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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 5 granted a petition by President Donald J. Trump and other federal government parties seeking a decision on the legality of an executive order (EO) Trump signed in January declaring that children born in the United States are not citizens when their mother is “unlawfully present in the United States” or their mother’s presence is “temporary” and their father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
RALEIGH, N.C.— The father of an unemancipated minor accused of going on shooting rampage that killed several people in a Raleigh neighborhood asked a North Carolina federal court on Dec. 4 to dismiss his homeowners insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend and indemnify against the underlying action, arguing that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over him because the insurer failed to effect timely service of its complaint.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Dec. 4 held that fact issues preclude granting a commercial property insurer’s motion for supplemental summary judgment on a church insured’s claims for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Prompt Payment Claims Act, further denying the insured’s motion to reconsider an earlier ruling that dismissed its bad faith claims in a coverage dispute over hailstorm damage.
HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge on Dec. 4 denied motions to exclude expert testimony in a suit by Indiana and the U.S. government against a medical center and its owner alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act and similar state law regarding alleged fraudulent billing to Medicaid for urine drug screening tests, finding that the experts were qualified and used reliable methodology.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Court of Appeals sanctioned an attorney $2,000 for submitting a brief containing two fake citations and a fake quotation but said the respondent can refile a corrected version of the previously stricken brief with certain restrictions.
ATLANTA — Saying in an unpublished per curiam opinion that the multiple physician reviews that a long-term disability (LTD) insurer obtained and the claimant’s “social media activity” and medical records constituted substantial evidence for terminating benefits under a group insurance policy’s any-occupation definition of disability, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the insurer.
ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York appeals panel reversed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of insurers as to their reformation counterclaim in a coverage dispute arising from Hurricane Maria damage to the insured’s Puerto Rico facility, holding that the insurers failed to demonstrate “by clear and convincing evidence” that the parties intended for the “all-risk” insurance policy to exclude named windstorm damage to the facility at the time the policy was executed.
SCRANTON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Dec. 3 denied summary judgment to State Farm in a breach of contract suit over State Farm’s alleged failure to cover an insured’s fire damage claim, finding that the insured’s testimony during an examination under oath (EUO) creates a dispute of fact regarding whether he made false statements in bad faith as to his knowledge of judgments exceeding $100,000 against him.
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Dec. 3 granted final approval to a class settlement with a present value of $7 million that resolves a suit challenging the use of allegedly outdated mortality assumptions to calculate annuities for married pension plan participants; as requested, the judge also awarded a third of that total for attorney fees.
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 3 affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to dismiss a California-based club’s trademark infringement suit against a Kentucky-based attorney over the use of the name “Diva Attorney,” agreeing with the judge that the club failed to show that the attorney had sufficient contacts with California to establish specific personal jurisdiction.
NEW ORLEANS — A jury verdict entered in favor of a homeowners insurer in a dispute over coverage for tornado damage to an insured home is “amply supported” by the trial record and the district court acted within its discretion by limiting the testimony of the insurer’s engineer, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.