General Liability
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January 08, 2025
Insurer To Fight Limits In Smucker's Salmonella Coverage Suit
An insurer seeking a bigger contribution from its insured J.M. Smucker Co. may appeal a court ruling that found there was just one occurrence within underlying litigation against the food company over 225 batches of salmonella-tainted Jif peanut butter, an Ohio federal judge said Wednesday.
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January 07, 2025
Insurer Seeks Exit From Engineering Co.'s $1M Settlement
An engineering company's insurer told a Texas federal court it needn't cover the company's $1 million payment to settle a man's personal injury claims, arguing the company failed to give proper notice after the underlying court had already entered an over $7.2 million default judgment that was ultimately vacated.
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January 07, 2025
Fla. Crash Victims Can't Get Insurer Payout In Revised Suits
A Florida state appellate panel has blocked three vehicle crash victims' attempts to collect $16 million from an insurer, saying that the company wasn't properly joined as a party by the time settlements were reached and that final judgments were issued in two separate lawsuits over the same incident.
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January 07, 2025
7th Circ. Upholds Tax Penalties For Life Insurance Scammer
The Seventh Circuit upheld Tuesday nearly $400,000 in tax penalties against a man who served prison time for falsifying his returns as part of a scheme to poison his wife and collect on a $20 million life insurance policy.
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January 06, 2025
Zurich Seeks Coverage Support In MetLife Building Injury Row
Zurich American Insurance Co. asked a New York federal court Monday to force another insurer to tap into its $3 million policy to cover the defense of Manhattan's MetLife Building against a suit filed by a worker who was injured at its loading dock.
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January 06, 2025
Pa. Panel Permits Stacked UIM Benefits Within Same Policy
A woman severely injured in a motorcycle accident is entitled to underinsured motorist coverage under the same policy that directly covered the motorcycle, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled, finding that because she held a separate policy providing underinsured benefits, stacking was permitted under the former policy.
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January 06, 2025
Insurance Execs Seek Defense Costs For Self-Dealing Suit
Insurance company executives who were fired amid accusations they stole assets from their company to start a competing venture demanded coverage for the dispute from their new business's insurer in Georgia Federal Court.
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January 03, 2025
Ohio Panel Backs Class Cert. In Farmers Total Loss Suit
An Ohio trial court properly granted class certification over a man's claims that a Farmers Insurance unit failed to pay Ohio insureds state and local sales tax for vehicles insured under their auto policies, a state appeals court ruled while limiting the class only to insureds who suffered a total loss.
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January 03, 2025
Mich. Law Firm Urges Dismissal Of Insurer's Defamation Suit
A Michigan personal injury attorney and his firm are urging a federal judge to toss a defamation lawsuit accusing them of launching a smear campaign against an auto insurance company, arguing opinion pieces they published on the firm's blog are protected by the First Amendment.
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January 02, 2025
Meta Seeks To Pause Social Media MDL Coverage Fight
Meta has urged a California federal court to find that its insurers cannot yet litigate to attempt to avoid covering thousands of pending lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, arguing that the coverage issues overlap with issues in the underlying cases.
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January 02, 2025
Startup Wants New Trial After TransUnion Undoes $18M Loss
A Sixth Circuit panel was wrong to affirm that a startup must come away empty-handed from a dispute with TransUnion LLC over a partnership to develop an online insurance quote marketplace, the startup said in asking the panel to give it a new trial instead of throwing out its jury win completely.
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January 02, 2025
Colo. Justices To Mull Whether Hertz Qualifies As An Insurer
The Colorado Supreme Court will consider whether a rental car company offering insurance coverage to customers qualifies as an insurer under the state's insurance statutes, thereby potentially exposing it to additional liability for claims that it denied coverage in bad faith.
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January 02, 2025
7th Circ. Won't Review $3.4M Faulty Work Coverage Ruling
The Seventh Circuit declined to review a ruling requiring an insurer to defend an architectural design firm and its owner against faulty work claims seeking more than $3.4 million in damages.
