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August 07, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle
A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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August 07, 2024
Amgen Waged Lawfare To Overcharge For Drug, Suit Claims
Maryland-based independent licensees of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association claim pharmaceutical giant Amgen Inc. and its subsidiaries have engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices that have inflated the cost of the blockbuster drug Enbrel.
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August 07, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms Unapportioned Wood-Theft Settlement
The Eleventh Circuit has unanimously upheld a Georgia federal court ruling forcing an insurer to cover a $557,000 settlement for shoddy work and wood theft during a deconstruction project by its policyholder, despite objections from the insurer that the amount was not apportioned between covered and noncovered losses.
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August 07, 2024
Mich. Insurance Agency Pushes Carriers To Safeguard AI Use
The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services urged insurance companies Wednesday to establish a program for the responsible use of artificial intelligence systems to comply with state laws barring unfair practices and discrimination in underwriting.
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August 07, 2024
Insurer Can't Dodge $13.4M Conn. Death Verdict, Estate Says
A mother who won a $13.4 million judgment after her son died in a Connecticut group home says its insurer, Hanover Insurance Co., is trying to use "misplaced" arguments to escape her bid to collect a portion of the judgment, urging a judge not to dismiss her compensation request.
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August 07, 2024
5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration
A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.
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August 07, 2024
Gordon Rees Adds Insurance Partner In Orange County Office
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP is boosting its insurance team, announcing Wednesday it is bringing on an insurance and liability expert as a partner in its Orange County office in Irvine, California.
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August 07, 2024
Tax Court's Economic Substance Foray May Clarify Limits
A U.S. Tax Court judge plans to address an ill-defined provision governing the relevance of the economic substance doctrine in a microcaptive insurance case, offering the courts another chance to clarify an anti-abuse tool the IRS has been deploying more often.
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August 07, 2024
BP Malpractice Deal Needs Work, 5th Circ. Says
The Fifth Circuit scrapped a legal malpractice settlement in a consolidated lawsuit alleging attorneys were negligent in representing plaintiffs seeking compensation following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with a panel finding the terms were not mutually agreed upon.
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August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
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August 06, 2024
7th Circ. Axes Broker's Win In Buccaneers Deal Coverage Suit
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday reversed an Indiana federal court's finding that an insurance broker didn't need to indemnify Axis Insurance Co. for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' voluntary settlement with a player, ruling that the insurers' contract clearly calls for Axis to be indemnified.
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August 06, 2024
Cadwalader Slams Lloyd's For 'Needless' Disclosure, Mockery
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP has opposed a bid by a Lloyd's of London syndicate to unseal the law firm's complaint seeking $1 million of coverage for a November 2022 data breach, telling the North Carolina Business Court that Lloyd's has chosen to "mock and insult their own customer" while exposing confidential information in its filing to the court.
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August 06, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Let Chubb Unit Ax $13.8M Appraisal Award
A Florida condo association's insurer waived its ability to challenge an over $13.8 million storm damage appraisal award by only arguing in court that the association's appraiser had a conflict of interest, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday, finding the insurer could've lodged a challenge during the appraisal process itself.
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August 06, 2024
Testing Lab Can't Add Bad Faith Claims In Income Loss Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge found Tuesday that a prior agreement between a medical testing lab and its insurer expressly precluded added allegations that the insurer acted in bad faith while handling the lab's claim for loss of records and business income.
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August 06, 2024
Blank Rome Adds Closed Insurance Boutique's Managing Atty
Blank Rome LLP has brought on an insurance partner from now-shuttered boutique Pasich LLP to join its insurance recovery group, the firm announced Monday.
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August 06, 2024
UnitedHealth Unlawfully Denies Device Coverage, Suit Says
A medical equipment maker accused UnitedHealth Group Inc. of creating a "soft denial system" to unlawfully deny payments for glucose monitoring devices, telling a Michigan federal court that thousands of claims worth more than $1 million have gone unpaid.
