General Liability
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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.
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April 04, 2024
BMW Dealer, Claims Manager End $4M Injury Settlement Fight
A South Carolina BMW dealership and its insurers have agreed to end their suit against a claims manager over a $4 million personal injury settlement, with the claims manager also dropping allegations against the dealership's automotive group, according to a notice filed in North Carolina federal court.
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April 04, 2024
Surfside, Fla., Condo Collapse Victims To Get Additional $4.8M
A Florida judge signed off Thursday on an additional $4.8 million distribution to the victims of the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium after the receiver overseeing the defunct condominium association told the court the association had fewer financial obligations and tax liabilities than expected.
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April 03, 2024
Mayo Clinic Stuck Workers With Hefty Medical Bills, Suit Says
A medical claims administrator steered Mayo Clinic health plan participants toward out-of-network healthcare providers and then forced them to foot the bulk of the bill, a proposed class action filed in Minnesota federal court said.
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April 03, 2024
Auto Insurer Seeks Payback After $2M Car Crash Settlement
A business insurer of a man who crashed a rental car into a motorcyclist while working in Los Angeles should pay something in connection with a $2 million settlement with the injured biker, an auto insurer told a California federal court, seeking to recoup its expenses.
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April 02, 2024
Chubb Asks Panel To Revive Archdiocese Abuse Coverage Suit
Counsel for Chubb urged a New York state appeals court at a hearing Tuesday to undo a trial court decision finding it owed insurance coverage to the Archdiocese of New York for myriad childhood sexual abuse claims against the church.
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April 02, 2024
Consultant, Insurer's Pesticide Coverage Row Headed To Trial
A dispute over coverage must continue following a $1.8 million judgment against a pesticide consulting company blamed for negligent pest control of a wheat crop, an Arizona federal judge ruled, denying an insurer's quest for an early win.
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April 01, 2024
7th Circ. Affirms $672K Payout In Illinois Delivery Driver Crash
A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday affirmed an Illinois federal court's decision awarding a delivery driver $672,000 from an insurer following his 2017 work-related crash with an underinsured motorist.
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April 01, 2024
AIG Unit Can't Toss Conn. Utility's $3M Defense Cost Bid
An AIG unit can't escape the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative's third-party suit seeking to recoup $3 million in legal expenses, a Connecticut federal court ruled, saying the cooperative has standing to pursue coverage on behalf of its former CEO who was convicted of stealing public funds.
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April 01, 2024
Insurer Can't Avoid Indemnity Payments Over Grocery Fire
West Bend Mutual cannot avoid making extra indemnity payments to a Detroit grocery store over a fire or collect its insured's unpaid premium from another insurer, a Michigan federal court ruled after previously compelling both insurers to provide coverage because their policies were active when the fire occurred.
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April 01, 2024
Insurer Defends Gas Station Cleanup Exclusion To 11th Circ.
An insurer has asked the Eleventh Circuit to reject a Florida gas station owner's bid to make it pay for contamination caused by a leaking underground fuel tank, telling the appeals court the station's policy doesn't cover an incident discovered well before the policy went into effect.
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March 29, 2024
Liberty Units Lose $13.3M Motel Murder Coverage Bid
CNA and Chubb units have no duty to reimburse two Liberty Mutual units for a $13.3 million judgment stemming from a motel murder, an Ohio federal court ruled, saying no bad faith claim was asserted against the Liberty Mutual units triggering their errors and omissions policies.
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March 29, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Insurer In Sanitizer Ad Injury Coverage Suit
An insurer doesn't owe coverage to a company accused of falsely advertising that its sanitizing products were effective in disinfecting surfaces, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, affirming a lower court's decision that the underlying class action can't be "reasonably construed" to substantially allege a claim of disparagement.
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March 29, 2024
Baltimore Diocese Sues Insurers For Abuse Claims Coverage
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore, its parishes and schools have filed an adversary action in Maryland bankruptcy court against its insurance carriers, alleging they failed to live up to their contractual obligation to defend against and pay for sexual abuse claims.
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March 28, 2024
Baltimore Bridge Collision Raises Massive Insurance Fallout
A container ship collision that destroyed Baltimore's landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge caused a level of death, injury, destruction and economic harm that will likely cost the insurance sector billions of dollars and leave many without closure or compensation for years.
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March 28, 2024
Insurer Won't Pay Half Snow Remover's Fraud Coverage Suit
An insurer avoided paying for half of a nearly $360,000 wire fraud scheme targeting a snow removal company Thursday, after a Minnesota federal judge found its policy precluded coverage for a variety of reasons.
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March 28, 2024
Q&A: Former Calif. Insurance Chief On Climate & Rate Setting
From intense wildfires to devastating floods, the effects of climate change on California's insurance market cannot be understated, a fact that experts point to often as regulators weigh how to bring insurers back to business in the Golden State.
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March 28, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A marine insurer confirmed it's cooperating with Baltimore authorities after an insured cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, music festival South by Southwest's class action coverage efforts were renewed, and North Carolina justices dismantled 30 years of intermediate appellate court adherence to "stacking" underinsured motorist policies.
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March 28, 2024
Foxwoods Tribal Owner Loses $76M COVID Insurance Appeal
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, did not meet a key burden when suing its insurer for more than $76 million in losses tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's intermediate-level appeals court ruled Thursday in declining to revive the litigation.
