Specialty Lines
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March 12, 2024
NJ Diocese Asks Court To Toss Insurer's Abuse Coverage Suit
The Catholic Diocese of Trenton asked a New Jersey federal court to toss an insurer's action seeking to escape coverage for more than 200 suits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, saying the coverage dispute is "premature, vague, and ambiguous."
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March 11, 2024
Urologist Seeks Coverage For Defective Penile Implants Suit
A urologist's medical device company told a California federal court that two insurers must cover it, the doctor and his practice in an underlying class action alleging that a silicone implant invented for penile enlargement, and the procedure that went with it, left patients with permanent damage.
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March 08, 2024
Exclusion Bars Coverage For Ga. Fair E. Coli Suit
Nautilus Insurance Co. has no duty to defend or indemnify a harvest fair accused in an underlying state court suit of exposing two children to E. coli, a Georgia federal court has ruled, saying an infectious disease exclusion unambiguously precludes coverage.
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March 08, 2024
Trump Staves Off $83M Carroll Award With $91M Chubb Bond
Chubb has written Donald Trump a $91.6 million bond so the former president can avoid paying writer E. Jean Carroll $83 million while he appeals a Manhattan federal jury's defamation verdict, according to Friday court filings.
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March 08, 2024
Coverage Capped At $300K In Crash Suit, 4th Circ. Told
An insurer urged the Fourth Circuit to uphold a lower court's ruling restricting a couple's underinsured motorist coverage to $300,000 following a wreck, arguing that the policy's language prevails over a North Carolina statute and, as such, its payout is offset by three primary insurers' contributions.
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March 07, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The California Supreme Court heard COVID-19 coverage arguments, the Fifth Circuit ordered arbitration between a property owner and its domestic insurers, and a New Hampshire federal court said Liberty Mutual owes no defense for class action claims over a sleep machine cleaner.
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March 07, 2024
Mixed Feelings On AI At Cyberinsurance Symposium
Panelists at the Professional Liability Underwriting Society's cyber symposium in New York City on Tuesday and Wednesday were both excited and scared about generative artificial intelligence, acknowledging that it may be used in more complicated cyberattacks yet curious about the possibility the new market could bring.
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March 07, 2024
Texas Wildfires Strike Underinsured Agricultural Sector
A series of Texas wildfires including one estimated to be the worst in the state's history are underscoring the increasing risk of severe natural catastrophes to underinsured populations and insurance markets already under stress, experts say.
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March 07, 2024
Anti-Fraud Tool At Risk In 8th Circ. Billing Row, Carriers Say
Insurers' ability to enter agreements that limit billings with healthcare providers, which they contend help combat insurance fraud, is up in the air in Minnesota as the Eighth Circuit gears up to hear arguments Thursday over whether such agreements violate a state law guaranteeing prompt automobile accident insurance payouts.
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March 07, 2024
Towers Watson Insurers Off Hook For $90M Merger Coverage
Towers Watson's insurers do not need to cover settlements totaling $90 million in two shareholder suits stemming from the company's merger with Willis, a Virginia federal judge ruled, saying the transaction was barred by a so-called bump-up exclusion.
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March 07, 2024
Women In Insurance Law On Breaking Down Barriers
Building a better environment for women in the legal industry starts from the top, women in insurance law told Law360. To mark International Women's Day, both junior and senior women attorneys share their experiences in the industry and offer words of advice.
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March 05, 2024
Calif. Justice Asks Why COVID Triggers Insurance But Not Flu
A California Supreme Court justice appeared skeptical during a hearing Tuesday that COVID-19's presence fulfills the "physical loss or damage" requirement in commercial property insurance policies under Golden State law, questioning whether COVID-19 is different from the flu with respect to property coverage and calling asbestos litigation "far afield."
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March 05, 2024
NC Panel Says Co. Can't Intervene In Insurer Liquidation
A holding company owned by insurance mogul Greg Lindberg shouldn't have been allowed to intervene in the North Carolina insurance commissioner's liquidation of two insolvent insurers, a state appeals court held Tuesday, saying only a company's directors are permitted to do so under state law.