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January 02, 2025
The Top Property Insurance Cases To Watch In 2025
Two cases that could change the policies offered by California's insurer of last resort and a forthcoming Hawaii Supreme Court decision on a $4 billion wildfire settlement are among the top property insurance suits to follow in the new year. Here, Law360 looks at five cases that practitioners should note in 2025.
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January 02, 2025
The Top Property Insurance Decisions Of 2024
A novel climate change coverage suit in Hawaii, three state high court pandemic coverage rulings and a Colorado ruling on a late claim-filing rule are among the top property insurance decisions of 2024. Here, Law360 breaks down the cases that drew the most attention among practitioners in the property insurance space.
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January 02, 2025
3M, Meta MDLs Top General Liability Cases To Watch In 2025
Courts across the country are expected to weigh in on a number of important issues this year in general liability insurance cases, led by a multidistrict litigation coverage suit in Delaware against Facebook that raises similar issues seen in opioid coverage battles. Here, Law360 looks at the top cases to watch this year.
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January 01, 2025
NC Cases To Watch In 2025: NASCAR Fight, Healthcare Rows
NASCAR is fighting antitrust claims in North Carolina even after removing a controversial exclusivity clause from its race team contracts, and the Tar Heel State's medical industry could see massive shake-ups from a challenge to a healthcare competition law and alleged impropriety in a major hospital system acquisition.
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January 01, 2025
Connecticut Cases To Watch In 2025: Ethics, Mergers & Actors
A suit over McCarter & English LLP's municipal loan advice and a Yale-owned heath network's legal battle over a beleaguered acquisition deal are just two multimillion-dollar cases that will keep Connecticut courts busy next year.
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December 20, 2024
Insurer Gets Out Of Ga. Sperm Bank's Bad Seed Claims
A Georgia federal judge said Allied World Surplus Lines Insurance Co. has no duty to defend a sperm bank that has been sued in Canada and the United States for allegedly selling semen from a donor with genetic abnormalities.
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December 20, 2024
Top Pa. Cases Of 2024: Elon Musk, Johnny Doc, Uber Drivers
This year was a standout for high-profile legal battles in Pennsylvania, from a blockbuster verdict against Monsanto over its Roundup weedkiller to the Philadelphia district attorney's fight with Elon Musk over allegations that he tried to influence the 2024 presidential election with his million-dollar giveaway.
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December 19, 2024
Policyholders See Notable But Limited Win In NC Virus Suit
North Carolina's top court handed policyholders a rare victory last week in finding that the "direct physical loss" requirement for "all-risk" insurance can cover losses connected to the coronavirus pandemic, but experts say the ruling's late-in-game arrival will limit its impact.
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December 19, 2024
Overlooked Evidence In Katrina Suit Highlights Insurers' Risks
The Mississippi Supreme Court's ruling affirming a $10 million Hurricane Katrina damages award against USAA emphasized the risk a carrier runs when ignoring evidence while investigating a claim, while an additional $4.5 million awarded in attorney fees by the court raised eyebrows, insurance experts told Law360.
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December 19, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The North Carolina Supreme Court handed policyholders a rare win in a COVID-19 coverage suit, the Eleventh Circuit revived a citrus grower's bid for damages and a North Carolina state appeals court threw out a nearly $29 million judgment against an insurance company. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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December 19, 2024
The 5 Strangest Insurance Cases Of The Year
Insurance protects policyholders from the unforeseen, but some circumstances are so strange that even insurers couldn't have predicted them. While 2022 was wild and 2023 was weird, 2024 saw cases involving bear costumes, cannibalism, vulture infestation, a severe bug problem and a former Allstate employee with animation skills and an alleged vendetta. Here, Law360 looks back on the strangest insurance cases of 2024.
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December 18, 2024
Homeless Woman's Residency Unclear In Inter-Insurer Dispute
A Michigan state appeals court has vacated a trial court order finding the insurer for a homeless woman's parents must cover injuries she suffered after being run over by a semitruck, ruling that questions remain over whether the woman had another established residence.
