Specialty Lines
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February 27, 2024
Egg Co. Not Covered For Avian Flu Losses, Minn. Judge Says
A Markel unit does not owe coverage to an egg supplier for losses it sustained due to an avian flu outbreak in 2022, a Minnesota federal judge ruled Tuesday, finding that a communicable disease exclusion in a site pollution and environmental policy precluded coverage.
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February 26, 2024
Atty's Letter Is Not A Claim For Damages, Del. Justices Rule
An attorney's presuit letter claiming that Syngenta's herbicide Paraquat caused his clients' Parkinson's disease does not constitute a "claim for damages" under the company's insurance policies with a pair of Zurich units, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday.
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February 26, 2024
Ex-Bank CFO Cops To $700K Theft And Life Insurance Scam
An ex-Eastern International Bank chief financial officer has pled guilty to defrauding the bank out of more than $700,000 to pay his personal expenses, and he admitted to opening life insurance policies in the names of bank employees to benefit his wife, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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February 26, 2024
Colo. Justices To Hear If Insurers Can Withhold Some Payouts
The Colorado Supreme Court said Monday it will consider whether the state's insurance code allowed Geico, following unsuccessful settlement attempts, to refuse paying noneconomic damages to a policyholder for his underinsured motorist claim, given what Geico said is the "inherently subjective" nature of such damages.
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February 26, 2024
Texas Justices Say $220M Cobalt Deal Is A Loss Under Policy
A $220 million settlement that now-bankrupt Cobalt International Energy Inc. reached with a group of investors constitutes a loss under the energy company's insurance policies, but the agreement is not binding on Cobalt's insurers to establish coverage, the Texas Supreme Court ruled.
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February 26, 2024
Insurance Co. Beats Claims Analysts' OT Exemption Suit
A life insurance company prevailed against disability claim analysts alleging they were wrongfully denied overtime pay, as an Illinois federal judge tossed their suit because the workers are administrative employees exempt from overtime requirements.
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February 23, 2024
State Farm Alleges Health Co. Violated Deal To Drop 366 Suits
Two State Farm units are accusing an automobile accident-focused healthcare center of wrongly pursuing 366 lawsuits against the insurer despite a settlement agreement State Farm said requires the facility to drop those suits.
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February 23, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
From maritime contracts’ choice-of-law provisions to a question on how far an agency can steer companies from contracting with controversial groups, the past week saw two insurance-related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, plus litigation over a mass shooting and a casino operator’s claims that its “unique” policy covers pandemic losses. Here, Law360 recaps the week's top insurance news.
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February 23, 2024
The New BIPA? Attys Warn GIPA Is A 'Live Grenade'
After notable appellate victories in biometric privacy cases, Illinois plaintiffs have seized upon a previously little-used law protecting workers' genetic privacy, leaving defense attorneys wondering if history will repeat itself and open companies to potentially explosive liability.
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February 23, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Rethink Adviser's Defamation Coverage Denial
A Fourth Circuit panel declined to reconsider its decision that an investment adviser is not owed coverage under her firm's professional liability policy for an underlying defamation lawsuit.
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February 23, 2024
8th Circ. Says Nursing Home Fraudster Owes Supplier $7.6M
A nursing home company whose owner pled guilty in January to employment tax fraud in a New Jersey federal case must shoulder a $5 million judgment plus interest and fees for bills it failed to pay a medical supply company, an Eighth Circuit panel affirmed Friday.
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February 23, 2024
Travelers Can't Duck Payout In Warehouse Fire Reversal
A New York federal court has rejected Travelers' bid for additional discovery in a coverage dispute involving a textile importer whose goods were destroyed in a warehouse fire, after the Second Circuit vacated the insurer's early win in December and remanded for a judgment in the importer's favor.
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February 26, 2024
New York Pandemic Coverage Ruling Offers Few Surprises
Businesses seeking insurance coverage for their pandemic losses were dealt yet another loss recently by New York's top court, a ruling that didn't surprise attorneys watching to see whether the Empire State might buck the trend of carrier victories.
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February 23, 2024
Insurance M&A Partner From Sidley Joins Kirkland
Kirkland & Ellis LLP has added a corporate partner in its insurance transactions and regulatory and financial institutions practice groups, bringing on a former Sidley Austin LLP attorney who said he "couldn't be more excited" to join the firm's Chicago office.
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February 26, 2024
Justices' Maritime Insurance Ruling Retains Tilted Status Quo
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that an insurer can enforce choice-of-law provisions in a marine insurance policy it issued to the owner of a yacht that ran aground, it upheld existing practices that give insurers the upper hand over policyholders.
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February 22, 2024
9th Circ. Urged To Rethink Hiscox Win Due To Hidden Ruling
A design and marketing company urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to review its decision that an insurer didn't have to cover an $850,000 arbitration award to a former CEO over alleged fraud, arguing that the insurer hid the underlying action's judgment that rejected the proposed fraud language.
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February 22, 2024
Lumber Co., Insurer To Settle $4.9M Coverage Dispute
A subcontractor and its professional liability insurer have reached a settlement in principle on about $5 million in underlying claims over moldy, defective wooden framework the subcontractor supplied to a senior living project, the parties told a Florida federal court.
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February 21, 2024
NY Judges Question Lehman's Bid To Undo CDS Trial Loss
A panel of New York appeals court judges on Wednesday appeared reluctant to undo a bench trial loss Lehman Bros.' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to clawback nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over alleged losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.
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February 21, 2024
Justices Told NRA Speech Claim Would Thwart Regulation
The ex-head of New York's financial regulator has told the U.S. Supreme Court her statements advising companies to consider their relationships with the National Rifle Association following the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, didn't violate the First Amendment, rejecting the NRA's position that the statements were a "veiled threat."
