General Liability
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April 11, 2024
Ex-Geico Agents Ask 6th Circ. To Revive Classification Suit
A group of former Geico agents asked the Sixth Circuit to revive their claims that they were misclassified and denied benefits, challenging the accuracy and relevance of plan documents that the lower court reviewed when dismissing the workers' suit.
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April 11, 2024
11th Circ. To Weigh If Wood Theft Is 'Intentional'
The Eleventh Circuit will review, on April 16, a Georgia federal ruling forcing an insurer to cover a $557,000 settlement for shoddy workmanship and wood theft during a deconstruction project by its policyholder, and the outcome could hinge on what constitutes an accident and which state law applies. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of oral arguments.
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April 11, 2024
Insurer Drops Suit After Evidence Clears Stihl In Fire Case
Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. agreed Wednesday to drop a lawsuit in North Carolina federal court seeking to hold Stihl Inc. liable for fire damages at a policyholder's home after evidence showed a hedge-trimmer battery didn't cause the fire.
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April 11, 2024
Syracuse Diocese Told Its Ch. 11 Plan Needs More Work
A New York bankruptcy judge Thursday told the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse that its Chapter 11 plan disclosure statement needs another round of revisions to address objections by insurance carriers claiming the plan impairs their contractual rights.
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April 11, 2024
11th Circ. Says Insurer Owes Defense In Home Damage Suit
A general contractor's insurer must defend it against claims that it abandoned the construction site of a custom-built home, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Thursday, rejecting the insurer's reliance on two exclusions barring coverage for damage to "that particular part" of property the contractor worked on and corresponding repairs.
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April 10, 2024
DOJ Hits Regeneron With False Claims Act Suit Over Eylea
The federal government has brought a False Claims Act intervenor complaint in Massachusetts against Regeneron, alleging the pharmaceutical giant fraudulently withheld information from its Medicare reports seeking reimbursement for its drug Eylea, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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April 10, 2024
Deported Man Can't Undo Fraud Conviction After Feds' Error
A deported Nigerian national who confessed to fraud on promises that prosecutors would submit a letter to immigration authorities supporting his deportation defense couldn't convince the Eighth Circuit to toss his guilty plea after prosecutors mistakenly disavowed the letter.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Trump Finance Chief Weisselberg Jailed For Perjury
A New York state judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to five months in jail for lying under oath in the attorney general's civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his business associates, imprisoning a close ally of the former president on the eve of his hush-money trial.
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April 09, 2024
4th Circ. Tosses Duty To Defend Case Over Oil Co.'s Objection
The Fourth Circuit said Tuesday that a West Virginia oil and gas company lacked standing to continue an appeal that was originally brought by a green grower, which had sought coverage from its insurer for an underlying $4 million land use dispute with the extractor.
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April 09, 2024
Insurance Firm Will Pay $4M To End Calif. Wage Class Action
A California federal judge gave the green light to a $4 million class action settlement resolving allegations that an insurance and risk management company didn't closely track workers' hours, which resulted in underpayment for over 2,100 workers.
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April 09, 2024
Trump Opposes NY Monitor Probe After Exec's Perjury
Attorneys for Donald Trump argued against allowing a court-appointed monitor of the Trump Organization to look into supposed discovery lapses in the New York attorney general's civil business fraud case related to a perjury plea by the company's former longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
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April 09, 2024
Man Accused Of Vet Contractor Scheme Found In Contempt
A defendant in a long-running False Claims Act suit was found in contempt but dodged penalties in D.C. federal court on Tuesday as a trial over an alleged scheme to falsely procure government construction contracts meant for disabled veterans is set to begin next month.
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April 08, 2024
Convicted CEO Wants Utility To Fund Defense Through Appeal
The former CEO of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative urged a federal judge on Monday to order the organization to cover his legal expenses while he appeals his conviction for stealing public funds and prepares for a trial in yet another criminal case.
