General Liability
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October 24, 2024
Meet The NC And Del. Insurance Commissioner Candidates
With less than two weeks until Election Day, North Carolina and Delaware are gearing up for two insurance commissioner races featuring challenges to the incumbent's seat. The candidates in each state spoke with Law360 to share their takes on the status of their state's insurance market and their plans for holding the office.
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October 24, 2024
11th Circ. Puts Period On Missing Comma Coverage Ruling
The Eleventh Circuit refused to review its August finding that the absence of a comma in a Chubb unit's professional services policy didn't change its clear and unambiguous meaning, thus precluding coverage for the audit of a food services company.
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October 23, 2024
Insurers Slam Mich. No-Fault Ruling As 'Judicial Activism'
A trade group representing Michigan insurers said an appellate court ruling in a medical provider's suit over nonpayment of auto insurance benefits could encourage gamesmanship in no-fault insurance litigation, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed on Tuesday with the state's top court.
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October 23, 2024
Crypto Co. Says Insurer Owes $3.4M For Damaged Equipment
A Bitcoin mining company's insurer owes more than $3.4 million for damage to processing equipment following a power supply disturbance, the mining company told a Tennessee federal court, arguing that the insurer wrongfully claimed that the loss resulted from excluded wear and tear.
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October 22, 2024
Colo. Justices Doubt Geico Agreed With Man's Crash Claims
Justices of Colorado's highest court appeared skeptical Tuesday of a man's claim that his noneconomic damages for injuries from a car accident were uncontested by his insurance carrier, with one justice citing the policyholder's rejection of settlement offers as evidence of a dispute.
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October 22, 2024
NYC Eatery Operators Say Insurers Must Cover Gas Leak Loss
The operators of a New York City Italian restaurant said their insurers wrongly denied coverage for business income and food inventory losses sustained as a result of a gas leak, telling a Colorado state court that the carriers can't rely on policy exclusions.
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October 22, 2024
AIG Says No Coverage For Calif. Ethylene Oxide Pollution Suit
A group of AIG units told a California state court that they owe no coverage to a food product developer or medical sterilization companies Sterigenics US LLC and Sotera Health LLC over claims that they intentionally exposed residents to a known carcinogen between the late 1980s and 2022.
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October 22, 2024
Ex-Atty Charged With Stealing Settlement Funds From Clients
A former attorney who practiced in Oklahoma and gave up his law license in 2020 amid a disciplinary investigation has been charged in federal court with stealing money his then-clients were owed from settlements between 2015 and 2020.
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October 22, 2024
Insurer Beats Sacramento Kings' COVID-19 Coverage Suit
A California federal court handed a win to the Sacramento Kings' insurer in a coverage dispute over pandemic-related losses that the basketball team and its arena operator incurred, finding that a contamination exclusion bars coverage.
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October 22, 2024
The 2024 Prestige Leaders
Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.
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October 22, 2024
How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status
For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.
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October 21, 2024
5th Circ. Asked To Nix Insurer's $2.2M Assault Coverage Win
A group of Texas trial lawyers urged the Fifth Circuit to reverse a Texas federal court's order permitting a bar's insurer to pay only its $1 million limit for a $3.2 million personal injury judgment, arguing the underlying plaintiffs made a valid presuit settlement demand.
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October 18, 2024
Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms
The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.
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October 18, 2024
Carrier To Pay $615M Over Kidde-Fenwal Fire Foam Claims
Carrier Global Corp. revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will pay at least $615 million as part of a settlement in connection to its ownership of bankrupt Kidde-Fenwal Inc., which faces multidistrict litigation arising from its manufacture of firefighting foam with deadly "forever chemicals."
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October 18, 2024
U.S. Paralympic Rape Case Not Covered, Insurer Says
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has no coverage for a national team member's underlying sex abuse suit because the swimmer accused of raping him is not a committee employee, an insurer told a Colorado federal court Friday.
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October 18, 2024
Insurer Blames Truckers For $6.7M Jet Engine Loss
An insurer who paid more than $6.7 million to a commercial airline parts manufacturer it insured after a jet engine was damaged in a truck crash is pursuing several contractors in Connecticut federal court, blaming them for negligently transporting the engine.
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October 18, 2024
Judge Excuses Nationwide From Ga. Mold Death Coverage
A Georgia federal judge found Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Co. has no duty to defend an apartment owner from claims in a separate lawsuit alleging the landlord failed to treat black mold or warn a tenant who died of exposure to the infestation.
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October 18, 2024
Gym Contractor Says Carriers Owe $7M For Faulty Materials
A Minnesota-based construction company told a federal district court that three insurers must cover a $7 million judgment entered against their mutual insured because of quality issues with limestone panels to be installed on the exterior of three Life Time Athletic Clubs.
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October 17, 2024
Milton Brings High Insured Costs, Familiar Pressures To Fla.
While Florida avoided a worst case scenario following Hurricane Milton's landfall, insurance experts say that the high cost of the storm will add familiar pressures to a Florida homeowners insurance market that has been battered for years by storms.
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October 17, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Texas insurance chief denied an insurer of last resort's 10% rate hike proposal, a Pennsylvania federal court sacked the Philadelphia Eagles' COVID-19 coverage claims, asbestos claimants urged the Fourth Circuit to uphold the reorganization plan of Kaiser Gypsum Co. and an insurer avoided defending a gender discrimination suit. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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October 17, 2024
Law360's Guide To The 2024 Insurance Commissioner Races
Voters around the country are gearing up to head to the polls, reading up on candidates' policies and checking their registration statuses, but in four states, voters will also cast their ballots for a new insurance commissioner. Here, Law360 takes a look at the races.
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October 17, 2024
Embryonic Personhood Poses Live Questions For Insurers
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to consider an Alabama suit alleging the wrongful deaths of embryos at the hands of a fertility clinic has prompted questions over whether insurers and policyholders are prepared to deal with new potential liabilities in connection with reproduction.
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October 16, 2024
Fraud Probe Spoils Crop Insurance Case, 6th Circ. Rules
A Sixth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed dismissal of two Michigan farmers' claims against the federal government and a private crop insurer over claims of loss that have been stuck in limbo during a crop-insurance fraud investigation.
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October 15, 2024
Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues
A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
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October 15, 2024
The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders
Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Del. 3M Ruling Risks Upending Corporate Insurance Programs
A Delaware court's findings last week in the 3M earplug insurance litigation that a parent company's defense fee payments don't count toward a subsidiary's self-insured retention and that an insurer's duty to pay defense costs doesn't attach to multidistrict litigation merit closer scrutiny in light of the modern corporate form and the fundamental objectives of MDLs, say Julie Hammerman and Gary Thompson at Thompson HD.
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Justices' Ch. 11 Ruling Is A Big Moment For Debtors' Insurers
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Truck Insurance v. Kaiser Gypsum ruling upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, giving insurers a new footing to try and avoid significant liability, say Stuart Gordon and Benjamin Wisher at Rivkin Radler.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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7th Circ. Exclusion Ruling Will Narrow BIPA Coverage
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Thermoflex Waukegan v. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, holding that the access or disclosure exclusion applies to insurance claims brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, departs from the majority rule and opens the door to insurers more firmly denying coverage under general liability policies, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Revisiting Scalia's 'What's It To You?' After Kaiser Ruling
While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser allows insurers to be considered "parties in interest" in Chapter 11 cases, they still need to show they would face an injury in fact, answering the late Justice Antonin Scalia's "what's it to you?" question, say Brent Weisenberg and Jeff Prol at Lowenstein Sandler.