Property
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April 10, 2024
La. Top Court Asked To Hear Insurance Arbitration Questions
The Louisiana Supreme Court should examine the enforceability of arbitration clauses in certain insurance contracts as lawsuits seeking coverage for hurricane damage mount, a Louisiana district court said, certifying a series of questions to the state high court after the Fifth Circuit found they were enforceable.
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April 10, 2024
'Let's Get Physical': Pa. Justices Tune In To COVID-19 Coverage
One of late singer Olivia Newton-John's greatest hits struck a chord with a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Wednesday as he considered whether insurers should cover business losses stemming from government shutdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Trump Finance Chief Weisselberg Jailed For Perjury
A New York state judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to five months in jail for lying under oath in the attorney general's civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his business associates, imprisoning a close ally of the former president on the eve of his hush-money trial.
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April 09, 2024
9th Circ. Says Hotel, Restaurant Virus Losses Not Covered
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday said two groups of Washington state restaurants and hotels can't claim COVID-related business losses under their insurance policies because they failed to show they physically lost functional use of their properties as a result of the virus.
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April 09, 2024
4th Circ. Tosses Duty To Defend Case Over Oil Co.'s Objection
The Fourth Circuit said Tuesday that a West Virginia oil and gas company lacked standing to continue an appeal that was originally brought by a green grower, which had sought coverage from its insurer for an underlying $4 million land use dispute with the extractor.
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April 09, 2024
Insurance Firm Will Pay $4M To End Calif. Wage Class Action
A California federal judge gave the green light to a $4 million class action settlement resolving allegations that an insurance and risk management company didn't closely track workers' hours, which resulted in underpayment for over 2,100 workers.
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April 09, 2024
Trump Opposes NY Monitor Probe After Exec's Perjury
Attorneys for Donald Trump argued against allowing a court-appointed monitor of the Trump Organization to look into supposed discovery lapses in the New York attorney general's civil business fraud case related to a perjury plea by the company's former longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
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April 09, 2024
Embattled Houston Law Firm Files Ch. 11
Insurance law firm MMA Law Firm on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court, weeks after a federal judge declined to toss a suit seeking class damages over the Houston firm's allegedly illegal efforts to solicit clients in hurricane-related property damage cases.
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April 08, 2024
AIG Acted In Bad Faith In Hurricane Dispute, Homeowners Say
Owners of a $95 million oceanfront mansion near Miami told jurors Monday that AIG should be punished for acting in bad faith in handling a claim for damage from Hurricane Irma, saying the company repeatedly prioritized maximizing profits at the expense of customer service.
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April 08, 2024
Texas School District Not Immune In Arbitration Row
A Texas school district isn't immune from a lawsuit by its insurers seeking to appoint an umpire in a $10 million hurricane damage dispute, a New York federal court ruled Monday, finding the district doesn't meet the standards set under the 11th Amendment.
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April 08, 2024
Conn. Law Firm Demands Insurer Pay More For Leak In Office
A Connecticut law firm and a real estate company have accused their insurer of failing to fully cover damage from a leak at their New Haven offices despite a $2.2 million policy in a suit removed to Connecticut federal court by the insurer.
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April 08, 2024
Insurer Fights 3rd Circ. Bid To Revive Crash Coverage Suit
An insurer has urged the Third Circuit to affirm that a Pennsylvania couple couldn't claim it had acted in bad faith by failing to immediately cover the husband's brain injuries from a crash with an underinsured motorist.
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April 05, 2024
NJ Recycler's Fire Damage Suit To Remain In NJ, Judge Rules
A New Jersey federal judge declined to move a paper recycler's fire coverage dispute to New York, but did agree to toss one of its claims against its insurer, finding the recycler's declaratory judgment and breach of contract claims were duplicative.
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April 05, 2024
Conn. Court Limits Payouts For Underinsured Motorist Policies
Siding with Safeco Insurance Co. and overturning a lower court's calculations, the Connecticut Appellate Court on Friday cemented the insurance industry's ability to escape underinsured motorist claims by injured policyholders whose coverage equals that of drivers at fault, even when at-fault drivers' insurers divvy up smaller payments.
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April 05, 2024
Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: COVID Coverage Starts Spring
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's April lineup will prepare the justices to deliver highly anticipated guidance on whether business losses stemming COVID-19 pandemic orders should be covered by insurance and if Pittsburgh can compel rental-property owners to register and undergo training.
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April 05, 2024
Chinese Insurer Awarded Nearly $15M Over Hotel Theft Suit
A California federal judge awarded a Chinese insurer nearly $15 million in damages after a man accused of conspiring to fraudulently claim ownership of New York City's JW Marriott Essex House Hotel and other luxury properties failed to appear in the action.
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April 04, 2024
Homeowner Asks 9th Circ. To Rethink Fire Coverage Ruling
A woman who was prevented from coverage of a 2021 house fire by the Ninth Circuit asked the court to rehear her case, arguing among other things that she did not lie to her insurer about renting her home, because she didn't fill out the insurance application.
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April 04, 2024
Trump Fraud Appeal Spotlights Underwriting Irregularities
Donald Trump's ongoing challenge to a $465 million civil fraud judgment for a decadelong valuation fraud conspiracy raises questions about insurance procedures, how underwriters price risk and who is harmed by the alleged fraud perpetrated by the former president and his associates.
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April 04, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Ninth Circuit heard a coverage dispute over an unsuccessful shipwreck salvaging expedition, Delaware's justices agreed to consider whether an ex-Xerox unit tried to defraud insurers into covering a $236 million settlement, and the owner of Washington, D.C., professional sports teams ended its bid for COVID-19 coverage.
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April 04, 2024
A College Professor's Approach To Insurance
A strong education is crucial to address the role insurance plays on both the personal and professional level — something University of Georgia professor Rob Hoyt demonstrates in his classroom. Here, Law360 speaks to Hoyt about how research, teaching and service guide his work.
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April 04, 2024
NY AG Wants Trump Insurer To Guarantee $175M Bond
New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a Manhattan judge Thursday to make sure the California insurer that agreed to post Donald Trump's $175 million bond in his civil business fraud case can actually pay.
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April 04, 2024
Last-Resort Insurers Grapple With Increasing Exposure
Insurance pools meant to serve as backstops for consumers shut out of traditional markets are grappling with increased exposure to natural disasters, according to experts and market data, a trend that observers say is concerning as climate change intensifies storms.
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April 04, 2024
Surfside, Fla., Condo Collapse Victims To Get Additional $4.8M
A Florida judge signed off Thursday on an additional $4.8 million distribution to the victims of the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium after the receiver overseeing the defunct condominium association told the court the association had fewer financial obligations and tax liabilities than expected.
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April 03, 2024
5th Circ. Remands Roof Tile Row To Texas District Court
State Farm and a couple must further litigate whether there's coverage for hailstorm-related roof repairs under a policy provision covering costs to keep their home up to code, the Fifth Circuit ruled, finding a genuine factual dispute over whether replacement roof tiles interlock with original ones.
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April 03, 2024
Insurer Says Rail Co. Must Pay In $400K Spoiled Chicken Suit
Over $400,000 worth of frozen chicken thighs rotted on the move to Oregon, and an insurer who covered the putrid loss told a South Carolina federal court that the rail company responsible should pay for the screw-up.
Expert Analysis
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Associate Hiring Outlook At Law Firms Is Bright For 2022
After a year of extraordinary signing bonuses, nearly instantaneous offers and flexible work arrangements, strong demand for talented law firm associates will continue into 2022 — with some differences between East and West Coast markets — and junior attorneys should take steps to capitalize on the opportunity, say Ru Bhatt and Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Guest Articles Of 2021
Popular legal industry guest articles this year included commentary on the admissibility of video depositions, an unusual U.S. Supreme Court citation, the perils of lawyer perfectionism, and more.
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How Firms Can Adapt Amid COVID's Shifting Legal Needs
Avi Stadler at Esquire Deposition Solutions discusses the practice areas that are expanding most aggressively during the COVID-19 era of increased litigation and technology needs, and offers recommendations for how law firms can attract and retain the expertise they need to thrive in today's competitive market for legal services.
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How 11th Circ. Ruling Dominated 2021 COVID Insurance Cases
Despite being a case about construction dust and debris, the Eleventh Circuit’s 2020 opinion in Mama Jo’s v. Sparta Insurance had a pervasive and unwarranted effect this year on coverage for business interruption losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.
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When And How To Depose Fact Witnesses Remotely In 2022
Tim Tryniecki and Thomas Mudd at MG+M offer a series of practice tips for successfully conducting remote depositions of often-inexperienced fact witnesses, as the virtual court proceedings sparked by COVID-19 look set to become a part of the legal landscape next year.
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JP Morgan Ruling May Have Broad Insurance Implications
The New York Court of Appeals' recent decision in J.P. Morgan Securities v. Vigilant Insurance — that settlement funds paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not constitute a penalty for insurance purposes — could have far-reaching application in other types of insurance litigation where plaintiffs could be characterized as seeking equitable relief, say Robert Shulman and Cristen Rose at Paley Rothman.
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Embracing ESG: PayPal CLO Talks Gauging Impact And Intent
For legal teams, the corporate evolution toward more intentional post-COVID-19 environmental, social and governance strategies means deeper integration across business functions, seeking counsel on emerging issues affecting stakeholders, adapting initiatives around changing policies and regulations, and advancing ESG reports to better measure impact, says Louise Pentland at PayPal.
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2 Insurance Rulings Showcase Trend Favoring Appraisal
Two recent decisions from a Florida state court and the Tenth Circuit are consistent with the purpose of, and overwhelming judicial preference toward, appraisal as a means of property claim resolution, ensuring that policyholders have further support in employing this tool against a reluctant insurer, say Matthew Weaver and Jessica Gopiao at Reed Smith.
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COVID Insurance Cases Highlight Federal-State Court Tension
COVID-19 insurance coverage litigation has resulted in an unprecedented number of federal courts preemptively ruling on an area of law in which state courts have final say — a problematic trend with likely undesirable results for litigants unless federal courts consider certain proactive solutions, says John Koch at Flaster Greenberg.
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Strike And Riot Insurance Considerations For Policyholders
As civil unrest risks evolve, outpacing the insurance products designed to cover them, businesses relying on strike, riot and civil commotion coverage or commercial property coverage should review key aspects of their policies, say Jillian Raines and Shafkat Rakib at Cohen Ziffer.
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Texas Insurers' Paths To Post-Appraisal Summary Judgment
Despite Texas insurance law changes that have altered the interaction between appraisal awards and certain extracontractual claims, recent state and federal court decisions show insurers still have options for summary judgment on policyholders' claims after the entry of an appraisal award, say Michael O'Brien and Claire Fialcowitz at Zelle.
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What To Include In Orders Governing Remote Arbitration
When conducting remote arbitration, attorneys should negotiate written orders that spell out clear rules on technology accommodations, document handling, witness readiness and other key considerations to ensure parties' rights are protected and the neutral's time is not wasted, say Matthew Williams and Christina Sarchio at Dechert.
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Insurers Should Honor Astroworld Coverage Obligations
While insurers may be eager to shift blame on Astroworld showrunner Travis Scott for conditions that resulted in 10 deaths and dozens of injuries, arguments suggesting the tragedy shouldn't be covered appear baseless in light of the facts and the law, says Benjamin Massarsky at Miller Friel.