Property
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May 02, 2024
Farmers Face Uphill Fight In 5th Circ. Silo Coverage Row
A Texas farming cooperative faces an uphill battle in persuading the Fifth Circuit to undo a ruling that denied it coverage for a $1.3 million arbitration award for construction defects in their grain silos, experts told Law360.
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May 02, 2024
USAA Wrongly Denied Fire Damage Claim, Wash. Couple Says
A Washington couple accused their homeowners insurer of unreasonably denying their fire damage claim despite their timely response to all of the insurer's claim inquiries and requests, further accusing the insurer of violating Washington's Consumer Protection Act and Insurance Fair Conduct Act.
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May 02, 2024
Insurers Are Covering Litigation Funders. Will It Catch On?
Insurers have started to cover losses from a third-party litigation funder's portfolio of plaintiff-side investments, experts tell Law360, calling into question the insurance industry's broader position that third-party litigation finance hikes carriers' litigation costs, thus requiring them to raise premiums for consumers.
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May 02, 2024
Coral Bleaching Highlights Value Of Reef Insurance
An ongoing bleaching event expected to weaken coral reefs worldwide should emphasize the importance of novel insurance products in helping to restore critical marine life following major storms, climate and insurance experts say.
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May 02, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A treasure hunter got no coverage for his thwarted quest, LexisNexis was sued again for spying on drivers, a fatal drag race had its win reversed, a Chicago general contractor split the Seventh Circuit, and the Fifth Circuit wondered if a healthcare company's mistake was a claim. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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May 02, 2024
Atty In $119M Bad Faith Win Seeks Justice In And Out Of Court
Policyholder attorney Benjamin W. Massarsky of Miller Friel is part of a team that won over $119 million from insurers in a case thought to have garnered among the largest bad faith wins in the past 30 years. He also works pro bono to fight for accommodations for students with disabilities. Here, he shares where his passions for justice converge.
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May 02, 2024
2nd Circ. To Weigh Court's Role In Bermuda Arbitration Row
The Second Circuit will review Wednesday whether a New York federal court has the authority to remove an allegedly biased arbitrator in a Bermuda reinsurance arbitration, addressing the question of the federal court's limited role in international arbitration. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of oral arguments.
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May 02, 2024
5th Circ. Asks If Facts Matter In Construction Defect Row
A Fifth Circuit panel weighed the importance of facts versus the law in a dispute over whether an insurer must indemnify a construction company for a $1.3 million arbitration award for construction defects in a Texas farming cooperative's grain silos.
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May 02, 2024
Insurance Industry Still Navigating Risks Created By Dobbs
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade has prompted new insurance policy offerings for healthcare providers and legislation to protect medical malpractice coverage in some states, with additional risks beyond the initial threat of litigation on the horizon, experts say.
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May 02, 2024
Hiscox, Lancashire Predict Loss From Baltimore Bridge
British-listed insurers Hiscox and Lancashire Holdings confirmed Thursday they will likely face a financial hit from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
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May 02, 2024
Sills Cummis Adds Pillsbury Atty As Insurance Group Leader
Sills Cummis & Gross PC has added an experienced insurance attorney from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as a leader of two of its insurance groups.
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May 01, 2024
Eateries Note 'Fatal' Concession By Insurer In NC COVID Row
Cincinnati Insurance Co. made a "fatal" concession when it argued that "physical loss" merely requires "some sort of dispossession," a group of 16 restaurants told the North Carolina Supreme Court, urging it to reinstate their COVID-19 coverage win that got reversed on appeal.
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May 01, 2024
Zurich Gets Plane Parts Co.'s COVID Coverage Suit Tossed
An Illinois federal court has tossed an aviation parts supplier's bid to recover up to $30 million in coverage from a Zurich unit for expired items it couldn't access during a period of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the company failed to sufficiently allege direct physical loss.
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April 30, 2024
Wash. Panel Reverses Hartford Unit Fire Coverage Ruling
A Washington state appeals court reversed a trial court's ruling that a Hartford unit's policy included coverage for an electrical panel that caused a restaurant fire, instead finding that whether the electrical panel was in the care of the restaurant or its landlord remains disputed.
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April 29, 2024
Aviation Co. Fights Delay Of Russian Planes Coverage Suit
A Florida-based aircraft leasing company has pushed back on its insurers' request to pause its coverage suit for $700 million worth of airplanes reappropriated by Russian airlines after the Ukraine war began, saying the insurers' own litigation against reinsurers should have no bearing on its coverage claims.
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April 26, 2024
The Week In Trump: Tabloid Testimony, High Court Drama
Donald Trump and his attorneys have been fighting high-stakes legal battles on several fronts as they grappled with a criminal hush money trial in Manhattan, argued at the U.S. Supreme Court for presidential immunity and tried to quash criminal election interference-related charges in Georgia.
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April 26, 2024
Insurer Can't Avoid Coverage Suit Against Escrow Agent
First American Title Insurance Co. must continue to be a party in Wesco Insurance Co.'s declaratory action seeking to avoid covering claims that Wesco's insureds improperly diverted escrow funds in real estate transactions to third parties with no valid claims to the funds, a Florida federal court ruled.
