General Liability

  • February 07, 2025

    5th Circ. Upholds High School's Win In Gym Fire Suit

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday upheld a Louisiana high school's win in its suit claiming that a flooring company caused a gym fire, holding that the high school has a right of action for property damage to the gymnasium.

  • February 07, 2025

    Excess Insurer Says $50M Bad Wine Claims Not Covered

    An excess insurer told a Washington federal court that it should not have to contribute to a settlement after an underlying lawsuit asserted more than $50 million in claims against a vineyard for allegedly damaging over 300,000 cases of wine, because there was no coverage.

  • February 07, 2025

    Insurers Say Meta MDL Row Should Be In Del. State Court

    Coverage litigation with Meta over underlying claims that it deliberately designed its platforms to be addictive to adolescents ought to take place in Delaware state court, units of Chubb and Hartford told a Delaware federal court, arguing the court need only examine the fact that Meta is a Delaware citizen.

  • February 07, 2025

    Plaintiffs Lawyers Swarm Los Angeles Post-Fires

    A deadly wildfire may be among the first covered by a new state fund that reimburses at-fault utility companies. This could mean billions of dollars for plaintiffs lawyers, and, if past fires are any indication, frustration and confusion for some victims.

  • February 06, 2025

    Pillsbury Adds Insurance Partner From Morgan Lewis

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has announced the addition of an insurance recovery expert from Morgan Lewis as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office to advise and represent insurance policyholders.

  • February 06, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Delaware Supreme Court agreed that a jury's fraud verdict against an ex-Xerox unit was improper and also limited a pharmaceutical company's recovery for a securities suit, while the Sixth Circuit refused to review Home Depot's data breach coverage loss. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • February 06, 2025

    Insurance Expert Tackles Super Bowl Coverage Risks

    The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles earned their way to the Super Bowl only last week, but the NFL, host city New Orleans, the stadium and others have spent years planning and securing the necessary insurance coverage to ensure the biggest sporting event of the year is properly protected. Here, insurance industry veteran Lori Shaw spoke with Law360 about insuring one of the world's most-watched sporting events.

  • February 05, 2025

    6th Circ. Won't Revisit Home Depot Data Breach Coverage Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused Wednesday to review its January finding that an electronic data exclusion in Home Depot's commercial general liability policies barred coverage for the retail giant's $50 million claim for defense and settlement costs over a 2014 data breach.

  • February 05, 2025

    Calif. Panel Revives Malpractice Suit Against Insurer Attys

    A California state appeals court revived an Allstate policyholder's legal malpractice suit against his insurer-appointed attorney, saying the policyholder sufficiently alleged the attorney's drafting of an underlying settlement in a wrongful death suit caused him damages.

  • February 04, 2025

    Meta Attacks Insurers' Bid To Remand Social Media MDL Row

    Meta asked a Delaware federal court to postpone ruling on its insurers' request to remand a dispute over coverage for thousands of suits alleging harm from the company's social media platforms, saying the action will likely soon be transferred to multidistrict litigation in California alongside the underlying claims.

  • February 03, 2025

    Climate Group Says Insurance Hikes Threaten Housing Market

    The U.S. housing market could sustain a $1.4 trillion loss in value over the next 30 years as insurance costs surge and consumer demand shifts due to climate change, according to a report Monday from climate analytics company First Street.

  • February 03, 2025

    NC Justices Urged To Reject Appeal Over Rate Hike Approvals

    North Carolina's insurance commissioner urged the state's highest court to reject a policyholder's appeal challenging a series of insurer rate hike approvals in court, saying an appeals panel correctly found that the policyholder failed to support his claims that intervening in the preceding approval process was impossible.

  • January 31, 2025

    Insurer Says $30M Suit Over Child's Murder Not Covered

    An insurer told a Tennessee federal court Friday that due to an assault and battery exclusion, a property management company had no coverage for an underlying $30 million wrongful death suit brought after a boy was fatally shot at one of the company's facilities.

  • January 31, 2025

    Supreme Court Eyes Its 'Next Frontier' In FCC Delegation Case

    A case about broadband subsidies will give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle that attorneys say could upend regulations in numerous industries and trigger a power shift that would make last term's shake-up of federal agency authority pale in comparison. And a majority of the court already appears to support its resurrection.

  • February 07, 2025

    Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2025 editorial advisory boards.

  • January 30, 2025

    Insurer Says It Owes No Coverage For Boys Home Abuse

    An insurer told a Washington federal judge Thursday that it should be off the hook for coverage in an underlying case involving sexual abuse claims at home for boys because the alleged harm occurred years before the first policy was issued to the group home operator.

  • January 30, 2025

    LA Fires Raise Flood And Mud Risk, But Coverage Possible

    Los Angeles' first significant post-fire rainfall last weekend heightened the prospect that the city could suffer more damage from flooding and mudslides in burn areas, but policyholder attorneys say coverage for those normally excluded perils is possible.