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March 04, 2024
Insurer Wants Trade Secret Suit Dropped Sans Atty Fee Award
A dental health insurer asked a Washington federal judge on Monday to toss its trade secret claims against an ex-executive without leeway for her to request legal fees, arguing that she can't be considered a winning party because she handed over a company laptop after being hit with the suit.
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March 04, 2024
5th Circ. Says Hurricane Coverage Battle Must Be Arbitrated
A Louisiana property owner and its eight domestic insurers must arbitrate the owner's claims that they mishandled and delayed paying its Hurricane Laura property damage claim in bad faith, the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday, reversing a district court's decision that found an arbitration provision at issue unenforceable.
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March 04, 2024
States, Scholars Back Ex-NY Official In NRA Free Speech Suit
States, scholars and public officials have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the National Rifle Association's contention that a former New York state official violated the group's First Amendment rights.
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March 01, 2024
11th Circ. Revives Alabama Life Insurance Class Action
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Friday revived a South Carolina man's Alabama class action alleging his life insurer's costs on his $100,000 policy weren't linked to life expectancy, though the policy said they would be.
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February 29, 2024
9th Circ. Sends COVID-19 Coverage Row Back To Tribal Court
A Ninth Circuit panel unanimously affirmed the Suquamish Tribal Court's jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage dispute, finding in a published opinion Thursday that although the tribe's insurers weren't present on its land, a consensual business relationship means tribal law applies.
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February 29, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Texas Supreme Court found that a handful of insurers may be on the hook for a $220 million bankruptcy settlement, while another state Supreme Court said it will take on underpayment claims against Geico, as insurance experts heed emerging privacy risks and prepare for more PFAS litigation. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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February 29, 2024
Valencia Fire Renews Concerns Over Materials, Insurance
A deadly apartment fire in Valencia, Spain, is drawing renewed attention to the use of flammable materials on building exteriors, a global problem that insurance experts say implicates complicated webs of liability and a need for strong government oversight.
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February 29, 2024
Texas Justices' Unusual Remedy Presents A Win For Insurers
The Texas Supreme Court handed several carriers a victory in its ruling that a $220 million settlement between now-bankrupt Cobalt International Energy Inc. and its investors is not binding on the energy company's insurers to establish coverage, a decision notable for the unusual relief granted by the state justices, experts say.
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February 29, 2024
New AI Risks Pressure Policyholders To Fill Coverage Gaps
Growing scrutiny from the public and regulators in the U.S. over artificial intelligence use and rising threats of AI-enabled schemes are sending insurance experts scrambling to evaluate their coverage options in a rapidly changing risk environment.
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February 29, 2024
Auto Co. Says $50M Policy Endorsement Covers COVID Loss
An auto parts manufacturer is seeking $50 million in coverage for its COVID-19 pandemic-related losses in North Carolina federal court, claiming its policy's "unique" communicable disease provision was misrepresented when its insurer denied coverage for losses at its Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina locations.
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February 29, 2024
SVB Parent's Counsel Booted From Fraud Coverage Row
The bankrupt parent company of Silicon Valley Bank cannot use Farella Braun & Martel LLP as counsel in litigation over the parent company's claims that it alone must be covered for a fraud scheme that caused over $73 million in losses, a North Carolina federal court ruled.
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February 28, 2024
BASF Says Insurers Owe Coverage For PFAS Suits
Major chemical manufacturer BASF Corp. told a South Carolina court Wednesday that 23 insurers should cover thousands of lawsuits that alleged a chemical the company produced for firefighting foam caused pollution and injuries.
Expert Analysis
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Insurer Considerations For Post-Pandemic Virtual Mediation
To determine whether to continue engaging in virtual mediations after the pandemic ends, insurers should weigh the format's challenges against its benefits, including decreased hostility between parties, time and cost, and increased client participation, say Jennifer Gibbs and Amanda Rodriguez at Zelle.
