Property
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May 28, 2024
US Property Insurers See Record Investment Income In 2023
U.S. property and casualty insurers earned a record income of $73.9 billion from their investments in 2023, market analyst AM Best reported Tuesday, a bright spot for an industry beset by underwriting losses connected to natural disasters and high inflation.
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May 28, 2024
Apartment Co. Says Insurer Owes Millions For Hail Damage
The owners of an apartment building blamed an insurer for breaching its contract in Kansas federal court Tuesday, alleging the carrier failed to cover over $13 million in wind, hail and water damages and underestimated the loss despite clear evidence.
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May 28, 2024
Insurers, Charter School Assoc. Dismiss Ida Damage Row
A New Orleans-area charter school system and its insurers have agreed to dismiss their dispute over coverage for the system's Hurricane Ida damage claims, the parties told a Louisiana federal court Tuesday, saying "all claims and causes of action brought forth in the above captioned matter have been compromised."
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May 24, 2024
Chinese Reinsurer Seeks Exit From Reimbursement Suit
A Chinese reinsurance company urged an Iowa federal court Friday to toss an insurer's suit seeking reimbursement for property insurance coverage claims it paid out, saying the court lacks jurisdiction because the company was not properly served.
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May 24, 2024
Insurer's Coverage Suit Premature, Ga. Apt. Complex Says
An apartment complex facing negligence claims over a shooting told a Georgia federal court that its insurer's suit seeking to avoid coverage must be tossed, arguing that without any factual findings in the underlying state court action, any finding on the insurer's duty to indemnify would be premature.
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May 23, 2024
Calif. High Court Deals Loss To Policyholder In COVID-19 Suit
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the coronavirus generally doesn't cause the kind of damage to property that would trigger coverage under an insurance policy, handing a win to a Chubb insurance company in one of the last major venues for pandemic coverage litigation.
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May 23, 2024
Colo. AI Bias Law Brings Little Certainty For Insurance Sector
Colorado enacted the nation's first comprehensive regulatory scheme for protecting consumers from discriminatory and biased artificial intelligence systems, sending a warning signal to an insurance sector bracing for increased scrutiny and risks related to the technology.
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May 23, 2024
How An Ex-Attorney Turned Mediator Approaches Conflict
Drawing from his 25-year career as an attorney litigating primarily insurance coverage disputes, Steven Schulwolf founded Schulwolf Mediation to help parties reach effective resolutions in even the toughest cases.
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May 23, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Policyholders suffered losses over COVID-19 coverage claims before the California Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit, the California high court weighed whether an exclusion rendered virus coverage illusory and if a policyholder's unfair competition claim against State Farm was untimely, and the Tenth Circuit questioned the scope of absolute pollution exclusions.
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May 23, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives Insurer's $2.5M Suit Over Valuation Software
The Second Circuit on Thursday revived an insurer's indemnification bid against software company Audatex for $2.5 million in costs from a suit alleging its use of Audatex's valuation software resulted in underpayment for totaled cars, concluding the lower court erred in finding the suit didn't result from the insurer's use of Audatex's software.
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May 23, 2024
NC High Court Grants Review In Clothier's Virus Coverage Suit
North Carolina's top court on Thursday agreed to take up a clothing company's coverage appeal for COVID-19 losses against Zurich after a lower appellate panel found the virus did not cause the kind of physical loss or damage necessary to invoke coverage.
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May 23, 2024
Antitrust Concerns Persist For New UN Insurance Group
A new United Nations insurance-climate initiative demonstrates a continued interest among regulators for promoting a more sustainable industry, but experts say antitrust concerns and industry participation raise questions about its potential efficacy.
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May 23, 2024
4th Circ. Rules No Coverage For Mars' COVID Losses
Candymaker Mars Inc. can't get coverage from Factory Mutual Insurance Co. for its COVID-19-related losses, the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday, further rejecting Mars' bid to certify a question to the Virginia Supreme Court.
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May 23, 2024
Houston Law Firm Wants To DQ Creditors' Counsel In Ch. 11
Troubled MMA Law Firm PLLC is seeking to stop another firm from representing its bankruptcy creditors, arguing that MMA's principal had previously spoken with the other firm as a prospective client and had shared confidential information that now could be used against his firm.
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May 23, 2024
Insurer, Ski Resort Co. Battle Over COVID Coverage
An owner and operator of 15 ski resorts urged a Colorado state court to find that an AIG unit owes coverage under its policy's "loss of attraction" provision for COVID-19-related business interruption losses, while the unit argued that a voluntary shutdown of business, "even for good reasons," isn't covered.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Judge Won't Pause Russian Planes Coverage Suit
A Florida judge on Wednesday refused to pause an aircraft leasing company's coverage suit for $700 million worth of airplanes reappropriated by Russian airlines after the Ukraine war began, denying a request by some of the company's insurers to wait until litigation in the U.K. is resolved.
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May 22, 2024
Ill. Justices Weigh Zurich's Right To Recover $3M Flood Loss
The Illinois Supreme Court weighed Wednesday whether Zurich American Insurance Co. can recoup $3 million from a subcontractor for water damage repair costs the insurer paid to a general contractor despite Zurich filing suit on behalf of a different insured.
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May 21, 2024
Calif. Justices Mull COVID-19 Business Interruption Coverage
Counsel for Sentinel Insurance urged the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse an appellate court's finding that a San Francisco restaurant's policy covered COVID-19 business interruption losses, disputing that court's finding that the policy's promise of virus coverage would otherwise be "illusory."
