General Liability
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August 01, 2024
Growth In Captives Gives Insureds More Control, Experts Say
As commercial policyholders continue to seek solutions addressing cost, coverage and control within the traditional insurance market, a steady uptick in captive insurance may be a viable option offering policyholders more control in their risk management programs, experts say.
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July 31, 2024
Rising Star: Cohen Ziffer's Orrie Levy
Orrie A. Levy of Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna beat insurers' attempts to avoid defending Walmart in opioid lawsuits and secured a rare ruling setting aside a Delaware jury's verdict favoring an AIG unit in an insurance coverage trial, earning him a spot among insurance law attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 31, 2024
AIG Units Off Hook In Defending McKesson Opioid Suits
Two AIG insurers have no duty to defend McKesson Corp. over claims it intentionally over-distributed opioids, a California federal court ruled, saying the three underlying suits do not allege a potentially covered occurrence under policies issued between 1999 and 2004.
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July 30, 2024
Wash. Gym, Insurer Settle Athlete Abuse Coverage Dispute
An insurer and a gym jointly asked a Washington state federal court to dismiss the insurer's lawsuit seeking to escape any defense or indemnification obligations for an underlying suit from an underage cheerleader's mother, who accused the gym of providing a space for its founder to sexually assault her daughter.
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July 30, 2024
Insurer Says No Coverage For Florida Sex Assault Claims
A trust facing a negligence claim after a minor said she was sexually assaulted while staying at the trust's vacation rental isn't owed any coverage for the lawsuit, its insurer told a Florida federal court Tuesday, citing a sexual molestation exclusion.
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July 29, 2024
Subcontractor Partially Nixes Claims Over Defense Of MDL
A subcontractor facing consolidated personal injury claims over a chemical leak at a LyondellBasell facility in La Porte, Texas, voluntarily tossed its coverage claims against one of its insurers in Texas federal court, while noting it's still pursuing its coverage demands against two other insurers.
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July 29, 2024
Insurer Must Pay Defamation Defense Costs, Co. Says
An online health services company told a California federal court that a Hanover Insurance unit must help cover the "tens of millions of dollars" the company incurred while litigating an underlying defamation counterclaim and pursuing its own affirmative claims, calling the defense counsel the insurer installed "woefully inadequate."
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July 26, 2024
Fla. Contractor's Property Damage Coverage Suit Gets Tossed
An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a general contractor accused of performing defective work on a Broward County, Florida, home that resulted in damage to a neighboring property, a federal court ruled Friday, permanently tossing the builder's bid for additional insured coverage.
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July 26, 2024
Insurers See Losses Amid Migration To Severe Weather States
Population migration into parts of the U.S. with more severe weather is one factor driving the worst U.S. homeowner's insurance underwriting results since at least 2000, according to a report on the insurance industry from AM Best.
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July 25, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Rehear State Farm Auto Policy Coverage Row
A three-judge panel in the Eleventh Circuit said Thursday they won't rehear their decision dismissing a proposed class action brought by a State Farm policyholder alleging that the insurer's denial of coverage for her medical expenses following a car accident was based on an ambiguous "reasonableness" standard.
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July 25, 2024
SC Justices Reject Insurer's Bid To Avoid Asbestos Coverage
An insurer for a now-defunct thermal insulation installer can't invoke an exclusion for bodily injury stemming from completed operations to avoid settlement coverage of an underlying "take-home" asbestos injury claim, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled, further clarifying when an insurer can use an insured's untimely notice to bar coverage.
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July 25, 2024
CrowdStrike Outage May Leave Policyholders Few Options
Policyholders whose operations were disrupted by global outages caused by an issue with cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.'s software may have few options to recover despite the chaos for air travel, government operations and financial institutions.
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July 25, 2024
Retailer Urges NC Justices To Revive COVID Coverage Row
A clothing company told North Carolina's highest court that the state's appeals court erred in dismissing its lawsuit attempting to recover COVID-19-related losses from its insurer, arguing that the lower court disregarded the omission of a virus exclusion from the policy, which "concede[d] that a virus can cause 'damage.'"