Top General Liability Rulings From The Second Half Of 2024
In 2024, insurers won big in disputes over retaining independent counsel and coverage for litigation pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions and firearm components, while a policyholder saw success in staving off a coverage determination for over 200 underlying sexual abuse lawsuits. Here, Law360 breaks down the top commercial general liability rulings from the latter half of the year.
Insurer Win In Lead Abatement Row A Blow To Policyholders
The Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that insurers for Sherwin-Williams Co. needn't cover the paint-maker's portion of a $305 million settlement to abate lead paint in California marked another win for carriers in public nuisance litigation, as policyholder experts remain unconvinced by the court's evaluation of "damages" in commercial general liability policies.
BIPA Ruling Split Muddies Policyholders' Hopes For Relief
Two opposing district court decisions on the application of a law limiting damages under an Illinois biometric privacy law marked a setback for policyholders searching for relief from an avalanche of litigation that has posed a challenge to coverage.
Expert Analysis
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How Trial Attys Can Wield Amended Federal Evidence Rules
Trial lawyers should assess recent amendments to four Federal Rules of Evidence and a newly enacted rule on illustrative aids to determine how to best use the rules to enhance pretrial discovery and trial strategy, says Stewart Edelstein, former litigation chair at Cohen & Wolf.
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Mich. Ruling Offers View On 'Occurrence' Coverage Definition
As demonstrated by a Michigan state court in its recent decision finding per-wound insurance coverage for a school shooting, the amount of coverage available under occurrence-based policies often depends on how courts interpret "occurrence," say attorneys at Hunton.
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Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.
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1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress
In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.
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An Underutilized Tool To Dismiss Meritless Claims In Texas
In Texas, special appearances provide a useful but often overlooked tool for out-of-state defendants to escape meritless claims early in litigation, thus limiting discovery and creating a pathway for immediate appellate review, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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How Texas Bill Would Transform Noneconomic Damages
Large noneconomic damage awards in personal injury cases have grown exponentially in Texas in recent years, but newly introduced legislation would cap such damages, likely requiring both the plaintiff and defense bars to recalibrate their litigation strategies, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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4 Holiday Movies Full Of Cheer And Subrogation Scenarios
While holiday movies are known for spreading cheer and inspiring nostalgia, for insurance professionals they may also offer an unlikely, yet fascinating, look at subrogation recovery potential, says Dana Meyers at Cozen O'Connor.
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California's New AV Law May Steer Policy Nationwide
California's new law establishing various requirements for autonomous vehicles is something other states should pay close attention to — especially because the Golden State's policies may become a de facto mandate for manufacturers due to its market size, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio Dubey.
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How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of Eye Contact At Trial
As a growing body of research confirms that eye contact facilitates communication and influences others, attorneys should follow a few pointers to maximize the power of eye contact during voir dire, witness preparation, direct examination and cross-examination, says trial consultant Noelle Nelson.
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Hawaii Climate Insurance Case Is Good News For Energy Cos.
The Hawaii Supreme Court's recent ruling in a dispute between an oil company and its insurers, holding that reckless conduct in the context of activities that can cause climate harms is covered by liability policies, will likely be viewed by energy companies as a positive development, say attorneys at Fenchurch Law.
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Teaching Your Witness To Beat The Freeze/Appease Response
In addition to fight-or-flight, witnesses may experience the freeze/appease response at trial or deposition — where they become a deer in headlights, agreeing with opposing counsel’s questions and damaging their credibility in the process — but certain strategies can help, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.
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What Insurers Need To Know About OFAC's Expanded FAQs
The Office of Foreign Assets Control's recently expanded insurance FAQs clarify how OFAC views insurance policies in a number of specific circumstances involving sanctioned parties, and make plain that sanctions compliance is the responsibility of all participants in the insurance ecosystem, including underwriters, brokers and agents, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Nevada Justices Could Expand Scope Of Subrogation Claims
The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision to hear North River Insurance v. James River Insurance could expand the scope of equitable subrogation claims in the state by aligning with the California standard, which doesn't require excess insurers to demonstrate damages, says Daniel Heidtke at Duane Morris.