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April 08, 2024
AIG Acted In Bad Faith In Hurricane Dispute, Homeowners Say
Owners of a $95 million oceanfront mansion near Miami told jurors Monday that AIG should be punished for acting in bad faith in handling a claim for damage from Hurricane Irma, saying the company repeatedly prioritized maximizing profits at the expense of customer service.
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April 08, 2024
Travelers Nabs Early Win In AIG Unit's Injury Coverage Row
Travelers has no duty to defend or indemnify a construction company and a New York University hospital in an underlying construction injury suit, a New York federal judge ruled, finding that the underlying complaint doesn't suggest that the Travelers-covered subcontractor was primarily responsible for the underlying injuries.
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April 05, 2024
Insurer Denies Coverage In Pet Store BIPA Class Action
An insurer told a Michigan federal court Friday that it didn't have to cover a pet store in an underlying employee proposed class action alleging the store violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act because the claims were precluded by the policy and a state statute of limitations.
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April 05, 2024
SXSW Insurer Asks 5th Circ. To Rethink Coverage Ruling
The insurer of Texas music festival South by Southwest has asked a Fifth Circuit panel to rehear its case seeking to avoid covering a class action by ticket holders who didn't get refunds when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
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April 05, 2024
Insurer, Construction Co. Agree To End $10M Ceiling Fall Suit
Grange Insurance Co. and a Georgia construction company it sued to avoid paying a $10 million judgment in an underlying injury case over a worker's fall through a ceiling came together with that late worker's wife and agreed to dismiss their indemnity dispute following a settlement.
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April 04, 2024
Homeowner Asks 9th Circ. To Rethink Fire Coverage Ruling
A woman who was prevented from coverage of a 2021 house fire by the Ninth Circuit asked the court to rehear her case, arguing among other things that she did not lie to her insurer about renting her home, because she didn't fill out the insurance application.
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April 04, 2024
Trump Fraud Appeal Spotlights Underwriting Irregularities
Donald Trump's ongoing challenge to a $465 million civil fraud judgment for a decadelong valuation fraud conspiracy raises questions about insurance procedures, how underwriters price risk and who is harmed by the alleged fraud perpetrated by the former president and his associates.
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April 04, 2024
Del. Justices Eye Atty Conduct In Medicaid Fraud Verdict
The Delaware Supreme Court handed insurers a victory when it agreed to review a ruling setting aside a favorable verdict for the carriers in a coverage dispute over an ex-Xerox unit's $236 million Medicaid fraud-related settlement, but carrier counsel's conduct may present challenges moving forward, according to a civil procedure expert.
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April 04, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Ninth Circuit heard a coverage dispute over an unsuccessful shipwreck salvaging expedition, Delaware's justices agreed to consider whether an ex-Xerox unit tried to defraud insurers into covering a $236 million settlement, and the owner of Washington, D.C., professional sports teams ended its bid for COVID-19 coverage.
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April 04, 2024
A College Professor's Approach To Insurance
A strong education is crucial to address the role insurance plays on both the personal and professional level — something University of Georgia professor Rob Hoyt demonstrates in his classroom. Here, Law360 speaks to Hoyt about how research, teaching and service guide his work.
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April 04, 2024
NY AG Wants Trump Insurer To Guarantee $175M Bond
New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a Manhattan judge Thursday to make sure the California insurer that agreed to post Donald Trump's $175 million bond in his civil business fraud case can actually pay.
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April 04, 2024
Last-Resort Insurers Grapple With Increasing Exposure
Insurance pools meant to serve as backstops for consumers shut out of traditional markets are grappling with increased exposure to natural disasters, according to experts and market data, a trend that observers say is concerning as climate change intensifies storms.
Expert Analysis
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How NJ Bad Faith Auto Insurance Bill Compares To Pa.'s
The recently enacted New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act, is in some ways narrower and in other ways broader than Pennsylvania's notoriously strict bad faith statute and leaves open many fundamental questions, which took Pennsylvania decades of litigation to resolve, say Kristin Jones and Brian Callaway at Troutman Pepper.
