General Liability
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June 06, 2024
Justices Affirm Taxing Of Estate On Insurance Payout
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday a decision denying a tax refund to the estate of an owner of a building materials company that used a payout from his $3.5 million life insurance policy to purchase his shares in the business.
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June 05, 2024
Chubb Needn't Cover $14.5M Mold Deal, 11th Circ. Says
A $14.5 million consent judgment that a Florida woman secured against her condominium's property manager over what she alleged was mold exposure cannot be enforced against a pair of Chubb insurers, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, saying the manager's carriers did not breach their duty to defend.
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June 05, 2024
Fire Co. Shuts Down Insurer's $3.7M Subrogation Bid
A hotel's insurer cannot seek reimbursement from a fire protection company for its roughly $3.7 million coverage payment following a pipe rupture in the hotel's fire sprinkler system, an Ohio federal court ruled, finding the hotel and fire protection company waived their respective insurers' subrogation rights.
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June 04, 2024
Wildfire Attys Descend On Colo. As Xcel Litigation Ramps Up
Hundreds of lawsuits seeking to hold Xcel Energy responsible for a devastating 2021 Colorado wildfire are just the latest battleground for a relatively small community of lawyers who have been involved in some of the biggest catastrophic fire suits in the western U.S.
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June 04, 2024
Liberty Mutual Wants NJ Judge Removed From Accident Case
Liberty Mutual urged a New Jersey federal judge to recuse himself from a construction accident coverage case Monday arguing that he failed to disclose at the beginning of litigation that he holds multiple policies with the insurer dating back to 1980 and was previously investigated over a missing jewelry claim.
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June 04, 2024
No Coverage For $77.7M Auto Crash Judgment, Insurer Says
A company facing a nearly $77.7 million judgment over a car accident involving one of its employees shouldn't get coverage under its commercial general liability policy, the company's insurer told a California federal court, pointing to an auto exclusion.
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June 03, 2024
PacifiCorp To Pay $178M To 400 Oregonians Over Fires
PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $178 million to more than 400 Oregon residents affected by a cluster of wildfires that burned more than a million acres of land on Labor Day 2020 amid dangerously dry and windy weather conditions, the utility announced Monday.
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June 03, 2024
Surgeons Denied Early Exit From GEICO's Bogus Injury Suit
A pair of orthopedic surgeons can't escape GEICO's lawsuit claiming they conspired with a personal injury attorney to file inflated insurance claims for car accident victims based on bogus medical documents, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Monday.
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June 03, 2024
Real Estate Co., Nationwide Settle CFO Theft Dispute
A New York federal judge agreed to dismiss a coverage dispute between a property management company and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. over nearly $1 million that the company's former chief financial officer was accused of stealing, following the parties' notice that they reached an agreement.
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May 31, 2024
Contractor, Insurers Settle NYC Four Seasons Coverage Row
A New York federal judge dismissed a general contractor's suit seeking coverage from two insurers for an underlying $1 million action over damage to a Four Seasons hotel in midtown Manhattan, saying the parties have reached a proposed settlement.
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May 31, 2024
GRSM50 Brings On Clausen Miller Insurance Pro In SF
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, which now goes by the name GRSM50, is expanding its team, announcing Thursday it is bringing on a Clausen Miller PC insurance specialist as a partner in its San Francisco office.
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May 30, 2024
NRA Wins Free Speech High Court Battle But May Lose Its War
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the National Rifle Association to proceed with its lawsuit alleging a former New York state official unlawfully pressured financial institutions to cut ties, but the group may now face greater hurdles to final victory.
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May 30, 2024
Travelers Loses Dismissal Bid In BIPA Coverage Dispute
A New York federal judge declined to trim a software company's lawsuit seeking coverage from a Travelers unit for underlying claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, finding the company's declaratory relief and bad faith claims were not duplicative of a breach of contract claim.
