Specialty Lines
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November 19, 2024
UnitedHealthcare Can't Escape Patient's Proton Beam Suit
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday refused to toss a federal benefits lawsuit from a patient who alleged that UnitedHealthcare wrongly denied him coverage for proton beam therapy to treat tongue cancer, rejecting the insurer's argument that an exclusion for unproven treatments applied.
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November 19, 2024
Parties Voluntarily Toss Sewer Expansion Coverage Row
An Indiana federal court dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday from a utility company's insurer seeking to avoid covering a $5 million consent judgment and a $14 million damages claim from underlying litigation concerning a sewer expansion plan, after it was told in September the parties reached a global settlement in principle.
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November 18, 2024
Pa. Lab Seeks Ad Coverage For Libel Suit Over COVID Tests
A Pennsylvania laboratory told a federal court Monday that its insurer must cover it in an underlying lawsuit brought by a COVID-19 test manufacturer in which the manufacturer alleged that the lab sent 19,000 letters to test kit users wrongfully stating that the tests were unreliable.
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November 18, 2024
Trump Co. Seeks Coverage Of Wage Theft, Discrimination Suit
The Trump Corp. asked a New York federal court to force an insurer to defend it in a more than $500,000 wage theft and age discrimination dispute brought by a former employee of a company-managed luxury condo in Manhattan.
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November 14, 2024
Insurance Industry Key In Net-Zero Transition, UN Group Says
The insurance industry must take a more meaningful approach to promoting climate-friendly underwriting and investment practices in support of the transition to a net-zero economy, the United Nations' insurance-climate initiative reported Thursday.
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November 14, 2024
6th Circ. Grills Home Depot Over Data Breach Coverage Fight
Home Depot urged a Sixth Circuit panel to find that a contested electronic data exclusion in its commercial general liability excess policies was ambiguous, "tacking a crack" at persuading the appellate court that a 2014 data breach didn't involve the loss of use of electronic data.
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November 14, 2024
Election Highlights States' Role On Insurer Climate Risks
Working together to understand climate change risks to insurers and their policyholders should be a priority for state regulators, as already limited federal initiatives to study those risks are set to decrease in a Trump administration, risk and climate experts say.
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November 14, 2024
Mortgage Co. Seeks Coverage For $30M Cyber Attack Loss
Mortgage servicer Mr. Cooper Group Inc. accused units of AIG and Berkshire Hathaway of violating Texas' insurer deceptive trade practices and unfair claim settlement laws, telling a Texas federal court Thursday they've failed to fully cover more than $30 million in losses from an October 2023 hacking incident.
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November 14, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The First Circuit upheld a Berkley unit’s win in a construction defect coverage suit, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that an unlawful exclusion in an auto policy should be reformed and not voided, and the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in a vehicle valuation class action against Progressive. Here, Law360 takes a look at the week's top insurance news.
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November 13, 2024
Insurer Says Condo That Prevented Hunting Has No Coverage
The insurer for a homeowners association asked a South Carolina federal court Wednesday to determine that a dispute over the organization's attempt to ban residents from hunting deer on their property was not owed coverage under its policy's provisions.
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November 13, 2024
Insurers Say Hyundai, Kia Should Pay For Combusting Cars
A slew of insurers for owners of certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles are suing the companies in a case removed to California federal court Wednesday, seeking to recoup costs associated with almost a decade of claims for cars that allegedly spontaneously combust and have not been fixed by the manufacturers.
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November 13, 2024
Perkins Coie Insurance Litigator Returns From Pillsbury
Perkins Coie LLP is rehiring an insurance litigator from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, as the firm's insurance recovery work has more than doubled in the past three years, that group's practice chair told Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.
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November 12, 2024
Freddie Mac Gets Partial Win In SEC Probe Coverage Dispute
Government-backed mortgage buyer Freddie Mac cannot obtain coverage solely because its employees received subpoenas from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a D.C. federal court ruled while also holding that the lender's excess insurers cannot challenge a lower-layer insurer's coverage determination.
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November 07, 2024
Trump Election Complicates Growing Insurance Climate Crisis
Donald Trump's election to a second term as president is a huge setback for global efforts to curb climate change, and his disregard for the environment will likely complicate efforts to better understand climate risks facing insurers and consumers, experts say.