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Key Considerations For D&O Policy Related-Claims Clauses
A California federal court's decision in Stem v. Scottsdale Insurance — which found that multiple claims were subject to a single policy limit under the related-claims provision in a directors and officers insurance policy — highlights areas of consideration, such as policy language and choice of law, for businesses shopping for D&O policies, say attorneys at Hunton.
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NY Ruling Should Make Counsel More Cautious In Emails
A recent New York Appellate Division decision, Philadelphia Insurance v. Kendall, makes it much more likely that a settlement could be effectuated by simple email exchanges without more formal written documentation memorializing all the terms of the settlement, says Christopher Gorman at Abrams Fensterman.
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Insurance Brokers Should Expect Wave Of E&O Claims
Policyholders' unsuccessful COVID-19 business interruption suits and the pandemic-related move to remote work will likely result in a plethora of errors and omissions claims brought against insurance agents and brokers, as evidenced by recently filed cases, says Peter Biging at Goldberg Segalla.
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What SPAC Litigation Trends Could Mean For D&O Insurance
A look at the last two and a half years of securities litigation related to special purpose acquisition companies suggests that directors and officers insurance policyholders should prepare to confront coverage issues, particularly given the hardening D&O insurance market and the anticipated increase in regulatory oversight, say Huiyi Chen and David Kroeger at Jenner & Block.
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The Need For Insurance Options To Protect NFTs
Until insurance companies offer crucial protections to cover the unique risks in the nonfungible token market, NFT owners, buyers, marketplaces, wallet providers and server farms remain exposed to potentially significant hazards, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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An Insurer's Guide To Policyholder Bankruptcy
Given the increased likelihood of policyholders filing bankruptcy petitions in the wake of the pandemic, insurance professionals must be aware of five basic principles when dealing with an insured in bankruptcy, says Eric Fitzgerald at Goldberg Segalla.
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COVID Rulings May Support Ransomware Insurance Denials
A recent spate of pandemic-related insurance decisions — where federal courts found that a temporary inability to use property doesn't qualify as physical loss or damage for coverage purposes — may be used as favorable precedent by cyber insurers denying ransomware loss claims for temporary inability to access data, say Thomas Caswell and Peter Kelly Golfman at Zelle.
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Why Legacy Insurance May Not Protect Adopters Of Bitcoin
Evidenced by El Salvador's adoption of the Bitcoin standard this week, there is an emerging need for insurance products to cover the risk of owning and holding the digital asset, as it may not fall into the protected categories in legacy insurance products, say attorneys at Mound Cotton.
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Ill. BIPA Ruling Marks Critical Win For Silent Cyber Coverage
The Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in West Bend Mutual v. Krishna Schaumburg Tan, confirming that commercial general liability policies do not have to include specific language to cover claims under the Biometric Information Privacy Act, represents a critical victory for policyholders, but leaves unresolved issues in the battle over BIPA coverage, says Tae Andrews at Miller Friel.
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New Ruling Means Ky. Insurers May Rely On Notice Deadlines
The Kentucky Court of Appeals recently resolved a matter of first impression in Darwin National v. Kentucky State University, deciding that an insurance claim made outside the specified 90-day reporting period was late and thus properly recognizing that the reporting requirement in a claims-made-and-reported policy reflects a bargained-for condition to coverage, say Kristi Nolley and Lindsey Dean at BatesCarey.
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How D&O Coverage Fits Into Diversity Claim Mitigation
As companies face a shift in the directors and officers insurance market following a spate of recent shareholder suits over lack of diversity in corporate leadership, executive teams should review D&O policy coverage while implementing diversity initiatives that will effect meaningful, long-term change, say Natasha Romagnoli and Hannah Ahn at Blank Rome.
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D&O Insurance Implications From Tesla's Stock Drop Suit
A recent shareholder stock drop lawsuit against Tesla showcases the legal perils that can follow companies' social media missteps, and highlights the importance of directors and officers liability insurance in the current age of political polarization, says Tae Andrews at Miller Friel.