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Insurance
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December 06, 2024
Judge Denies Publix Bid To Appeal Opioid Coverage Ruling
A Florida federal judge on Friday rejected Publix's request for a judgment that would have allowed it to immediately appeal a decision that said seven of its insurance policies didn't provide coverage for opioid lawsuits the grocery chain is facing.
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December 06, 2024
Life Insurance Investments Aren't Securities, 9th Circ. Told
Agents who sold interests in life insurance policies for Pacific West Capital Group — which struck a $64 million SEC deal to end investment fraud claims — urged the Ninth Circuit on Friday to reverse an order requiring them to pay back some of their commissions, saying the deals weren't investment contracts.
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December 06, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Notes Inconsistencies In Medicare Rate Policy
A Fifth Circuit judge called out inconsistencies in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, asking the government to explain apparent discrepancies that four Texas anesthesia practices say will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements.
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December 06, 2024
Black Doctor Says BCBS Axed Her From Network Due To Race
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan wrongfully terminated a Black dermatologist from its network of health providers because of her race, the doctor told a Michigan federal court, alleging the health insurer terminated her after it claimed her "error rate" in billing was too high.
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December 06, 2024
Anthem Wants Testing Lab's $3.8M Suit Axed Or Split Up
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut has asked a federal court to toss a testing lab's lawsuit seeking $3.8 million for allegedly unpaid bills, arguing that batches large and small of the more than 3,000 unpaid claims were preempted by federal law, filed years too late or barred from being assigned to the lab to collect.
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December 06, 2024
Insurer Escapes Defending Developer's Ga. Tree Removal
A Georgia federal judge freed an insurer Friday from defending developers blamed for wrongfully cutting down 120 feet of trees on a property line shared with a children's summer camp, finding the act was intentional.
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December 06, 2024
Wash. Judge Rips Attys' 'Expletive-Laden' Calls, 'Petty' Fights
A federal judge in Washington state this week scolded counsel for both parties in a lawsuit against State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, stating that their barbs in briefs and arguments, expletive-laden phone calls and other behavior will no longer be tolerated.
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December 06, 2024
Feds, NC Insurance Mogul Want Grier Wright On $2B Liquidation
Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg and federal prosecutors have come together to ask a North Carolina federal judge to appoint an attorney from Grier Wright Martinez PA to serve as special master for liquidating Lindberg's billions in assets as restitution for his $2 billion fraud scheme.
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December 06, 2024
4 Big Developments In ERISA Cases From 2nd Half Of 2024
The Sixth Circuit reopened a retirement plan mismanagement suit against Parker-Hannifin Corp. and revived a manufacturing company worker's disability benefits bid, while the nation's highest court declined to review a plan trustee's unsuccessful attempt to force an employee stock sale dispute into arbitration. Here, Law360 looks at four recent decisions in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that benefits attorneys should know.
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December 06, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Burberry file a copyright claim against discount store B&M, the former owner of Charlton Athletic file a debt claim against the football club, and British Airways and the U.K. government face a class action brought by flight passengers taken hostage at the start of the First Gulf War. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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December 05, 2024
Fla. Labs Say Cigna's Trial 'Confession' Erases $7.3M Verdict
Three Florida drug testing laboratories have urged a Connecticut federal court to undo a $7.3 million jury verdict for Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. over unjustified billings, arguing a new trial is warranted after the insurer allegedly made a "confession" during opening statements that it wasn't seeking damages for itself.
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December 05, 2024
Insurers Say Hurricane Damage Suit Still Must Be Arbitrated
A group of insurers is urging a Louisiana federal court not to reopen litigation over millions of dollars of hurricane damage that was previously ordered into arbitration, saying a new decision on the arbitration of insurance matters from the state's top court doesn't trump a related Fifth Circuit opinion.
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December 05, 2024
7th Circ. Weighs Progressive Class' Proof In Car Value Suit
Some Seventh Circuit judges seemed unsure Thursday that a group of Progressive insureds should be allowed to pursue class claims over allegedly improper cash valuations for totaled vehicles, saying the class would likely struggle to prove each of their contracts were breached.