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July 25, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Massachusetts’ top court sided with a hospital owner in a storm damage coverage dispute, the California Supreme Court revived a suit over State Farm’s claims-handling practices and the Ninth Circuit affirmed an insurer’s COVID-19 coverage win. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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July 25, 2024
Climate Risks Heighten Inequities In Insurance Crisis
Climate risks are contributing to higher homeowners insurance prices and a crisis of uninsured households, particularly among low-income homeowners and people of color, experts say, with some saying "transformative" change is needed to solve the problem.
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July 25, 2024
Policyholder Attys Cheer Justices' Ruling On 'Surface Waters'
Like a bridge over troubled water, Massachusetts' highest court laid down a rejection of the term "surface waters," finding insurers couldn't rely on the phrase to limit coverage to a storm-damaged hospital in an opinion celebrated by policyholder attorneys as providing far-reaching clarity on a contested issue.
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July 24, 2024
6th Circ. Floats Remand Of Geico Agent Misclassification Suit
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday pressed Geico about plan documents reviewed by a lower court when it tossed agents' claims they were misclassified as independent contractors, floating the possibility of sending the case back for limited discovery.
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July 24, 2024
Liberty Mutual Gets $2.4M Oil Contamination Row Trimmed
A New York federal judge trimmed a $2.4 million coverage dispute between Liberty Mutual and an oil and gas trader over losses related to a contaminated oil shipment, finding that although the trader met its burden to make a case for recovery, certain contaminated product was excluded from coverage.
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July 24, 2024
Nationwide Urges Mich. Court To Stand By Unitary Biz Ruling
The Michigan Court of Appeals properly ruled that insurance companies that are part of Nationwide should file their taxes as a unitary group, the company told the appeals court, saying the state Treasury Department's request for reconsideration should be denied.
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July 23, 2024
Insurers Must Defend Well Driller In Lead Contamination Suit
Insurers must defend a drilling company accused of contaminating a rental property's water supply with dangerous levels of lead, a Montana federal court ruled, saying they haven't shown the underlying claims fall outside the policies' insuring agreements or are otherwise excluded from coverage.
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July 22, 2024
Zurich Unit Needn't Cover Motorcyclist's Crash Dispute
The Third Circuit affirmed a Zurich unit's win Monday in a dispute over coverage for a boiler company sued by a motorcyclist injured in a crash with a company employee, saying not only are the motorcyclist's claims untimely, but the company's policy excludes coverage for the accident.
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July 22, 2024
Nationwide Seeks Travelers' Aid In Hot Tub Illness Row
Nationwide told a California federal court a Travelers unit must help defend a condominium association in an underlying lawsuit brought by a resident alleging he needed a double lung transplant because of hot tub contaminants, arguing Travelers' pollution exclusion and fungi or bacteria exclusion didn't apply.
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July 19, 2024
Hanover Tries To Delay $13.4M Award Over Home-Care Death
Massachusetts-based Hanover Insurance Group says it should not be forced to pay a $13.4 million judgment awarded by a jury in March to the family of a man who died in a Connecticut group home until the home operator's appeal is decided, in a motion filed in New Haven Superior Court.
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July 19, 2024
Mich. Panel OKs Nonresidents To Seek No-Fault Tort Damages
Nonresidents of Michigan or individuals whose vehicles aren't registered in Michigan can still recover tort damages for their in-state auto injuries under Michigan's no-fault insurance law, a state appeals court ruled, even if they violate a statute requiring proper no-fault insurance if they stay in Michigan for over 30 days.
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July 19, 2024
Regeneron Rips DOJ's FCA Suit As 'Divorced From Reality'
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has told a Massachusetts federal judge that a False Claims Act suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice claiming the company withheld information about a drug's average sales price was "divorced from reality" and the practice the government was complaining about was commonplace.
