Specialty Lines
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August 29, 2024
Data Breach Victims Get Initial Green Light For $1.5M Deal
A proposed class of policyholders, employees and stakeholders has received an initial nod of approval from a federal judge in North Carolina on its $1.5 million settlement with a construction industry insurer over a 2022 data breach.
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August 29, 2024
9th Circ. Case May Hinge On When Is Rain Not Rain
The Ninth Circuit’s coming review of whether a rain exclusion bars a contractor’s claim for more than $7.5 million in water damage to a Hilton hotel it was building in Washington state will potentially turn on the policies’ definition of flood. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of oral arguments on Sept. 10.
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August 28, 2024
Suit Against BCBS Unit Over COVID-19 Test Claims Tossed
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday nixed a laboratory's lawsuit accusing a Blue Cross Blue Shield unit of violating state and federal laws by underpaying or refusing to pay COVID-19 testing claims during the pandemic.
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August 28, 2024
Insurer Avoids Covering $1.9M Conn. Securities Judgment
A Liberty Mutual unit has no duty to cover an approximately $1.9 million stipulated judgment a couple won after alleging that certain officials of a company Liberty insured defrauded them into investing, a Connecticut state court ruled, finding that covering the judgment would violate state public policy.
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August 27, 2024
No Coverage For Tire Co.'s Unpaid Invoices, Judge Rules
A tire manufacturer cannot get insurance coverage for millions in unpaid invoices it is owed, a Florida federal court has ruled, finding that the manufacturer made a material misrepresentation in its insurance application concerning the creditworthiness of one of its largest customers.
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August 26, 2024
Bank Co. Disputes AIG's Reading Of Covered Defense Costs
A bank owner defended its amended claims that an AIG unit violated the Texas Insurance Code, telling a Texas federal court that AIG unlawfully issued it late defense payments and refused to cover defense costs that "incidentally" benefited its affirmative underlying claims.
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August 23, 2024
Split 6th Circ. Refuses To Undo Amway's $37M Coverage Win
The Sixth Circuit affirmed Friday that an AIG unit must pay $37 million for failing to defend and indemnify Amway and parent company Alticor in a dustup with major record companies over the use of copyrighted music in ads.
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August 23, 2024
Everest Re Unit Escapes Data Breach Class Action
A New Jersey federal judge has tossed a proposed class action claiming that an Everest Re unit failed to protect customers' personal information during a data breach, ruling that the suit fails to show that the company had a duty to protect their information.
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August 22, 2024
Construction Co. Says It's Owed Coverage For Sinkhole Claim
A Washington construction company has filed a suit seeking to force an insurer to cover potential damages in an underlying lawsuit alleging the company botched a sewer pipeline replacement project, causing a sinkhole to open up along a Seattle ship canal after the job ended.
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August 22, 2024
Multi-Deal Insurance On The Rise In Cooler M&A Market
As M&A activity continues to recover from its peak in 2021, insurers are now increasingly issuing representation and warranty policies covering not just one underlying deal, but a buyer's portfolio of prospective acquisitions, experts tell Law360.
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August 22, 2024
Midyear Check-In 2024: Rite Aid Bankruptcy
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid Inc. entered bankruptcy last year facing billions of dollars in bank debt and staggering liabilities in connection with the national opioid crisis, but its trip through Chapter 11 resulted in a confirmed plan that addresses these obligations.
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August 22, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
CVS has no coverage for 200 opioid actions, State Farm auto policyholders have another shot at an underpayment class action, Travelers settled with a thieving law firm and Safeco says a man who allegedly gave his girlfriend herpes is on his own. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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August 22, 2024
Motor Home Policy Is Stackable, Widow Tells NC Court
The widow of a North Carolina man who was fatally struck by a car told a state appeals court that she's allowed to stack two underinsured motorist policies to recover a $625,000 wrongful death award in her favor because the second policy included a "private passenger motor vehicle."
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August 22, 2024
In 'Super Like' Coverage Bid, Tinder Seeks Match With NY Law
A New York federal court's contemplation of whether Tinder owner Match Group has coverage for a lawsuit alleging it stiffed a developer who invented the app's "Super Like" function could provide clarity on when and how a state law applies to extend reporting deadlines in insurance policies.
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August 22, 2024
NY AG Tells Appeals Court To Uphold $465M Trump Judgment
Donald Trump has barely challenged the extensive proof of financial statement lies undergirding a $465 million civil fraud judgment against him and his co-defendants, New York's attorney general said in an appeals brief looking to preserve the bench verdict.