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April 25, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A New York state panel partially revived Chubb's coverage dispute with an archdiocese over underlying sexual abuse claims, Ralph Lauren got the green light to pursue its appeal for coverage of damages stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and former President Donald Trump solidified a $175 million bond.
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April 25, 2024
Driving Data Suits Highlight Auto Privacy, Insurance Risks
A spate of suits charging General Motors with harvesting driver data without permission and sharing it with data broker LexisNexis Risk Solutions highlights policyholder privacy risks and erosion of trust over extensive auto data collection, experts told Law360.
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April 25, 2024
5th Circ. May Ponder If Threats Are Claims In Healthcare Suit
The Fifth Circuit will review Monday if a healthcare company is covered for a more than $200,000 settlement over mistakenly approving out-of-state treatment for a Florida Medicaid patient, with the case potentially hinging on whether a letter threatening litigation against another party constitutes a claim. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of oral arguments.
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April 25, 2024
Fla. High Court Says PIP Law Doesn't Mandate 100% Payment
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Allstate Insurance Co. is not required to pay 100% of a chiropractic provider's charges under a personal injury protection policy, saying to enact such a requirement would misread both Florida's PIP law and Allstate's policy.
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April 25, 2024
New PFAS Rules Portend More Insurance, Superfund Suits
New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency designating as hazardous so-called forever chemicals, and limiting those toxic chemicals in water supplies, are likely to contribute to a wave of insurance litigation over liabilities, while potentially posing new coverage implications for companies involved in Superfund sites.
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April 25, 2024
Emotional Damages Not Covered In OD Suit, Pa. Justices Rule
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling that a Nationwide unit had a duty to defend two homeowners in a suit over a man's fatal overdose under their roof, holding Thursday that underlying emotional distress damages don't fall within the policy's definition of bodily injury.
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April 25, 2024
Insurance Backs Up College Athletes About To Turn Pro
As the NFL draft begins, experts tell Law360 how changing circumstances make it ever more important for athletes transitioning from the college to professional level to secure insurance coverage, should an injury derail a pro career.
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April 24, 2024
Condo Group Says Insurer Is Blowing Off Wind, Hail Damage
Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co. has moved to federal court an Ohio non-profit condominium community's state court lawsuit accusing it of lowballing the group's wind and hail damage costs and then refusing to engage in their agreed-upon appraisal process.
Expert Analysis
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Assessing NFT Insurance Coverage Options And Gaps
Because non-fungible tokens do not come bundled with insurance policies, and until NFT-specific insurance policies become more common, NFT owners should proactively protect against risk by drawing upon existing frameworks, despite potential coverage gaps, say Brian Scarbrough and Edward Crouse at Jenner & Block.
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Crypto And NFTs Could Change The Future Of Real Estate
As they grow increasingly popular, cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens may shape how real estate transactions are conducted and open the market to many new investors, but these changes are not without risk, says Hugo Alvarez at Cole Scott.
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The Misinterpretation Of Pa.'s Bad Faith Claims Handling Rule
Courts applying Pennsylvania law in insurance coverage disputes, such as the recently decided Walker v. Foremost Insurance, and finding that where an insurer establishes that the subject claim is not covered by the insurer’s policy there can also be no bad faith claim by the insured, are inaccurately interpreting state law, say George Stewart and Max Louik at Reed Smith.
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How Sonic Boom Risk Informs 'Physical Loss' For COVID Era
Applied to today's COVID-19 business interruption insurance battles, insurers' historical treatment of damage associated with sonic booms — or explosive sounds stemming from supersonic airplane speeds — may call into question the many court rulings barring coverage for pandemic-related losses on narrow physical loss grounds, say Peter Kochenburger at the University of Connecticut and Jeffrey Stempel at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Justices Must Apply Law Evenly In Shadow Docket Rulings
In recent shadow docket decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has inconsistently applied the requirement that parties demonstrate irreparable harm to obtain injunctive relief, which is problematic for two separate but related reasons, says David Hopkins at Benesch.
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Ill. COVID Rulings Correctly Adopt Physical Loss Standard
In two recent decisions, Sweet Berry Cafe v. Society Insurance and Lee v. State Farm, Illinois appellate courts properly followed the Illinois Supreme Court's standard for physical loss when deciding COVID-19 business interruption cases, says Melinda Kollross at Clausen Miller.
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A Guide To Extrinsic Evidence In Determining Duty To Defend
As the eight-corners rule for the duty to defend is increasingly riddled with exceptions to its strict formulation of confining the analysis to only the language of the insurance policy and the underlying complaint, Richard Mason at MasonADR discusses the newest notable decisions and offers strategies for attorneys litigating the duty to defend.
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Political Risk Insurance May Help Cos. Hurt By Russian War
As Russia’s war on Ukraine causes severe economic fallout, it’s crucial that U.S. companies with operations in the region understand what losses might be covered by their political risk insurance policies, and take steps to ensure that all available coverage is preserved and maximized, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.
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Conn. Ruling Widens Scope Of Property Insurance Appraisals
After the Connecticut Supreme Court’s recent decision in Klass v. Liberty Mutual, holding that appraisers can apply the state’s matching statute when determining the amount of loss, insurers may not avoid appraisal on the sole basis that there is a coverage dispute, and policyholders will likely attempt to further expand the scope of appraisers' authority, says Peter Kelly Golfman at Zelle.
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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.