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November 07, 2024
State Farm Owes No Coverage For Exec In Fatal Crash Suit
A repair company's president who was involved in a fatal accident while driving a truck he personally owned but also used on the job can't be covered under its commercial auto policies, an Alaska federal court ruled, noting it's undisputed he was on a personal errand at the time.
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November 07, 2024
Trump Win Shakes Up D&O Coverage Risks Across Sectors
The reelection of former President Donald Trump this week promises to usher in a starkly different administration and regulatory approach, scrambling the current risk landscape for directors and officers and their insurers.
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November 07, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Insurers sought to limit coverage for Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. in underlying securities claims, a proposed class of Washington Airbnb users accused the company's insurers of including undisclosed fees in their travel insurance and two Hartford units said Meta isn't owed coverage for numerous public nuisance lawsuits. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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November 07, 2024
Insurance Industry Biodiversity Push Comes Down To Funds
The insurance industry could lend crucial support in preventing biodiversity loss through novel risk-sharing instruments, but its effectiveness will depend on the ability to finance coverage costs, and understand the risks to biodiversity in a variety of ecosystems.
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November 07, 2024
6th Circ. To Mull CGL-Cyber Line In Home Depot Hack Fight
The Sixth Circuit's consideration of whether an electronic data exclusion relieves commercial general liability insurers for Home Depot of $50 million in data breach coverage obligations could provide some clarity on when, or if, CGL and cyber coverage overlap.
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November 05, 2024
An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist
With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.
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November 05, 2024
GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump
Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees.
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November 05, 2024
Del., NC Insurance Commissioners Hold Their Seats
Incumbent insurance commissioners successfully defended their positions on Election Day, with Mike Causey winning in North Carolina, Trinidad Navarro securing his position in Delaware and Jon Godfread running unopposed in North Dakota. Washington voters elected a new commissioner for the first time in 24 years, with state Sen. Patty Kuderer assuming the position.
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November 05, 2024
Insurer Says No Coverage For Doctor Sex Assault Claims
An insurer covering an Ohio doctor who was indicted for over 50 counts of sexual misconduct and a private practice he worked at told an Ohio federal court that their policies must be rescinded because of multiple misrepresentations in policy renewals.
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October 31, 2024
4th Circ. Told Door-Maker's $10M Claim Double-Dips Coverage
A Travelers unit says it shouldn't have to fork over $10 million in excess coverage to a North Carolina door manufacturer that paid $39.5 million to settle a securities class action, telling the Fourth Circuit that the case stems from a flurry of antitrust litigation that began before its policy went into effect.
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October 31, 2024
Insurance Risks Abound Due To Exceptional Storms, Pros Say
The 2024 hurricane season is historically exceptional from a climatological and insurance industry perspective, but it should also be understood against the greater context of a high-loss landscape that demands a finer understanding of changing climate risks, academic risk experts said Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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Insurance Likely Kept Swift Out Of The Woods After Vienna
Financial losses Taylor Swift incurred from the cancellation of three concerts in Vienna in August will likely be covered by insurance policies, considering how the facts of the situation differ from those of the Foo Fighters' 2015 insurance dispute over event cancellation and terrorism coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.
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3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim
The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks
With all the regulatory activity surrounding antitrust and unfair competition claims, as highlighted by last month's D.C. federal court decision that Google is a monopolist, businesses must not only ensure compliance, but also understand their potential insurance coverage when such claims arise, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute
In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
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Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.
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Ore. Insurance Litigation Is Testing The Bounds After Moody
Despite the Oregon Supreme Court’s attempt to limit application of its 2023 decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, which for the first time awarded extracontractual damages stemming from alleged negligent claims handling, recent litigation shows Oregon insurance companies face greater exposure, says Sarah Pozzi at Cozen O’Connor.
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What's In NYDFS Guidance On Use Of AI In Insurance
Matthew Gaul and Shlomo Potesky at Willkie summarize the New York Department of Financial Services' recently adopted circular letter on the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing, and highlight the material changes made to it in response to comments on the draft circular letter.
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After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.