Expert Analysis
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Lessons On Notice From 7th Circ. Claims-Made Policy Ruling
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Hanover Insurance v. R.W. Dunteman contains broad lessons for policyholders — as many claims-made policies include similar aggregation and claims notice provisions as the one at issue — on how to preserve coverage, say Brian Scarbrough and Maura Smyles at Jenner & Block.
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Trends And Opportunities In Canada's Insurance M&A Market
Laurie LaPalme and Derek Levinsky at Dentons discuss the results of a survey regarding Canada's insurance mergers and acquisitions market, and their expectations for the next year in this space — including an increased focus on accident and sickness insurance, and technology-focused assets.
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Breach Cases Hint At Liability Coverage For Mobile Losses
Although federal courts haven't ruled on whether commercial general liability insurance covers companies' revenue losses when customers cannot use their mobile devices, recent cases involving Target and Home Depot payment card data breaches suggest that coverage may be available, says Morgan Churma at Farella Braun.
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Coverage Ruling Confirms Policy Ambiguities Favor Insureds
A recent Georgia federal court decision, Penn-America Insurance v. VE Shadowood, finding for the insured on a policy containing conflicting endorsements, underscores that coverage cannot be defeated by contradictory terms when policies include coverage extensions, say Shaun Crosner and Tae Andrews at Pasich.
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Capturing Insurance Coverage For Climate Change Suits
As municipalities increasingly file suits seeking damages from oil companies in connection with climate change, the companies should consider filing actions to forestall insurer denials of commercial general liability coverage based on theories of novelty or inapplicable pollution exclusions, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.
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After Climate Rulings, Insurers May Go On Coverage Offense
As climate change lawsuits progress, coverage litigation quickly follows — as evidenced by two recently filed suits, Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance and Everest Premier Insurance v. Gulf Oil — and insurers will likely become more proactive in seeking to limit their exposure, say Jose Umbert and Hernan Cipriotti at Zelle.
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What NJ Insurance Disclosure Law Could Mean For Litigation
Thomas Wester and Christian Cavallo at Goldberg Segalla discuss the potential presuit negotiation and litigation implications of a recently enacted New Jersey law requiring automobile insurers to disclose policy limits before the start of a lawsuit, aimed at promoting claim settlement.
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The Lawyer Personalities That Make Up Joint Interest Groups
As multiparty litigation rises and forces competing law firms to work together, George Reede at Zelle looks at the different personalities — from tactful synthesizers to misguided Don Quixotes — that often make up joint representation groups, and how lawyers can overcome the tensions in these and other team settings.
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NJ High Court Ruling Doesn't Negate Insurer Duty To Defend
The New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Norman v. Admiral Insurance, finding a narrow exception to the duty to defend, doesn't allow insurers to skip out on their litigation defense obligations, say Eric Jesse and Seth Fiur at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Fla. Evidence Code Update Lowers Burden For Image Use
Florida's recent evidence code change permits judicial notice of images and certain other graphics, a hugely meaningful development for litigants across a wide range of practice areas, though the effect will likely be immediately felt in property insurance cases, say Eve Cann and David Levin at Baker Donelson.
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7th Circ. 'Reasonable Costs' Ruling Is A Win For Policyholders
The Seventh Circuit's decision in USA Gymnastics v. Liberty Insurance last month establishes useful precedent for policyholders, affirming and expanding on its rule that defense costs are presumed to be reasonable and necessary when insurers breach their duty to defend, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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A Road Map To Insurance For PFAS Claims And Suits
In light of an uptick in regulation and litigation surrounding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, product manufacturers potentially facing down massive liability settlements must properly investigate and understand the full scope of insurance available, says Jodi Green at Miller Nash.
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Forecasting A Rise In 11th Circ. State Court Class Actions
Two recent opinions from the Eleventh Circuit have created an unusual landscape that may result in a substantial increase of class action litigation in state courts, particularly in Florida, that will be unable to utilize removal tools such as the Class Action Fairness Act, says Alec Schultz at Hilgers Graben.