, a decision notable for the unusual relief granted by the state justices, experts say.
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February 29, 2024
New AI Risks Pressure Policyholders To Fill Coverage Gaps
Growing scrutiny from the public and regulators in the U.S. over artificial intelligence use and rising threats of AI-enabled schemes are sending insurance experts scrambling to evaluate their coverage options in a rapidly changing risk environment.
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February 29, 2024
SVB Parent's Counsel Booted From Fraud Coverage Row
The bankrupt parent company of Silicon Valley Bank cannot use Farella Braun & Martel LLP as counsel in litigation over the parent company's claims that it alone must be covered for a fraud scheme that caused over $73 million in losses, a North Carolina federal court ruled.
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February 28, 2024
Travelers, Fridge Co. To Settle $950K Dispute Over Ship Fire
Travelers and a refrigerator manufacturer told a Texas federal court that they have agreed to dismiss litigation over the insurer's bid to recoup $950,000 it paid to its insured to cover a ship fire, which Travelers said was caused by a defective refrigerator unit in the ship's galley.
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February 28, 2024
BASF Says Insurers Owe Coverage For PFAS Suits
Major chemical manufacturer BASF Corp. told a South Carolina court Wednesday that 23 insurers should cover thousands of lawsuits that alleged a chemical the company produced for firefighting foam caused pollution and injuries.
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February 28, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Rehear Pfizer Shareholder Suit Coverage Row
Pfizer won't get a second shot at arguing its insurer should indemnify it in a settlement stemming from a 2003 shareholder class action, with the Third Circuit on Wednesday declining the pharmaceutical company's request for an en banc rehearing.
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February 27, 2024
Company Escapes Coverage Row Over Lethal Ammonia Leak
A contractor's affiliate whose employee died in an ammonia leak at a North Carolina cold storage facility needn't face claims stemming from the accident, the North Carolina Business Court said in a lawsuit originally brought against three insurers and others over coverage for the leak.
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February 27, 2024
Insurer Misled Lockheed On Contamination Suit, Court Told
Lockheed Martin has told a Maryland federal court that its insurer "lured" it into believing for months that it would defend the company against claims that Lockheed's release of various toxic substances contaminated property and injured individuals near its Orlando, Florida, weapons manufacturing facility.
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February 27, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Reconsider Coverage Ruling For Deli Stabbing
The Third Circuit declined to review its decision that an insurer for a Philadelphia deli does not owe coverage for a $900,000 settlement reached with a man stabbed on the premises.
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February 26, 2024
Atty's Letter Is Not A Claim For Damages, Del. Justices Rule
An attorney's presuit letter claiming that Syngenta's herbicide Paraquat caused his clients' Parkinson's disease does not constitute a "claim for damages" under the company's insurance policies with a pair of Zurich units, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday.
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February 26, 2024
Colo. Justices To Hear If Insurers Can Withhold Some Payouts
The Colorado Supreme Court said Monday it will consider whether the state's insurance code allowed Geico, following unsuccessful settlement attempts, to refuse paying noneconomic damages to a policyholder for his underinsured motorist claim, given what Geico said is the "inherently subjective" nature of such damages.
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February 26, 2024
Liberty Cuts Off Drivers' Rentals Too Soon, Suit Claims
Liberty Mutual systematically and arbitrarily ends replacement transportation coverage after seven days for policyholders whose vehicles are totaled in collisions, in violation of its own policy language, a proposed class action alleges.
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February 26, 2024
Texas Justices Say $220M Cobalt Deal Is A Loss Under Policy
A $220 million settlement that now-bankrupt Cobalt International Energy Inc. reached with a group of investors constitutes a loss under the energy company's insurance policies, but the agreement is not binding on Cobalt's insurers to establish coverage, the Texas Supreme Court ruled.
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February 23, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
From maritime contracts’ choice-of-law provisions to a question on how far an agency can steer companies from contracting with controversial groups, the past week saw two insurance-related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, plus litigation over a mass shooting and a casino operator’s claims that its “unique” policy covers pandemic losses. Here, Law360 recaps the week's top insurance news.
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February 23, 2024
The New BIPA? Attys Warn GIPA Is A 'Live Grenade'
After notable appellate victories in biometric privacy cases, Illinois plaintiffs have seized upon a previously little-used law protecting workers' genetic privacy, leaving defense attorneys wondering if history will repeat itself and open companies to potentially explosive liability.
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February 26, 2024
New York Pandemic Coverage Ruling Offers Few Surprises
Businesses seeking insurance coverage for their pandemic losses were dealt yet another loss recently by New York's top court, a ruling that didn't surprise attorneys watching to see whether the Empire State might buck the trend of carrier victories.