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February 21, 2024
11th Circ. Says Sotheby's Insured For Fla. Agent Theft Row
An Eleventh Circuit panel affirmed Wednesday that an insurer must defend One Sotheby's International Realty against allegations that its agent bamboozled married Russian investors into selling their Miami Beach-area condo at below market value, eventually stealing $3.7 million in sale proceeds.
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February 21, 2024
Justices Back Choice-Of-Law In Marine Insurance Suit
An insurer can enforce choice-of-law provisions in a marine insurance policy it issued to the owner of a yacht that ran aground, the U.S. Supreme Court said Wednesday in a decision upholding long-standing maritime law principles of uniformity and certainty.
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February 20, 2024
Insurer Must Pay Defense Costs In Newspaper Shooting Row
An insurer owed coverage to the parent companies of a Maryland newspaper for the legal fees resulting from two underlying lawsuits brought by the victims and their families after a 2018 mass shooting, an Illinois federal judge ruled Tuesday.
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February 20, 2024
Casinos Say 'Unique' Policy Should Cover $130M COVID Loss
A casino operator with properties on the Las Vegas Strip and beyond told a Nevada federal court that its "unique" all-risk insurance is the broadest available coverage and should pay for $130 million in business interruption losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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February 20, 2024
Pharma Co. Can Get D&O Coverage For Securities Suit
A pharmaceutical company that developed a drug for rare genetic blood disorders is covered under a recent directors and officers policy for a securities class action, a Delaware state court ruled, rejecting its insurers' contention that the action was related to an SEC subpoena and thus fell under an older policy.
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February 16, 2024
Insurer Seeks To Cancel $15M Policy Over 'Human Life Wager'
A life insurance company has urged a New Jersey federal court to void a $15 million policy it calls an illegal "human life wager" on a man whose death benefits a bank, rather than his own family.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Managing Cybersecurity And Privacy Risks In M&A
Cybersecurity and privacy issues in M&A transactions should no longer be an afterthought and should be treated on equal footing as other parts of the due diligence process, like tax, real estate and intellectual property, say David Kessler and Anna Rudawski at Norton Rose.
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6 D&O Provisions To Consider When Buying SPAC Insurance
As directors and officers insurance strives to keep up with the unique risk profiles of special purpose acquisition companies, D&O policy language distinctions can make a critical difference in whether claims against SPACs are covered, says Stephen Raptis at Haynes and Boone.
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Del. Rulings Guide On D&O Insurance For Corporate Fraud
Two recent Delaware decisions chart a helpful path for policyholders seeking directors and officers coverage for incidents involving fraudulent conduct, and also demonstrate the flexibility afforded by choice-of-law clauses, say Brian Scarbrough and Eric Fleddermann at Jenner & Block.
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Boiler And Machinery Insurance Can Boost Cyber Coverage
Companies affected by cybersecurity incidents may be covered by their boiler and machinery insurance, which shares many similarities with modern cyber insurance offerings and may apply despite exclusions specifying certain forms of cyber coverage, say attorneys at Cooley.
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3 Cybersecurity Questions To Ask Before A Remote Mediation
Lawyers preparing to mediate or arbitrate a case through videoconference should take steps to ensure they and their alternative dispute resolution providers are employing reasonable security precautions to protect digital client data and conform to confidentiality obligations, say F. Keith Brown and Michael Koss at ADR Systems.
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4 Areas Of Cyberattack Vulnerability For Law Firms
Recent data breaches involving Goodwin and Jones Day show that cyberattacks are very real threats to the legal profession, especially in the era of remote work, so law firms should revisit common business practices that expose them to unnecessary risks, says Ara Aslanian at Inverselogic.
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Ill. Biometric Claim Case Highlights Core Insurance Principles
During oral argument in West Bend v. Krishna this month, the Illinois Supreme Court justices' questions on coverage for biometric privacy claims touched on three core principles of insurance policy interpretation and should result in an affirmance of the lower courts' decisions, says Emily Garrison at Honigman.
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Questions Following 2 Recent Cyber Insurance Developments
A Minnesota federal court's recent decision in Target v. ACE and guidance from the New York State Department of Financial Services have furthered confusion surrounding how insurance policy language should be applied to the unique circumstances of cyber incidents, say Huiyi Chen and David Kroeger at Jenner & Block.
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When Mergers Create D&O Insurance Complications
A Delaware state court's recent decision in Northrop Grumman v. Zurich illustrates some of the pitfalls and disputes that commonly arise when companies with competing directors and officers insurance policies merge, says Sam Ballingrud at Sherman & Howard.
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How Biden's Administration Will Affect The Insurance Industry
President Joe Biden's administration has signaled interest in a range of key issues — consumer protections, regulation of the cannabis industry and health care reform — that will have outsize influence on the private insurance market, say Adrian Azer and Wes Dutton at Haynes and Boone.
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An OFAC Compliance Checklist For Ransomware Payments
As the U.S. government heightens its scrutiny of ransomware payments, victims that pay extortion demands can follow 12 steps to help establish the requisite mitigation and due diligence to avoid penalties from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.
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Cybersecurity Event-Driven Securities Litigation Has Arrived
A recent shareholder lawsuit against First American Title Insurance Co. highlights that securities litigation prompted by regulatory actions may become increasingly prevalent in the cybersecurity context, say attorneys at Pasich.
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Limiting The Severity Of Deficient Securities Fraud Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court's evidentiary requirements of price impact at the class certification stage — established in its Halliburton II decision in 2014 — provide an effective solution to disqualify securities fraud claims with price impact deficiencies, say Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR.