Property
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March 14, 2024
Insurer Climate Info Partnership Ups Federal Monitor's Role
A new data-sharing partnership between the U.S. Treasury and state insurance regulators reflects the government's growing interest in understanding and monitoring climate change risks to insurance markets, experts say, but questions remain over the extent to which the data will fully reflect the industry's risks and carbon footprint.
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March 14, 2024
4th Circ. Weighs Insurer's Duty To Defend Land-Use Dispute
The Fourth Circuit will decide whether to overturn a West Virginia federal ruling allowing an insurer to avoid covering a sustainable farm that has been accused by the oil and gas company of blocking it from drilling wells in a $4 million state land-use dispute. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of the forthcoming decision.
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March 14, 2024
Justices To Weigh Free Speech, Gov't Oversight In NRA Row
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week over whether a former New York state official illegally pressured financial institutions to cut ties to the National Rifle Association, setting up a showdown between free speech rights and regulatory oversight.
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March 14, 2024
La. Strip Mall Says Insurers' Arbitration Clause Unenforceable
A New Orleans-area strip mall owner said it shouldn't be forced to arbitrate its bad faith claim against its insurers for the handling of its Hurricane Ida damage claim, telling a Louisiana federal court that the arbitration clause in its policies is unenforceable.
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March 14, 2024
An Insurance Attorney's Call To Military Service
Jeffrey Bristol of Parrish Law PA is a self-described "later-in-life lawyer" wearing many hats because he has dedicated more than a decade to serving in multiple branches of the U.S. armed forces.
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March 14, 2024
Towers Watson Ruling Energizes Bump-Up Supporters, Critics
A Virginia federal court decision freeing Towers Watson's insurers from covering shareholder suit settlements totaling $90 million has offered carriers support for their use of the so-called bump-up exclusion and prompted criticism from policyholders that the exclusion has gone too far.
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March 13, 2024
Wash. Law Firm, Travelers Settle $136K Theft Coverage Fight
A Seattle law firm and Travelers settled their coverage dispute over an employee's nearly $136,000 worth of unauthorized charges on a credit card, the parties told a Washington federal court.
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March 13, 2024
Ala. Hotelier Says Insurer Must Cover Fire Damage
A Montgomery, Alabama, hotel owner said an insurer must cover a property-destroying fire under a $13 million policy, telling a New York federal court the insurer made "no attempt whatsoever" to meet its obligations despite the hotelier having met all conditions under the policy.
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March 12, 2024
La. Property Owners, Insurers Settle $5M Hurricane Ida Fight
Lloyd's of London and other insurers and underwriters have agreed to settle claims by a group of New Orleans-area property owners who allege the insurers wrongly denied more than $5.1 million in claims from Hurricane Ida damage after the insurers demanded the dispute be resolved in arbitration.
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March 12, 2024
Maui Wildfire Case Sent Back To Hawaii State Court
A Hawaii federal judge lobbed to state court a family's suit seeking to hold Maui County, energy utilities, telecommunication companies and others liable for property damage caused by a wildfire that left over 100 people dead, rejecting the defendants' argument this case should be removed and consolidated in federal court.
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March 12, 2024
Pa. Property Owner Knocks Insurer's Early Win Bid
A Pennsylvania property owner urged a federal court to reject its insurer's bid for a pretrial win, arguing that a vacancy provision in its policy is ambiguous and does not preclude coverage of the $5 million in damages it seeks following a warehouse break-in.
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March 11, 2024
Prejudice Rule Applies To Property Claims, Colo. Justices Say
A rule excusing some policyholders for filing late claims applies to occurrence-based, first-party homeowners' property policies, a divided Colorado Supreme Court held Monday, reversing two insurers' wins in a pair of coverage disputes over hail damage.