  • January 30, 2025

    Meta Broadens Bid To Halt Social Media MDL Coverage Fight

    Meta is turning to federal courts in its battle against its insurers' bid to avoid covering thousands of pending claims that accuse the company of crafting its social media platforms to be addictive to adolescents, expanding the front lines in what may be a landmark coverage fight. Here, Law360 summarizes the underlying litigation, the fight to pause the coverage dispute and the next steps in the coverage case. 

  • January 30, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    An environmental remediation company must cover Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a decade-old kickback suit, a Zurich insurer owes $12.2 million to a solar energy company for rain damage and the Baylor College of Medicine can't recover a $12 million award for its pandemic-related losses. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • January 29, 2025

    Senate Banking Committee Forms NFIP Working Group

    With the National Flood Insurance Program's authorization set to expire in March, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking has formed a working group to reform the program and work toward long-term reauthorization, a press release from committee chairman and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott said.

  • January 29, 2025

    Lloyd's Can't Yet Arbitrate $5M Settlement Coverage Dispute

    A New Jersey federal court rejected a bid Wednesday from certain Lloyd's of London underwriters to arbitrate a man's demand that they cover a $5 million settlement he won against a police department they insured, though it stopped short of saying whether the parties must actually go to arbitration.

  • January 29, 2025

    NY Archdiocese Wants Abuse Coverage Row Segmented

    The Archdiocese of New York urged a New York state court to analyze coverage in phases for over 1,300 sex abuse lawsuits it and its affiliated entities face, arguing that because the "vast majority" of the underlying lawsuits are still being litigated, assessing coverage prematurely could be "highly prejudicial."

  • January 28, 2025

    Insurer Says Mich. Sports Complex Not Covered In Injury Suit

    A Berkley unit said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a Michigan sports complex in an underlying suit over a girl's injury during varsity soccer tryouts, telling a federal court Tuesday that a "participants" exclusion in its commercial general liability policy bars coverage.

  • January 27, 2025

    No Coverage For Worker 'Crushed' In Hole, Insurer Says

    A construction contractor's commercial general liability insurer told a Louisiana federal court it owes no coverage for a wrongful death lawsuit that, according to the insurer, alleges a worker was "crushed in a hole."

  • January 27, 2025

    AIG Unit Says No Coverage For McKinsey Opioid Suits, Deals

    Management consulting giant McKinsey & Co. shouldn't have any coverage for more than 250 opioid lawsuits and roughly $1.3 billion it's paid in corresponding settlement payments to date, an AIG unit told a Delaware state court, arguing the underlying claimants have accused McKinsey of uninsurable "deliberate misconduct and greed."

Expert Analysis

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Confirms Insurer Standing Requirements

    Author Photo

    A New York bankruptcy court's recent decision in the Syracuse Diocese's Chapter 11 case indicates that insurers have misread the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum and that federal standing requirements remain unaltered, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.

  • Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario

    Author Photo

    Parties are generally required to meet and confer to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing a related motion, but courts should dispense with this conferencing requirement when a party fails to specify a time by which it will complete its production, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law.

  • Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025

    Author Photo

    As insurance industry participants look to plan for the year, regulatory changes, climate-related challenges, the ongoing effects of social inflation and the potential for significant mergers and acquisitions will be among the key items for insurer boards and management to have on their radar, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Public View Of CEO's Killing Means For Corporate Trials

    Author Photo

    Given the proliferation of anti-corporate sentiments following recent charges against Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, attorneys who represent corporate clients and executives will need to adapt their trial strategy to account for juror anger, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.

  • Insurance Considerations For LA Wildfire Recovery

    Author Photo

    Businesses and homeowners affected by the destructive Southern California wildfires must act swiftly and strategically to navigate the complexities of the insurance recovery process, including by identifying all applicable policies, documenting damage thoroughly and keeping abreast of relevant state law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Artfully Conceding Liability Can Offer Defendants 3 Benefits

    Author Photo

    In the rare case that a company makes the strategic decision to admit liability, it’s important to do so clearly and consistently in order to benefit from the various forms of armor that come from an honest acknowledgment, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • What Insurers Should Know About AI Use In Litigation

    Author Photo

    As the use of artificial intelligence in litigation evolves, insurers should note standing court orders, instances of judges utilizing AI to determine policy definitions and the application of evidentiary standards to expert evidence that incorporates AI, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

    Author Photo

    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

    Author Photo

    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • A Federal Insurance Mandate For Private Aviation Is Overdue

    Author Photo

    A recent private plane crash in California that killed two people and injured 19 others spotlights the dangers of such occurrences — and serves as a reminder that because there is no federal requirement for general aviation pilots to carry insurance, the victims of these accidents are often unable to obtain fair compensation, says Timothy Loranger at Wisner Baum.

  • 6 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2025

    Author Photo

    This year is likely to bring with it some thorny and expensive cyber challenges, including increased ransomware activity, more data breach class actions and continued efforts to define business interruption loss calculations, say attorneys at Wiley.