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August 22, 2024
Fisher Phillips Brings Smith Gambrell Atty To DC Gov't Team
Fisher Phillips' new D.C.-based agriculture employment partner has practiced several types of law throughout his career, and told Law360 Pulse Thursday that his employment law career started unexpectedly after a managing partner at one of his first firms called out sick before an interview.
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August 22, 2024
Ga. Mineral Co., Insurer Strike Deal In Talc Coverage Suit
Phoenix Insurance Co. reached a contingent settlement with a Georgia-based mineral products company in litigation seeking to force the insurer to defend the company against an underlying suit claiming it supplied asbestos-containing talc products.
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August 22, 2024
7th Circ. Says Hidden IP Fight Doomed Insurance Coverage Bid
The Seventh Circuit has agreed an insurer could rescind its policies covering a garbage services company because that company failed to disclose an already brewing trademark dispute, concluding the company's argument that it didn't need to disclose the feud was "not supported by the record or common sense."
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August 22, 2024
Cyber Incidents Accelerate Arms Race Over Broader Coverage
A series of high-profile cybersecurity attacks, data breaches and system disruptions in 2024 have highlighted the growing pressure on policyholders to search for more coverage options beyond cyberinsurance and on insurers to limit their exposures.
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August 22, 2024
Insurer, Atty Drop Case Linked To Bogus Check Scheme
An insurance firm has agreed to drop its claim seeking a declaration from a Washington federal court that it is not on the hook to cover a Seattle-area solo practitioner over an alleged counterfeit check scheme, after the bank and attorney settled their underlying dispute.
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August 21, 2024
Fla. Co. To Pay $5M To End CFPB's Illegal Foreclosure Claims
Florida-based mortgage servicer Fay Servicing agreed Wednesday to pay a total of $5 million and its founder and CEO Edward Fay faces potential pay restrictions to resolve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's claims the company violated a prior 2017 agreement and multiple federal laws that protect borrowers against illegal foreclosure practices.
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August 21, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Suit Over Car Insurer's Data Breach
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a proposed class action accusing auto insurance provider Noblr Reciprocal Exchange of failing to safeguard driver's license numbers exposed in a 2021 data breach, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to credibly allege that their data had actually been stolen.
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August 21, 2024
Travelers Settles With Pa. Firm Over Stealing $1M From Client
A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed an insurance coverage dispute Wednesday, in light of a settlement between Travelers Insurance and a closed Pennsylvania law firm whose principal attorney was disbarred after he pled guilty to stealing almost $1 million from clients.
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August 20, 2024
A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report
The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.
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August 20, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships
The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.
Expert Analysis
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Reps And Warranties Insurance Considerations As M&A Slows
The first six months of the year have seen increasingly favorable rates and policy terms for the representations and warranties insurance market, and policy purchasers are right to pay close attention to pricing, coverage, exclusions, structures and claims as the M&A market cools, say attorneys at Cooley.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Managing Legal Risks After University Gaza Protests
Following the protests sparked by the war in Gaza, colleges and universities should expect a long investigative tail and take steps to mitigate risks associated with compliance issues under various legal frameworks and institutional policies, say Wiley's Diana Shaw and Colin Cloherty.
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An Insurance Coverage Checklist For PFAS Defendants
With PFAS liability exposures attracting increased media attention, now is a good time for companies that could be exposed to liability related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to review existing and past insurance policies, and consider taking proactive steps to maximize their likelihood of coverage, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation
A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.
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Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Leveraging Insurance Amid Microplastics Concerns
A pending microplastics lawsuit — New York v. PepsiCo Inc. — may be a harbinger of what is to come for companies whose products are exposed to the environment, so any company considering how to address microplastics liability should include a careful assessment of the potential for insurance coverage in its due diligence, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Law Amid Deluge Of Claims
After a federal court certified an Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act class action in August, claims under the law have skyrocketed, so employers, insurers and others that collect health and genetic information should ensure compliance with the act to limit litigation risk, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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An American Policyholder's Guide To UK Insurance Arbitration
No matter how experienced U.S. policyholders are in stateside disputes, the procedural quirks of U.K. insurance arbitration mean Americans should learn a few key differences between U.S. litigation and London arbitration before heading across the pond, says Robert Jacobs at Blank Rome.
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5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
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Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS
As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.
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Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.