General Liability
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April 25, 2024
Driving Data Suits Highlight Auto Privacy, Insurance Risks
A spate of suits charging General Motors with harvesting driver data without permission and sharing it with data broker LexisNexis Risk Solutions highlights policyholder privacy risks and erosion of trust over extensive auto data collection, experts told Law360.
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April 25, 2024
5th Circ. May Ponder If Threats Are Claims In Healthcare Suit
The Fifth Circuit will review Monday if a healthcare company is covered for a more than $200,000 settlement over mistakenly approving out-of-state treatment for a Florida Medicaid patient, with the case potentially hinging on whether a letter threatening litigation against another party constitutes a claim. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of oral arguments.
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April 25, 2024
Fla. High Court Says PIP Law Doesn't Mandate 100% Payment
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Allstate Insurance Co. is not required to pay 100% of a chiropractic provider's charges under a personal injury protection policy, saying to enact such a requirement would misread both Florida's PIP law and Allstate's policy.
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April 25, 2024
New PFAS Rules Portend More Insurance, Superfund Suits
New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency designating as hazardous so-called forever chemicals, and limiting those toxic chemicals in water supplies, are likely to contribute to a wave of insurance litigation over liabilities, while potentially posing new coverage implications for companies involved in Superfund sites.
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April 25, 2024
Emotional Damages Not Covered In OD Suit, Pa. Justices Rule
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling that a Nationwide unit had a duty to defend two homeowners in a suit over a man's fatal overdose under their roof, holding Thursday that underlying emotional distress damages don't fall within the policy's definition of bodily injury.
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April 25, 2024
Insurance Backs Up College Athletes About To Turn Pro
As the NFL draft begins, experts tell Law360 how changing circumstances make it ever more important for athletes transitioning from the college to professional level to secure insurance coverage, should an injury derail a pro career.
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April 24, 2024
Insurer Wants Other Carrier's Third-Party Coverage Suit Axed
An insurer asked a Colorado federal court to toss Acuity's third-party suit alleging breach of contract in a coverage dispute over a construction defect arbitration proceeding, saying the claim failed because there is no privity of contract between the two carriers.
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April 24, 2024
Insurer Can't Raise Neglect Row To High Court, Patient Says
An Arizona patient who won $1.5 million on negligence claims against a skilled nursing facility urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition from the facility's insurer seeking to arbitrate the patient's garnishment action, arguing the Ninth Circuit already decided the issue.
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April 23, 2024
NY Panel Partially Revives Chubb, Archdiocese Abuse Row
A New York state appeals court partially revived Chubb's coverage dispute stemming from sexual abuse claims brought against the Archdiocese of New York, finding Tuesday that a trial court incorrectly based its dismissal on underlying allegations rather than the present action.
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April 22, 2024
Colo. Justices Clarify Med Mal Damages Cap Calculation
The Colorado Supreme Court held Monday that a trial court can't consider a victorious medical malpractice plaintiff's insurance liabilities to statutorily cap his award at $1 million, saying an exception to the state's "collateral source" statute bars application.
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April 22, 2024
Ill. Panel Relieves Insurer Of $8.3M Cracker Caper Judgment
An insurer was relieved of covering a dispute between cracker manufacturers, an Illinois state appeals panel affirmed, finding allegations of equipment theft that led to an $8.3 million judgment against Distinctive Foods LLC constituted non-covered intentional interference with RyKrisp LLC.
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April 19, 2024
CORRECTED: Fla. Jury Says AIG Mishandled Claim For Irma Damage
A Florida federal jury on Friday found that AIG mishandled part of the claims process for damage from Hurricane Irma to a $95 million oceanfront mansion near Miami but declined to award punitive damages against the insurer.
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April 19, 2024
Mich. Judge Says $12K Fee Spat 'Tremendous Waste Of Time'
A Michigan federal judge on Friday urged attorneys in a slip-and-fall suit to figure out a $12,000 fee dispute soon or risk having to spend a day in person with him in a conference with their clients, something he joked that "nobody ever wants to do."