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February 23, 2024
Insurance M&A Partner From Sidley Joins Kirkland
Kirkland & Ellis LLP has added a corporate partner in its insurance transactions and regulatory and financial institutions practice groups, bringing on a former Sidley Austin LLP attorney who said he "couldn't be more excited" to join the firm's Chicago office.
Expert Analysis
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Restaurant Virus Coverage Ruling Is An Outlier
Though a Missouri federal court allowed a group of hair salons and restaurants to sue for COVID-19 business interruption losses, Studio 417 v. Cincinnati Insurance is easily distinguishable from other virus insurance coverage cases, contradicts existing case law and offers prospects for minimal recovery at best, say Keith Moskowitz and Erin Bradham at Dentons.
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Restaurant Virus Coverage Ruling Offers Insight For Insureds
A Missouri federal court’s recent decision allowing hair salon and restaurant owners to pursue COVID-19 insurance coverage class action claims in Studio 417 v. The Cincinnati Insurance Co. reminds policyholders of the importance of arguing that COVID-19 is a physical substance, and that physical loss and physical damage must be defined separately, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Lessons From Asbestos Can Help Resolve Opioid Liabilities
The effects of opioid litigation and settlements on pharmaceutical companies, insurers and others could be financially devastating, so affected entities should consider a practice used by companies with asbestos liabilities — a restructuring that separates those liabilities from ongoing operations, say consultants at Nathan Associates and Financial Asset Recovery Analytics.
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Ambiguity Favors Insureds In COVID-19 Coverage Disputes
The rule that ambiguous insurance policy language should be construed against the carrier serves as a strong argument for policyholders in business interruption coverage litigation related to COVID-19, but the assertion has been invoked infrequently, say Jay Angoff and Joshua Karsh at Mehri & Skalet.
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Cos. Can Sell Future Asbestos Liabilities To Avoid Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy has become an increasingly common solution for asbestos defendants, but the sale of contingent liabilities to a third party may provide a less complex and costly resolution of asbestos claims, say Milan Ceppi and Charles Oswald at Financial Asset Recovery Analytics.
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Mich. Ruling Isn't Last Word On COVID-19 Insurance Claims
Although a Michigan state court dismissed the plaintiff's business interruption claim in Gavrilides Management v. Michigan Insurance, distinguishing features of the first dispositive decision in a COVID-19 coverage dispute will limit its impact on similar insurance litigation, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.
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Ohio Ruling Adds To Insurance Uncertainty For Opioid Suits
An Ohio appeals court's recent decision in Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical fails to address an insurer's duty to indemnify policyholders embattled in opioid litigation, only amplifying the uncertainty surrounding insurance coverage for opioid judgments and settlements, say attorneys at Nicolaides.
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How COVID-19 May Change Environmental M&A Due Diligence
As M&A transactions face increased scrutiny in the pandemic-stressed economic landscape, environmental due diligence must address changing business imperatives and reflect evolving health and safety concerns, says Michael Bittner at Ramboll.
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Regulatory Estoppel Does Not Invalidate The Virus Exclusion
Some policyholders seeking coverage for losses stemming from COVID-19 are arguing that virus exclusions are invalid due to regulatory estoppel, but this theory lacks substance and threatens to undermine formal clarifications of insurance policy intent, say Jonathan Schwartz and Colin Willmott at Goldberg Segalla.
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Leaving The Tort System Behind Via Corporate Risk Transfer
With an increasingly litigious tort environment for corporate defendants, companies holding legacy liabilities would do well to investigate a capital markets solution for transferring their risks, say Mark Hemmann at FARA LLC and Peter Kelso at Roux Associates.
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History Can Inform Pandemic Biz Interruption Insurance Cases
Historical catastrophes like the SARS epidemic, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and asbestos exposure provide helpful context for understanding the scale of current insurance litigation stemming from coronavirus-related business interruption, say Anne Gron and Georgi Tsvetkov at AlixPartners.
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'Notice Of Circumstances' May Preempt Virus Insurance Denial
Insurance policyholders impacted by COVID-19 should consider proactively sending notices of circumstances to their insurers in order to preempt new pandemic policy exclusions, although this tactic carries certain risks as well, say Richard Milone and Jennifer Romeo at Milone Law Firm.
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How Law Firms Can Maximize COVID-19 Insurance Coverage
Law firms struggling due to the pandemic should identify relevant insurance policies and provisions, be mindful of notice requirements that could interfere with coverage, and push back against policy exclusions, say Robin Cohen and James Smith at McKool Smith.