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March 11, 2024
Travelers Owes No Coverage For Mo. Wall Mishap, Judge Says
Travelers has no duty to provide over $1.4 million to a St. Louis area property developer for administrative expenses and loss of rental income stemming from a retaining wall failure, a Missouri federal court ruled Monday, finding such coverage didn't extend to additional insureds on a general contractor's policy.
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March 11, 2024
Atty, Marketing Biz Knock Call To Continue Hurricane Ad Suit
A legal advertising company and an attorney are objecting to a Texas federal judge's recent decision in favor of a woman pressing class claims over legal advertising to Louisiana hurricane victims, arguing that the woman still hasn't shown concrete injury.
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March 08, 2024
State Farm Beats Spas' COVID Shutdown Suit At 4th Circ.
The Fourth Circuit sided with State Farm insurance entities Friday in tossing a coverage dispute brought by a class of spa businesses alleging they were owed under "all risk" policies after COVID shutdown orders, with the court holding that recent precedent determined similar policies dealt with physical damage, not business closings.
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March 07, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The California Supreme Court heard COVID-19 coverage arguments, the Fifth Circuit ordered arbitration between a property owner and its domestic insurers, and a New Hampshire federal court said Liberty Mutual owes no defense for class action claims over a sleep machine cleaner.
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March 07, 2024
5th Circ. Affirms Arbitration In Hurricane Coverage Feud
The Fifth Circuit has ordered the owner of a New Orleans luxury apartment and retail complex to arbitrate a dispute with its domestic surplus lines insurers over coverage for $7 million in hurricane damage, ruling that arbitration is permitted under a carveout in conflicting Louisiana state law.
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March 07, 2024
Mixed Feelings On AI At Cyberinsurance Symposium
Panelists at the Professional Liability Underwriting Society's cyber symposium in New York City on Tuesday and Wednesday were both excited and scared about generative artificial intelligence, acknowledging that it may be used in more complicated cyberattacks yet curious about the possibility the new market could bring.
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March 07, 2024
Texas Wildfires Strike Underinsured Agricultural Sector
A series of Texas wildfires including one estimated to be the worst in the state's history are underscoring the increasing risk of severe natural catastrophes to underinsured populations and insurance markets already under stress, experts say.
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March 07, 2024
Anti-Fraud Tool At Risk In 8th Circ. Billing Row, Carriers Say
Insurers' ability to enter agreements that limit billings with healthcare providers, which they contend help combat insurance fraud, is up in the air in Minnesota as the Eighth Circuit gears up to hear arguments Thursday over whether such agreements violate a state law guaranteeing prompt automobile accident insurance payouts.
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March 07, 2024
Towers Watson Insurers Off Hook For $90M Merger Coverage
Towers Watson's insurers do not need to cover settlements totaling $90 million in two shareholder suits stemming from the company's merger with Willis, a Virginia federal judge ruled, saying the transaction was barred by a so-called bump-up exclusion.
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March 07, 2024
Women In Insurance Law On Breaking Down Barriers
Building a better environment for women in the legal industry starts from the top, women in insurance law told Law360. To mark International Women's Day, both junior and senior women attorneys share their experiences in the industry and offer words of advice.
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March 06, 2024
Fla. Judge Relieves Insurer Of $1M Construction Defect Row
An insurer has no obligation to defend or indemnify a general contractor or subcontractor in an over $1 million faulty construction dispute, a Florida federal judge ruled, finding that the subcontractor's policies contained an unambiguous "residential construction" exclusion that clearly barred coverage.
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March 06, 2024
Power Co. Can't Escape Explosion Fraud Claim
An infrastructure supply company can't toss a fraud claim brought by an industrial company's insurers in a suit seeking to recoup $18.7 million in damages for a manufacturing facility explosion, an Ohio federal court ruled, finding that the carriers can bring both a breach of contract claim and a fraud claim.
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March 05, 2024
Calif. Justice Asks Why COVID Triggers Insurance But Not Flu
A California Supreme Court justice appeared skeptical during a hearing Tuesday that COVID-19's presence fulfills the "physical loss or damage" requirement in commercial property insurance policies under Golden State law, questioning whether COVID-19 is different from the flu with respect to property coverage and calling asbestos litigation "far afield."