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April 19, 2024
The Week In Trump: NY Trial And A High Court Date Loom
Despite a few snags, jury selection for Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan unfolded relatively quickly, clearing the way for opening statements Monday in the historic case as the former president prepped for a U.S. Supreme Court debate over his supposed immunity.
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April 18, 2024
Justices' Corporate Disclosure Ruling Dodges D&O Upheaval
A U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited when securities fraud claims can be brought for a failure to disclose information relieved policyholder experts, who told Law360 that the justices avoided major consequences for directors and officers policies.
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April 18, 2024
Mich. High Court Takes Up Insurer Garnishment Dispute
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Thursday to consider whether an insurer's supposed bad faith refusal to settle a claim can be litigated in a garnishment action in The Burlington Insurance Co.'s appeal of an injured worker's attempt to collect the unsatisfied portion of a $13.7 million judgment.
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April 18, 2024
Four Environmental Issues Insurers Eye On Earth Day
From questions over climate disclosure rules to a rapidly increasing landscape of flood risk, Earth Day this year offers a chance to take stock of how much climate change has affected the insurance industry and the consumers that rely on it for disaster relief. Here, ahead of the annual quasi-holiday on April 22, Law360 looks at some of the most important insurance trends and stories related to the environment.
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April 18, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
California's attorney general stepped into an unfair competition dispute with State Farm, Allstate demanded that a former contractor stop spreading lies, a session replay suit against Liberty Mutual was paused, and the Eleventh Circuit pondered whether an insurer should pay a nonapportioned settlement.
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April 18, 2024
Ohtani Theft Scandal Loads Bases For Insurance Claims
The embezzlement and sports betting scandal that has ensnared Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter could implicate a range of insurance and civil litigation possibilities, coverage experts say, pointing to criminal allegations that Ohtani was defrauded of $16 million.
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April 18, 2024
Admiral Balks At Covering Menendez Ally In Pollution Suit
Admiral Insurance Co. is asking a New Jersey federal court for a declaration that it owes no coverage to a businessman who is a co-defendant in U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial in a decade-long suit by Edgewater Borough over contamination at a construction site.
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April 17, 2024
Wash. Winemaker Wants Insurers To Cover $30M Spoiled Wine
A Washington state winemaker has launched a lawsuit against certain Lloyd's of London underwriters in state court, seeking coverage under a pair of insurance policies for more than $30 million worth of cabernet sauvignon that became too acidic to sell while being stored by another wine producer prior to bottling.
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April 17, 2024
Liberty Mutual's Spyware Suit Halted Pending 3rd Circ. Appeal
A proposed class action accusing Liberty Mutual of using software to track customers' actions on its website without consent was put on hold Wednesday by a Pennsylvania federal judge pending guidance from the Third Circuit in a similar case.
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April 16, 2024
3rd Circ. Cuts Claims In Geico Vehicle Value-Adjustment Suit
A New Jersey couple can't bring class-action claims against Geico over it allegedly knocking too much off the payout value on totaled cars, since the company ultimately adjusted their personal claim settlement offer upward, a Third Circuit panel has ruled.
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April 16, 2024
11th Circ. Asks If Undivided Settlement Can Still Be Covered
An Eleventh Circuit panel seemed torn Tuesday on whether to allow insurance coverage for a $557,000 nonapportioned Georgia federal settlement that potentially included both covered theft and noncovered negligent deconstruction, awarded to a Georgia mill owner who hired the insured.
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April 16, 2024
AIG Unit Must Cover $20M Botched Tunnel Project, Court Told
A Michigan county's water resources commissioner and sewage disposal system accused an AIG unit of failing to arbitrate their coverage claims over a design contractor's faulty work on a tunnel project, claiming they've suffered more than $20 million in damages.
Expert Analysis
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Recent Decisions Are Eroding All-Risk Insurance Coverage
All-risk insurance coverage is under siege by insurers' broad interpretations of established exclusions, and recent decisions in New Jersey and New Hampshire have shown that courts may not protect coverage despite the policies' text and intent, says Nicholas Insua at Reed Smith.
