Specialty Lines

  • April 25, 2025

    Benefits Co. Failed To Protect Personal Info, Suit Says

    An employee benefits administrator failed to properly secure and safeguard private information of benefits recipients, including their names and Social Security numbers, that was later compromised in a data breach, according to a proposed class action in Maryland federal court.

  • April 24, 2025

    Ill. Justices' Pollution Exclusion Review Could Realign Courts

    The Illinois Supreme Court's agreement to consider whether pollution exclusions in standard-form commercial general liability policies apply to industrial emissions allowed under a regulatory permit could potentially provide certainty on the issue and realign Illinois' interpretation with other state courts, experts say.

  • April 24, 2025

    Insurer Says No Coverage For Nursing Home Negligence Deal

    An insurer shouldn't have to pay for a settlement that a healthcare management company reached following a nearly $3.3 million jury verdict in an underlying nursing home negligence suit, the carrier told a Washington federal court, saying the company settled without its consent.

  • April 24, 2025

    Shopify Privacy Ruling May Spark New Wave Of Litigation

    A Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a suit alleging Shopify violated privacy laws using tracking software cleared a key procedural bar that could open the floodgates to a new wave of litigation, threatening to strain an insurance market already tested by privacy suit claims.

  • April 24, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    California property owners affected by recent wildfires accused hundreds of insurers of collusion, Colorado's justices said no exception exists to the state's economic loss rule for willful and wanton conduct claims, and a California federal judge questioned insurers' bid to litigate coverage for injury claims against Meta in Delaware. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • April 24, 2025

    Pest Co.'s Ex-Employee Not Covered In Child Assault Suit

    An insurer for a pest control company needn't cover a suit alleging a former employee assaulted a minor whom he recruited to work at the business, a Mississippi federal court ruled, finding that neither the employee nor his insulation company is insured under any available insurance policy.

  • April 24, 2025

    Law Prof Pushes For Regulating Sustainability In Insurance

    Consumers should have more information about the sustainability features of their ordinary insurance products, but existing regulations in the United Kingdom and Europe don't encourage transparency or innovation of sustainable-minded products. Franziska Arnold-Dwyer, an associate law professor at University College London, spoke to Law360 about sustainability in insurance and her recent paper on the matter.

  • April 22, 2025

    Insurer Skirts Bad Faith Claim In $60M Liposuction Death Row

    The professional liability insurer for a Georgia cosmetic surgery provider didn't act in bad faith in handling a liposuction patient death claim that eventually led to a $60 million judgment, a Utah federal court ruled, rejecting arguments that the insurer breached its duties.

  • April 21, 2025

    Exclusion Bars Coverage For Trade Secrets Suit, Insurer Says

    An engineering firm's directors and officers insurer told a Nebraska federal court Monday it should owe no coverage for a settled lawsuit that accused the firm of conspiring to poach a rail contractor's employees and clients, citing an exclusion relating to the misappropriation of trade secrets.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Nix Appraiser's Petition Seeking Arbitral Immunity

    An insurance appraiser failed Monday to get the U.S. Supreme Court to define what "arbitration" actually means under the Federal Arbitration Act, seeking immunity after a Colorado state jury found he fraudulently inflated a $1.6 million appraisal award against a Travelers unit that was ultimately vacated.

  • April 21, 2025

    Calif. Homeowners Say Insurers Colluded To Limit Coverage

    California property owners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires accused over 300 insurers of conspiring to eliminate competition in the marketplace, forcing consumers to instead obtain fire insurance from the state's insurer of last resort, according to two lawsuits filed in state court.

  • April 21, 2025

    Insurers Clash Over Coverage In Racetrack Injury Suit

    Acuity Insurance LLC wants a Pennsylvania federal court to join two other insurers to its defense of a client accused of designing inadequate safety barriers at a Lancaster County raceway, claiming the other companies had wrongly declined coverage for subsidiaries of the insured.

  • April 17, 2025

    NC Justice Unsure Contractor Can Avoid Workers' Comp Payout

    A North Carolina Supreme Court justice seemed skeptical of a construction company's argument that a sheriff's department should cover the entire cost of a workers' compensation payout to a deputy injured while directing traffic on a bridge repair job, citing the court's precedent on the topic during an oral argument Thursday.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost

    Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.

  • April 17, 2025

    Chancery Fast-Tracks Suits Targeting Reinsurance Offshoring

    A trio of Oxford Risk Management Group LLC reinsurance customers this week won fast-tracking of three Court of Chancery suits that raised multiple claims, including for treble damages, after ORMG declared that it had unilaterally transferred some of its U.S. accounts and exposures to an allegedly steeply undercapitalized, captive Bermuda reinsurer.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    Auto insurers can't shake feds' "forced coverage" claims, the Suquamish Tribe asks the U.S. Supreme Court not to weigh in on its COVID-19 coverage case, saying its court has jurisdiction, IBM wants coverage for $900 million in environmental expenses and Consumer Watchdog sues California's insurance chief over proposed post-wildfire insurance surcharges.