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December 05, 2024
Providers' $2.8B BCBS Antitrust Deal Gets Judge's Initial OK
An Alabama federal judge has given his initial approval for a $2.8 billion settlement inked between Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a proposed class of medical providers in a more than 12-year-old antitrust case targeting association rules.
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December 05, 2024
Chinese Bank Faces New Suit Alleging Reinsurance Fraud
Another group of insurers has accused one of China's largest banks of participating in a "multi-billion-dollar fraud" in the reinsurance market, telling a New York federal court Thursday that the bank, including its New York branch, has refused to honor over $890 million worth of letters of credit.
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December 05, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Rethink $100M Credit For John Hancock
The Eleventh Circuit won't reconsider its decision to let John Hancock Life Insurance Co. keep $100 million in foreign tax credits, leaving in place its October ruling against a Florida law firm retirement plan's trustees.
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December 05, 2024
Insurer Says Fake Adjuster Cost It $800K
An insurer told a Puerto Rico federal court that a lying and unlicensed adjuster and his company illegally stepped into a dispute with its insured, costing the carrier at least $800,000 while trying to compensate the territory's highway and transportation system for hurricane damages.
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December 05, 2024
Airbnb Customers Drop 'Assistance Fee' Suit Against Insurers
A proposed class of Airbnb customers permanently dropped a suit accusing two of the company's insurance providers of violating Washington state law by charging an "assistance fee" when selling travel coverage.
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December 05, 2024
Insurer Beats Vegas Casino's COVID-19 Coverage Bid
The insurer of a Las Vegas hotel and casino did not breach its contract when it denied the resort's request for COVID-19 coverage, a Nevada federal court ruled, finding that a previous order conflicts with a state supreme court decision regarding coverage for pandemic-related losses.
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December 04, 2024
Insurer Owes Coverage In Florida Keys Property Sale Dispute
A Florida state appeals court partially reversed a lower court's ruling that an insurer didn't owe two insureds a defense in an underlying suit accusing them of conspiring with a Key West property seller, finding Wednesday there were insufficient allegations to trigger a policy exclusion.
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December 04, 2024
No Coverage For P&G Environmental Claims, Insurers Say
A group of Hartford units told an Ohio federal court Wednesday they owe no coverage to Procter & Gamble Co. for three underlying lawsuits accusing the company of contaminating groundwater in New York, and for a separate warehouse fire in Michigan that caused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to intervene.
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December 04, 2024
P&C Insurers Post $4.1B Underwriting Gain In Big Reversal
The U.S. property and casualty insurance market recorded a $4.1 billion net underwriting gain in the first nine months of 2024, according to a report issued Wednesday by global credit rating agency AM Best, which called the turnaround a significant improvement from the prior year's $32.1 billion loss.
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December 04, 2024
Panel Affirms CNA's Reading Of 'Control' In Abuse Exclusion
A CNA unit providing commercial insurance to a massage spa owed no defense to its owner and manager against claims the owner sexually assaulted three women, a California state appeals court ruled, in a case of first impression over the meaning of "care, custody or control" in an abuse exclusion.
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December 04, 2024
Farmers Insurance Off Hook In Homeowner's Fire Loss Appeal
A California homeowner who alleged that an agent underinsured her scorched $3 million Malibu home cannot blame Farmers Insurance, a state appeals court affirmed, finding in a published opinion that the agent acted independently when obtaining a policy via a fire insurance pool for her client.
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December 04, 2024
NY Diocese Gets OK For Ch. 11 Plan With Optional Releases
A New York bankruptcy judge approved a Long Island-based Roman Catholic diocese's Chapter 11 plan on Wednesday after hearing it had resolved objections from the U.S. Trustee's Office with a two-tier claims release system for sexual abuse claimants.
Expert Analysis
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Keys To Successful Commercial Property Insurance Claims
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
While insurance needs for commercial leasing arrangements are driven by the characteristics of the premises and the nature of the tenants' intended operations, there are several universal best practices landlords and their counsel can follow when making claims after loss or damage.
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How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies
An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
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6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.