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March 28, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Asked To Mull COVID Coverage Question
A Washington state court has halted litigation over the University of Washington's bid for COVID-19 business interruption coverage from a Liberty Mutual unit, asking a state appeals court to first determine whether the presence of COVID-19 satisfies UW's policies' direct physical loss or damage requirement and if a contamination exclusion applies.
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March 28, 2024
Flood Risk Disclosure Law Uptick Offers Insurance Upsides
A growing trend of states adopting and implementing flood risk disclosure laws must continue, experts say, touting such laws as protecting consumers and informing efforts to mitigate climate change costs through insurance and other risk management efforts.
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March 28, 2024
5th Circ. Limits Broad Contract Liability Exclusions In SXSW
The Fifth Circuit awarded policyholders a major victory over a thorny issue when it ruled that Texas music festival South by Southwest's insurer owed defense coverage for a ticket holder class action over unpaid refunds from the canceled 2020 festival.
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March 28, 2024
NC Justices' Split Leaves Willful Violation Question Unsolved
A dispute over coverage for a law firm accused of violating the Driver's Privacy Protection Act provided an opportunity for the North Carolina Supreme Court to interpret a policy exclusion for the willful violation of a statute, but experts say a deadlocked decision will leave the issue for another day.
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March 28, 2024
Insurer Ordered To Defend Legionnaires' Suits
The insurer of a nonprofit providing housing to at-risk individuals in New York City must defend it in three underlying lawsuits alleging that numerous residents contracted Legionnaires' disease at two properties in the Bronx, a New York federal court ruled, finding a communicable disease exclusion inapplicable.
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March 27, 2024
Insurer Can't Escape Strip Club, Models' $2M Ad Settlement
An insurer can't evade covering a nearly $2 million settlement between a Rhode Island strip club and a group of models who sued the club for misusing their images in advertisements, a federal judge ruled, holding that the club did not breach its contract when entering into the agreement.
Expert Analysis
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What Insureds Should Look For In Excess Policies
A recent California appellate court decision, Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement, demonstrates how courts will protect policyholder expectations against primary insurance carriers' actions that might restrict available excess coverage, and highlights how insureds should be diligent in reviewing excess policies on primary erosion, say Courtney Horrigan and Elizabeth Taylor at Reed Smith.
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New 'Bad Faith' Claim Law Holds NJ Insurers Accountable
New Jersey’s recently enacted Insurance Fair Conduct Act, giving policyholders a bad faith cause of action for claims involving uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, is an important step toward countering unfair insurer advantage and expanding consumer protections, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Insurance Implications Of Texas '8 Corners' Rulings
Two recent Texas Supreme Court opinions resolve a long-pending question by reaffirming the so-called eight-corners rule as the primary means for determining an insurer's duty to defend, which should provide greater consistency between future state and federal decisions, says Susan Kidwell at Locke Lord.
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Why I'll Miss Arguing Before Justice Breyer
Carter Phillips at Sidley shares some of his fondest memories of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer both inside and out of the courtroom, and explains why he thinks the justice’s multipronged questions during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments were everything an advocate could ask for.
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Defense Counsel Must Alter Tactics To Fight Outsize Verdicts
If defense counsel continue to use the same strategies they’ve always relied on without recognizing plaintiffs attorneys’ new playbook, so-called nuclear verdicts, such as the recent $730 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case in Texas, will continue to proliferate, says Robert Tyson at Tyson & Mendes.
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Policyholder Wins Push Boundaries Of Insurer Duty To Defend
A recent string of federal and state appellate court decisions, expanding insurers' broad duty of defense to cover inferences, implications and reasonable interpretations raised by the underlying suit, should encourage policyholders seeking coverage, says Tae Andrews at Miller Friel.
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Examining Event Cancellation Coverage As COVID Lingers
Recent pandemic-related postponements from the NBA, NFL and Grammys, coupled with COVID-19 being excluded from new event cancellation policies, highlight the need for event organizers to explore cancellation risks and how specialty coverage can serve as a tool for mitigation, say Jorge Aviles and Andrea DeField at Hunton.
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Using Insurance Coverage To Fund Early Settlement
A recent settlement between health care company Vision Path and the Federal Trade Commission shows that settling early is a prudent consideration to avoid defense costs and preserve the bulk of the insurer budget for a settlement or judgment, say Jason Callen and Beau Creson at K&L Gates.
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Fla.'s New Appeal Rule Will Cause More Harm Than It Cures
Florida's new procedural rule, permitting interlocutory appeals of orders that allow complaint amendment to add punitive damages, champions an unnecessary and often overly broad solution at the expense of the timely administration of justice, say Hugh Lumpkin and Wesley Butensky at Reed Smith.
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Federal Courts Are Right Venue For COVID Insurance Cases
Two recent Law360 guest articles positing that state, not federal, courts should be deciding COVID-19 insurance coverage disputes incorrectly assume that these cases contain novel insurance law issues, say attorneys at Dentons.
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What Pa. Procedure Rule Change Means For 'Snap Removals'
In light of Pennsylvania's recent civil procedure rule amendment significantly decreasing defendants' time to remove cases from state to federal court, Shari Milewski and Donald Kinsley at Maron Marvel offer some practical tips for maintaining snap removal as a viable defense tool.
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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.