Expert Analysis
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What Mainstreaming Of Litigation Finance Means For Industry
The rush of new capital and investors into the litigation funding space is expected to bring heightened competition on price and other key deal terms, but litigants will need to be more in tune with individual financiers' proclivities, says William Weisman at Therium Capital Management.
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After Ida, A Look At Sandy's Flood Insurance Lessons
The flood insurance experience gained in connection with Superstorm Sandy can offer valuable lessons to those that have suffered a flood loss from the recent Hurricane Ida, and can guide others before and after the next storm, say Lee Epstein and Matthew Goldstein at Flaster Greenberg.
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Federal Courts Make 2 Basic Errors In Virus Coverage Rulings
Many federal courts deciding dispositive motions in COVID-19 business interruption coverage cases are neglecting fundamental precepts of civil procedure by acting as fact-finders or failing to defer to forum state decisions, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Lifting The Veil On The Supreme Court's Shadow Docket
Following headline-making U.S. Supreme Court emergency orders on Texas’ new abortion law, COVID-19 restrictions and more, Vetan Kapoor, counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, examines the court's so-called shadow docket and its decision-making procedures, including questions around transparency, timing and precedential effect.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: DC On Long-Term Care
Washington, D.C., Insurance Commissioner Karima Woods outlines the development of insurance coverage for older adults' long-term care benefits and how regulators and the industry are attempting to resolve issues with the popular product.
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Embracing ESG: United Natural Foods GC Talks Bottom Line
In prioritizing environmental, social and governance initiatives as strategic value drivers, corporate general counsel can leverage meaningful ESG progress to benefit both the business's bottom line and the wider world, says Jill Sutton at United Natural Foods.
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Ruling Rightly Sends COVID Biz Interruption Question To Jury
After a string of insurer coronavirus coverage wins on dispositive motions, a Missouri federal court's ruling this week in favor of the policyholder in K.C. Hopps v. Cincinnati Insurance places the decision-making responsibility about the facts and science in COVID-19 business interruption cases back where it belongs — with a jury, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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Policyholder Outlook Following UK Biz Interruption Test Case
In the nine months since the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in favor of policyholders in the Financial Conduct Authority’s test case on insurance coverage for COVID-19 businesses interruption claims, similar lawsuits filed against insurers show that a positive outcome for insureds is not guaranteed, say Peter Sharp and Paul Mesquitta at Morgan Lewis.
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Justice Gap Demands Look At New Legal Service Models
Current restrictions on how lawyers structure their businesses stand in the way of meaningful access to justice for many Americans, so states should follow the lead of Utah and Florida and test out innovative law firm business models through regulatory sandboxes, says Zachariah DeMeola at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.
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Lessons From 3rd Circ. COVID Biz Interruption Ruling
The Third Circuit's recent DiAnoia's v. Motorists Mutual Insurance decision, directing district courts to reevaluate their remand of three pandemic-related business interruption cases to state courts, holds a lesson that determining Declaratory Judgment Act jurisdiction requires a rigorous analysis of all factors, says Regen O'Malley at Gordon Rees.
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What 5th Circ. Ruling Means For Insurers' Post-Award Liability
The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Randel v. Travelers, holding that an insurer's timely preappraisal payment did not extinguish its liability to its insured, highlights the importance of thoroughness and accuracy in initial loss inspections, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Del. Tackles Mental Health
Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro highlights the state's efforts to achieve insurance coverage parity for mental health care by confronting systemic stigma and penalizing disparate and restrictive insurance determinations.
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Key Takeaways From The NAIC Summer National Meeting
Stephanie Duchene and Kara Baysinger at Willkie highlight what insurance practitioners should know about top industry priorities from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recent national meeting, including climate-related risk, diversity and inclusion, and technological innovation.