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May 30, 2024
Only $100K Owed For NJ Theater's Virus Losses, Judge Says
A Zurich unit owed a theater only $100,000 for its COVID-19-related losses under its policy's communicable disease coverage provision, a New Jersey federal court ruled, rejecting the theater's arguments that each public health order constituted a separate occurrence and that a "blanket" $1.9 million limit was applicable.
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May 30, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court revived the National Rifle Association's free speech claims against a former New York state official, a Washington state appeals court ended Quest Diagnostics' bid for COVID-related coverage, and market analyst AM Best reported record investment income for U.S. property and casualty insurers in 2023.
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May 30, 2024
Active Hurricane Season Looms Over Insurance Industry
The Atlantic hurricane season could continue to stress fragile insurance markets, according to forecasts of a particularly active 2024 season, but experts say there are some positive developments for Florida insurers despite years of elevated losses.
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May 30, 2024
Consumer Advocate Unpacks Big Issues Facing Insureds
The use of socioeconomic factors in auto insurance, climate change's impact on the rising cost of homeowners insurance and the hollowing out of insurance policies are some of the most pressing issues consumers face today, says an advocate from the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America.
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May 30, 2024
Insurer Rebukes Bad Faith Claims In $25M Child Abuse Row
An insurer urged a Washington federal court to dismiss bad faith counterclaims brought against it by families who say the insurer failed to provide coverage toward a daycare center's $24.5 million settlement of claims that its former employee sexually molested children.
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May 30, 2024
Insurance Atty Fights For Lone Woman On Death Row In Miss.
Attorney A. Kate Margolis lives a double life: one, in which she fights on behalf of insurance policyholders as counsel at Bradley, and another, spent trying to save convicted murderer Lisa Jo Chamberlin, the only woman on Mississippi's death row.
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May 30, 2024
Bottler Says It's Owed Defense In Wine Contamination Dispute
A wine bottler told a California federal court its insurer must reimburse defense costs it incurred while fighting a now-settled suit seeking to hold the company liable for a $1.2 million wine contamination, arguing the lawsuit didn't specifically allege what the bottler's actions were nor the cause of contamination.
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May 30, 2024
Meet The Attys In Margolis Edelstein Malpractice Fight
Counsel representing Margolis Edelstein and an insurer that has accused the firm of malpractice are gearing up for a July oral argument so the Delaware Supreme Court can decide if the firm can escape the suit.
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May 30, 2024
Justices Revive NRA's Free Speech Claims Against NY Official
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the National Rifle Association can proceed with certain claims in its lawsuit alleging that a former New York state official violated the gun rights group's free speech protections by pressuring financial institutions to cut ties with it.
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May 29, 2024
Archdiocese Seeks NY High Court Clarity In Abuse Row
The Archdiocese of New York asked a state appeals court for leave to appeal to the state's highest court to clarify the proper pleading standards in a coverage dispute brought by Chubb over sexual abuse claims, arguing Chubb's "collective pleading strategy" is inconsistent with state precedent.
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May 29, 2024
11th Circ. Backs Insurer's Win In Trampoline Injury Suit
United Specialty Insurance had no duty to defend or indemnify a landscaper accused of negligently installing a trampoline that led to a child's injuries, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the landscaper's insurance application expressly disclaimed the installation of recreational or playground equipment.
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May 28, 2024
US Property Insurers See Record Investment Income In 2023
U.S. property and casualty insurers earned a record income of $73.9 billion from their investments in 2023, market analyst AM Best reported Tuesday, a bright spot for an industry beset by underwriting losses connected to natural disasters and high inflation.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking NY's Revamped Wrongful Death Bill
Legislation to amend New York’s wrongful death law, introduced May 2, proposes more limited reforms than an earlier version the governor vetoed in January, but will likely still face strong opposition due to the severe financial impacts it would have on insurers’ set premiums and reserves, say Eric Andrew and David Adams at Hurwitz Fine.