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August 06, 2024
Insurance Atty Shakes Off Retirement To Join Saul Ewing
Eighteen months of retirement was all Saul Ewing's latest addition to its insurance practice could take before he returned to private practice and joined the firm's New York office.
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August 05, 2024
Kia Atty Reduced To 'Monty Python' Knight By Tentative Order
Kia and Hyundai's attorney told a California federal judge Monday that his tentative order denying the companies' motion to dismiss Chicago's claims in multidistrict litigation over car thefts left him feeling like the knight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" who loses his arms and legs but keeps fighting.
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August 05, 2024
Manufacturer Can't Get Coverage For BIPA Class Action
An Illinois federal judge awarded a win to an insurer Monday in a suit over coverage of underlying Biometric Information Privacy Act litigation, finding a contractual exclusion prevented coverage for a machine and plastics manufacturer accused of failing to secure employee data.
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August 05, 2024
Insurers Can't Escape Coverage For Russian-Seized Aircraft
A group of insurers can't escape covering one of the largest aircraft lessors for aircraft seized by the Russian government, a California state court ruled, agreeing with the company that even a temporary seizure of its property constitutes physical loss for coverage purposes.
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August 05, 2024
BCBS Asks 9th Circ. To Undo Trans Patients' Win In Bias Suit
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse summary judgment in favor of trans patients who argued its exclusions for gender-affirming treatments violated the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination mandate, arguing Friday it is a third-party administrator that didn't design the exclusion nor exercised any control over it.
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August 05, 2024
Insurer Must Face Pa. Trans Firefighter's Surgery Claim
A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to toss a suit from a transgender Philadelphia firefighter suing Independence Blue Cross for discrimination over the insurer's denial of coverage for facial feminization surgery, finding that claims under federal healthcare law could proceed, but not the Title VII claims.
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August 05, 2024
McGuireWoods Adds 11 From Now-Closed Insurance Boutique
McGuireWoods said Monday that it has added 11 litigators from the now-shuttered insurance boutique Pasich LLP to its office in Century City in California, some of whom will assume practice leadership roles.
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August 02, 2024
Wolverine, Travelers Drop Coverage Claims Over PFAS Suits
Footwear company Wolverine and various Travelers units have agreed to end their coverage battle over underlying lawsuits accusing the company of injuring individuals through its leather tannery operations and exposing individuals to so-called forever chemicals, the parties told a Michigan federal court.
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August 02, 2024
Adviser Wants Fraud Settlement Nixed, Says Fla. Broke Deal
A retirement financial adviser is urging a Florida state court to overturn a settlement with the state's Office of Financial Regulation in an unregistered-securities lawsuit, saying the agency breached the confidential agreement by disclosing why a receiver demanded nearly $800,000 in clawbacks over alleged fraudulent transfers.
Expert Analysis
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms
As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.
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Key Insurance Considerations After $725M Benzene Verdict
The recent massive benzene verdict in Gill v. Exxon Mobil will certainly trigger insurance questions — and likely a new wave of benzene suits — so potential defendants should study Radiator Specialty v. Arrowood Indemnity, the only state high court decision regarding benzene claim coverage, says Jonathan Hardin at Perkins Coie.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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3rd Circ.'s Geico Ruling May Encourage Healthcare Arbitration
The Third Circuit's recent decision in Geico v. Mount Prospect, finding that claims under New Jersey's Insurance Fraud Prevention Act can be arbitrated, strengthens arbitration as a viable alternative to litigation, even though it is not necessarily always a more favorable forum, say Khaled Klele and Jessica Osterlof at McCarter & English.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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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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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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Corporate Insurance Considerations For Trafficking Claims
With the surge in litigation over liability under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, corporate risk managers and in-house counsel need to ensure that appropriate insurance coverage is in place to provide for defense and indemnity against this liability, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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How HHS Discrimination Rule Affects Gender-Affirming Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule, which reinterprets the Affordable Care Act's anti-discrimination provision, greatly clarifies protections for gender-affirming care and will require compliance considerations from sponsors and administrators of most group health plans, say attorneys at McDermott.
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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.