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The Insurance Industry's Growing Potential Role In Gun Safety
This year has seen two unprecedented events — the passage of a municipal requirement for gun owners' liability insurance, and the Sandy Hook class action settlement — that may motivate insurers to help regulate firearms, but several reasons could hold them back, says Peter Kochenburger at UConn.
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Opioid Case May Guide Climate Change Insurance Suits
A recent opioid case in California federal court that defined "accident" narrowly is based on allegations analogous to those in many climate change lawsuits, and may help insurers assess whether they have a duty to defend, say Dennis Anderson and Nick Dolejsi at Zelle.
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2 Calif. Insurance Decisions Question Boundaries Of Fortuity
Last month, California state and federal courts revisited fortuity issues in two decisions that show how the occurrence requirement and the California Insurance Code's prohibition on coverage for an insured's willful acts can be exceedingly difficult to apply to lawsuits alleging novel legal theories, say Jodi Green and Sophia von Bergen at Miller Nash.
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Insurer Implications As 3 Climate Suits Return To State Courts
Three federal circuit courts recently remanded climate change lawsuits brought by state and local governments against major energy corporations back to state courts, where plaintiffs are more likely to succeed, thus significantly increasing their insurers' and reinsurers' exposure to defense costs and judgments, say José Umbert and Jason Reeves at Zelle.
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6 Rulings Reinforce BIPA Coverage For Illinois Policyholders
Six well-reasoned recent decisions in the Northern District of Illinois have considerably strengthened policyholders’ arguments for commercial general liability coverage in lawsuits brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, say attorneys at Neal Gerber.
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'Take Home' COVID And Emerging Liability Insurance Issues
Plaintiffs may face an uphill battle in take-home COVID-19 suits — cases filed against employers when employees contract the virus at work and then infect their family members — but insurers could still be on the hook for defense costs in protracted litigation, say Melissa D'Alelio and Michael Collier at Robins Kaplan.
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The Misinterpretation Of Pa.'s Bad Faith Claims Handling Rule
Courts applying Pennsylvania law in insurance coverage disputes, such as the recently decided Walker v. Foremost Insurance, and finding that where an insurer establishes that the subject claim is not covered by the insurer’s policy there can also be no bad faith claim by the insured, are inaccurately interpreting state law, say George Stewart and Max Louik at Reed Smith.
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3 Insurance Lessons From Target Data Breach Ruling
In Target v. ACE American Insurance, a Minnesota federal court recently recognized that commercial general liability policies cover losses arising from data breaches, providing useful lessons for policyholders, including a perspective on occurrence and loss of use, say attorneys at Pasich.
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Del. Related Claims Ruling Is Good News For Insurers
The Delaware Supreme Court recently denied coverage for a shareholder class action in First Solar v. National Union First Insurance, rejecting the test for assessing relatedness-based coverage issues, and opening the door for insurers to rely on specific policy wording when evaluating related claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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How Sonic Boom Risk Informs 'Physical Loss' For COVID Era
Applied to today's COVID-19 business interruption insurance battles, insurers' historical treatment of damage associated with sonic booms — or explosive sounds stemming from supersonic airplane speeds — may call into question the many court rulings barring coverage for pandemic-related losses on narrow physical loss grounds, say Peter Kochenburger at the University of Connecticut and Jeffrey Stempel at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Justices Must Apply Law Evenly In Shadow Docket Rulings
In recent shadow docket decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has inconsistently applied the requirement that parties demonstrate irreparable harm to obtain injunctive relief, which is problematic for two separate but related reasons, says David Hopkins at Benesch.
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Where NY Regulator's Insurance Investigation Is Headed
The New York Department of Financial Services' recent inquiry into property and casualty insurers' usage of credit information in underwriting could precede a number of actions addressing the practice, say Matthew Gaul and Maxfield Fey at Willkie.