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NY Ruling Highlights Need For Specific Insurance Disclaimers
New York coverage counsel responsible for writing disclaimer letters should heed a recent appellate decision, Bahnuk v. Countryway Insurance, in which the letter sent to the plaintiff was deemed to be insufficiently specific, leaving the insurance company on the hook for coverage, says Dan Kohane at Hurwitz Fine.
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Big Oil Certiorari Denial May Alter Climate Change Litigation
The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday decision not to review a handful of forum disputes in oil industry climate change litigation means that similar cases may face less corporate-friendly state courts, and insurers may see greater defense and damages exposures from Big Oil clients, say Dennis Anderson and Deepa Sutherland at Zelle.
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5 Tips For Filing Gov't Notices After Insurance Producer M&A
As insurance producer acquisition activity picks up in 2023, requiring a daunting process of notifying information changes to each Department of Insurance where the entity is licensed, certain best practices will help buyers alleviate frustration and avoid administrative actions and fines, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.
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Policyholder Lessons From Sandy No-Coverage Decision
A New York federal court recently decided that in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Madelaine Chocolate knew Great Northern Insurance’s all-risk policy offered no coverage for storm surge — an important reminder that policyholders should review policy language for ambiguities or anti-concurrent causation clauses, say Dennis Artese and Joshua Zelen at Anderson Kill.
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Insureds' Notice Pleading May Be Insufficient In Federal Court
A recent New Jersey federal court ruling in Bauman v. Hanover Insurance held that bare-bones notice pleading was insufficient and dismissed the policyholder's coverage complaint, a reminder that courts may require more than an expression of general disagreement with an insurance company's denial letter to proceed with the case, says Eugene Killian at The Killian Firm.
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5th Circ. Offers Expert Opinion Guidance For Insurance Cases
A recent Fifth Circuit decision in Majestic Oil v. Lloyd's of London provides insight into how Texas' concurrent causation doctrine could affect insurance cases where the cause of damage is at issue, and raises considerations for litigants faced with new or revised expert reports after the deadline has passed, say Brian Scarbrough and Cianan Lesley at Jenner & Block.
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DUI Liability Ruling Affirms SC Isn't Direct Action-Friendly
The Supreme Court of South Carolina's recent decision in Denson v. National Casualty not only clarifies the state's jurisprudence surrounding private rights of action and negligence per se, but also tacitly reinforces that South Carolina is not a direct-action state, say Anna Cathcart and Turner Albernaz at Phelps Dunbar.
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Peephole Cam Case Lowers The Bar On NY Negligence Claims
A New York state appeals court's recent decision in Brown v. New York Design Center is significant because, barring a contrary state high court ruling, claims of negligent infliction of emotional distress need not demonstrate extreme and outrageous conduct, which could result in an uptick in such claims, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
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Employment-Related Litigation Risks Facing Hospitality Cos.
A close look at recent hospitality industry employment claims highlights key issues companies should keep an eye out for, and insurance policy considerations for managing risk related to wage and hour, privacy, and human trafficking claims, say Jan Larson and Huiyi Chen at Jenner & Block.
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A Look At Florida's Aggressively Pro-Insurer Tort Reform
Florida's new tort reform law is an unwarranted gift to insurance companies that seeks to strip policyholders of key rights while doing little to curb excessive litigation, say Garrett Nemeroff and Hugh Lumpkin at Reed Smith.
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Navigating High Court's Options In Insurer Choice Of Law
Depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court approaches the question of when insurers may invoke choice-of-law clauses in maritime contracts to dodge state-specific liability, the Great Lakes v. Raiders Retreat Realty decision may mean significant changes not only for admiralty law disputes, but for the insurance industry more broadly, say Lara Cassidy and Adriana Perez at Hunton.
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7th Circ. Adds To Range Of Opinions On MCS-90 Endorsement
The Seventh Circuit's recent opinion in Prime Insurance Company v. Wright helps illustrate how the variation among courts as to when the federally mandated MCS-90 insurance endorsement for motor carriers is satisfied often hinges on exactly how "interstate commerce" is defined, says Rick Boepple at Akerman.