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Del. High Court Gets It Right With Opioid Nuisance Ruling
In ACE v. Rite Aid, the Delaware Supreme Court has issued a groundbreaking insurance ruling that helps define the fundamental bargain at the heart of commercial insurance coverage and demonstrates why such coverage does not extend to public nuisance claims, says Adam Fleischer at BatesCarey.
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Flawed NY Insurance Law Needs Amendments
The New York Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, recently signed by the governor, imposes a multitude of problematic disclosure obligations on defendant-insureds, which the Legislature should — and likely will — seriously consider modifying or eliminating, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Justices May Hesitate To Review Calif. Fraud Coverage Case
In Adir International v. Starr Indemnity, the policyholders are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their challenge of a California law prohibiting insurers from defending insureds in certain consumer protection claims, but the court may not be ready to decide the issue at this time, says Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.
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Court Split On Amazon's Seller Liability Could Be Moot
Courts across the country have split on Amazon's liability for products sold on its marketplace, but if more e-commerce platforms follow its lead on insurance coverage requirements for vendors, it may not matter how courts resolve the seller liability issue, says Thomas Kurland at Patterson Belknap.
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JP Morgan Ruling May Have Broad Insurance Implications
The New York Court of Appeals' recent decision in J.P. Morgan Securities v. Vigilant Insurance — that settlement funds paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not constitute a penalty for insurance purposes — could have far-reaching application in other types of insurance litigation where plaintiffs could be characterized as seeking equitable relief, say Robert Shulman and Cristen Rose at Paley Rothman.
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Insurers Should Honor Astroworld Coverage Obligations
While insurers may be eager to shift blame on Astroworld showrunner Travis Scott for conditions that resulted in 10 deaths and dozens of injuries, arguments suggesting the tragedy shouldn't be covered appear baseless in light of the facts and the law, says Benjamin Massarsky at Miller Friel.
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Resolving Asbestos Suits Faster In The Pandemic And Beyond
Trial delays due to COVID-19 are an incentive for asbestos plaintiffs and defendants to adopt litigation reforms that can help bring cases to verdicts or settlements faster — changes that will be valuable even after the pandemic ends, says Lisa Oberg at Husch Blackwell.
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Priority Of Coverage Lessons From 2nd Circ. Insurance Ruling
The recent Second Circuit decision in Century Surety v. Metropolitan Transit Authority — holding that, for priority of coverage determination, a contractual indemnity agreement governs over an insurance policy's terms — highlights the importance of understanding how the dynamics between commercial contracts and insurance policies may help shift liability, say Syed Ahmad and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: NY On Industry Diversity
My Chi To, executive deputy superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services Insurance Division, discusses steps her agency is taking to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within the insurance industry and suggests practices for companies to consider adopting.
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Insurance Considerations Amid Increased Use Of Drones
The growing use and rapidly evolving regulation of drone technology across industries raise tricky insurance coverage questions and increase exposure to third-party liability and first-party loss, say attorneys at Covington & Burling.
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Nursing Homes May See Litigation Spike After 7th Circ. Ruling
The Seventh Circuit’s recent Federal Nursing Home Reform Act ruling in Talevski v. Health and Hospital Corp. opens skilled nursing facilities to federal litigation from private plaintiffs and could require exhaustion of administrative remedies before invoking state or federal court jurisdiction, say Randall Fearnow and Edward Holloran at Quarles & Brady.
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2 Cases Will Help Shape Opioid Litigation Insurance Coverage
Upcoming decisions from the Ohio and Delaware high courts in Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical and Rite Aid Corp. v. ACE American Insurance, respectively, on whether insurers must defend policyholders in prescription opioid litigation filed by government entities are sure to provide precedent for resolution of these coverage issues nationwide, say Courtney Horrigan and Kateri Persinger at Reed Smith.