  • April 17, 2025

    General Aviation Insurance Stays Steady Through Turbulence

    The general aviation and airline insurance industry remains steady despite supply-chain concerns and a rise in accident rates. Here, Philip Stafford, a senior partner in Gallagher's aerospace division, shares his thoughts on the current state of this sector with Law360.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Regulators Urged To Address Climate Change Risks

    Insurance regulators must strengthen their understanding of the threats posed by climate change and better consider how those risks will shape the stability of the sector, a group of international regulators said in a report.

  • April 16, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Late Settlement Notice Means No Coverage

    A healthcare company was rightfully denied coverage for a settlement over the erroneous approval of a Florida Medicaid recipient's out-of-state treatment, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, finding the company breached its policy when it failed to inform its insurer of the agreement in advance.

  • April 15, 2025

    Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit

    Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act. 

  • April 15, 2025

    SPAC Officers Seek Coverage For Post-Merger Lawsuits

    Beazley Insurance Co. and certain former directors and officers of a special purpose acquisition company that ultimately became a solar financing company accused the successor company in Delaware Chancery Court of failing to indemnify and advance costs they incurred in two cases stemming from the SPAC merger.

  • April 15, 2025

    Insurer Says Law Firm's $1.5M Cyber Loss Isn't Covered

    A law firm isn't owed additional coverage after hackers allegedly stole more than $1.5 million intended for an attorney who had partnered with the firm on a personal injury case, its cyber insurer said, asking a Washington federal court to dismiss the bulk of the claims.

  • April 15, 2025

    Public Roads, Public Data, Cos. Say Of Drivers' Privacy Claims

    General Motors, OnStar and other companies facing multidistrict litigation accusing them of collecting driving data and selling it without user consent have urged a Georgia federal court to dismiss the claims, arguing that driving data is public because driving happens on public roads.

  • April 15, 2025

    Nonprofit's Prior Loss Coverage Limited For Worker Theft

    A nonprofit cannot get more coverage from Auto-Owners Insurance Co. for an employee theft scheme that caused losses totaling roughly $554,000, a Kansas federal court ruled, interpreting the scope of a "prior loss provision" that covered losses occurring before the policy's coverage period.

  • April 14, 2025

    Auto Insurers Can't Shake Feds' Forced Coverage Claims

    A group of insurers will have to face the federal government's claims that they forced auto-loan customers to pay for unnecessary "collateral protection insurance" by setting an unreasonably high bar for proving the borrowers held other auto insurance policies, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Monday, concluding that the United States had satisfied pleading standards.

Expert Analysis

  • 10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks

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    The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • Strategies To Help Witnesses Manage Deposition Anxiety

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    During and leading up to deposition, witnesses may experience anxiety stemming from numerous sources and manifesting in a variety of ways, but attorneys can help them mitigate their stress using a few key methods, say consultants at Courtroom Sciences.

  • 5 Insurance Types For Mitigating Tariff-Related Trade Losses

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    The potential for significant trade-related losses as a result of increased tariffs may cause companies to consider which of their insurance policies, including marine, builders risk, trade credit, and directors and officers, could provide coverage to alleviate the financial impact, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Home Depot Ruling Tolls Death Knell For 'Silent Cyber'

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling that Home Depot's insurers did not have to cover costs from a data breach hammered one more nail in the coffin of silent cyber, where coverage is sought under standard property or commercial general liability policies that were not intended to insure cyberattack claims, say attorneys at Zelle.

  • In-House Expert Testimony Is Tricky, But Worth Considering

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    Litigation counsel often reject the notion of designating in-house personnel to provide expert opinion testimony at trial, but dismissing them outright can result in a significant missed opportunity, say David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law and Martin Pitha at Lillis Pitha.

  • Tracking Changes To AI Evidence Under Federal Rules

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    As the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close, important changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom are on the horizon, including how to handle evidence that is a product of machine learning, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law

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    The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Airlines Should Follow Treaty On Prompt Crash Payouts

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    In the wake of the recent crash of a Delta Air Lines flight during landing in Toronto, it is vital for air carriers and their insurers to understand how the Montreal Convention's process for immediate passenger compensation can avoid years of costly litigation and reputational damage for companies, says Robert Alpert at International Crisis Response.

  • What To Know About NAIC's Risk-Based Capital Task Force

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    Attorneys at Debevoise outline key details of the Risk-Based Capital Model Governance Task Force, which was recently launched by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, including the task force's objectives, and potential implications for insurers and their investment strategies.

  • How Calif.'s Wildfire Insurance Crisis Might Affect Texas

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    Attorneys at Munsch Hardt examine the implications of California's wildfire insurance crisis for Texas, including potential shifts in coverage availability, regulatory differences and how the insurers in the second-largest U.S. state may react to a major wildfire event.

  • Steering Clear Of US Sanctions While Paying Pirates Ransom

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    Maritime operators, insurers and financial institutions must exercise extreme caution when making ransom payments related to Somali piracy, as the payments could trigger primary and secondary sanctions enforcement by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, says Chelsea Ellis at LMD Trade Law.

  • How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case

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    Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing

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    As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.