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
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May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
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May 20, 2024
Travelers Owed Tech Co. Defense In TM Row, 8th Circ. Says
Travelers had a duty to defend a computer retailer in an underlying trademark infringement action filed by Cisco Systems, the Eighth Circuit affirmed Monday, saying it cannot conclude that coverage is barred by the policy's related-acts provision.
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May 20, 2024
10th Circ. Oral Args. Poised To Shape NM Pollution Coverage
The Tenth Circuit said there were "good arguments on both sides" of an appeal at oral arguments Monday over whether absolute pollution exclusions doomed a New Mexico property owner's quest for defense coverage of underlying contamination litigation, in a case that could set the tone for insurance battles in the state.
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May 20, 2024
8th Circ. Upholds Deere's Win In Insurer's Tractor Fire Suit
Deere & Co. has no duty to reimburse Secura Insurance Co. for coverage payments after two of its insured's tractors caught fire in separate incidents, the Eighth Circuit ruled Monday, noting the distinction between a design and manufacturing defect.
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May 20, 2024
7-Eleven Says Insurer Must Cover Wrongful Death Suit
The insurer of a Houston 7-Eleven lessee facing negligence claims after one person was fatally shot and another was injured on its property must also cover 7-Eleven corporate in the litigation, the convenience store giant said, though conceding the lessee store's policy didn't specifically include 7-Eleven as an additional insured.
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May 20, 2024
Upscale Mass. Restaurant's COVID Loss Claims Fail In Appeal
Massachusetts restaurant chain Davio's is not entitled to coverage for what it says were property losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an intermediate state appellate court concluded on Monday, finding its arguments are no different from those rejected by the state's highest court two years ago in a similar case.
Expert Analysis
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4 Themes From Policyholder Wins In COVID Coverage Cases
As COVID-19 business interruption coverage lawsuits wind their way through state and federal courts, the broader trends emerging from the policyholder victories can assist insureds and their counsel with strategic litigation decisions, says Nicholas Insua at Reed Smith.
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Capturing Insurance Coverage For Climate Change Suits
As municipalities increasingly file suits seeking damages from oil companies in connection with climate change, the companies should consider filing actions to forestall insurer denials of commercial general liability coverage based on theories of novelty or inapplicable pollution exclusions, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.
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After Climate Rulings, Insurers May Go On Coverage Offense
As climate change lawsuits progress, coverage litigation quickly follows — as evidenced by two recently filed suits, Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance and Everest Premier Insurance v. Gulf Oil — and insurers will likely become more proactive in seeking to limit their exposure, say Jose Umbert and Hernan Cipriotti at Zelle.
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Indirect Hurricane Ian Losses Could Be Covered By Insurance
Even companies indirectly affected by Hurricane Ian — for instance, by losses in their supply chain — should review their commercial property policies as they might benefit from specific insurance clauses covering these types of losses, says William Wagner at Taft.
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Lessons From 1st COVID Biz Interruption Policyholder Verdict
Robyn Anderson at Lathrop examines what made Baylor College of Medicine's recent COVID-19 business interruption case a success in Texas state court, and considers whether this first win on behalf of an insured is an outlier or a sign of more to come.
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State COVID Insurance Rulings Highlight Errors In Dismissals
Recent California and Vermont decisions in favor of policyholders, along with a $48 million jury verdict in Texas, underscore the error that courts are making by dismissing COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits at the pleading stage without consideration of the facts and evidence in each case, say Joseph Niczky and Michael Levine at Hunton.
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Fla. Evidence Code Update Lowers Burden For Image Use
Florida's recent evidence code change permits judicial notice of images and certain other graphics, a hugely meaningful development for litigants across a wide range of practice areas, though the effect will likely be immediately felt in property insurance cases, say Eve Cann and David Levin at Baker Donelson.
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Courts Are Not Shifting On COVID Biz Interruption Stance
Although a recent Law360 guest article suggested that the pendulum is about to swing in favor of policyholders seeking business interruption coverage for pandemic-related losses, the larger body of appellate case law — applying the laws of 25 states — continues to find no coverage, say attorneys at Dentons.
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What Snap Removal Debate Means For Insurance Disputes
A potential circuit split regarding the permissibility of snap removal to federal court, which allows defendants to circumvent the forum defendant rule, is particularly a concern in insurance cases due to the difficulty of removing such cases, and the perception that some state courts are more favorable to policyholders, says Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.
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Questions Remain On Computer Fraud Coverage For Phishing
There are questions regarding the applicability of computer fraud coverage to phishing scheme losses in the wake of the Ninth Circuit's decision in Ernst & Haas v. Hiscox earlier this year, with a backdrop of differing case results and evolving fact patterns over the past few years, say Robert Callahan and Melissa D’Alelio at Robins Kaplan.
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Storm Insurance Considerations For Cos. New To Florida
As more and more businesses migrate to Florida, commercial property owners and tenants should carefully consider specific contract terms in order to avoid insurance issues and litigation in the event of storm damage, say Philippe Lieberman and Marko Cerenko at Kluger Kaplan.
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Business Insurance Considerations Amid Conflict In Ukraine
As the conflict in Ukraine continues to wreak havoc on global business operations and supply chains, companies should carefully assess all the various types of insurance coverage that may mitigate corporate losses, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Recent State Rulings Buck Trend In COVID Insurance Disputes
For the last two years, policyholders have been mostly unsuccessful in arguing that commercial property policies should cover losses suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a trio of recent state court decisions suggests that the pendulum may swing in policyholders' favor, say attorneys at Reed Smith.