-
April 30, 2026
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A real estate investment company sued its insurance broker in a Georgia federal court for breach of contract, estoppel, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, alleging that the broker failed to obtain insurance coverage for 11 of its rental properties that incurred $1.1 million in damages caused by Hurricane Helene.
-
April 29, 2026
DENVER — Two auto insurers involved in a dispute over an insured’s claims for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits are not prevented from asserting that their insured breached the duty to cooperate under the applicable parties because a Colorado statute, which sets forth requirement for failure-to-cooperate defenses asserted by insurers, does not apply to an insured’s duty to satisfy conditions precedent in the contract, the majority of the Colorado Supreme Court said in reversing an appeals court’s ruling.
-
April 29, 2026
BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment in favor of a commercial general liability insurer in a lawsuit arising from the death of the appellant’s mother while she resided at an assisted living facility in Puerto Rico, rejecting the appellant’s argument that the lower court erred in giving Rivera-Matos v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico “retroactive” effect in granting the judgment.
-
April 28, 2026
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 27 determined that the Minnesota Supreme Court should determine the novel legal issue of “whether, under Minnesota law, Amazon is strictly liable for a defective product it offered, stored, and shipped, even though someone else was the seller,” noting that the Minnesota high court “has not decided a significant chain-of-commerce strict-liability case involving a retailer since pre-internet times” and that the panel “would be wading into murky waters” if it tried to guess what the Minnesota high court would decide.
-
April 28, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 27 denied an insurer’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision holding that late notice of underlying class litigation relieved a reinsurer of indemnity obligations under a quota share reinsurance treaty; the insurer had argued in its petition that the appellate court imposed an objective notice standard not recognized under Texas law.
-
April 27, 2026
GREENBELT, Md.— A pharmaceutical company insured filed a notice appealing a Maryland federal court’s grant of a directors and officers liability insurer’s motion to dismiss its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for an underlying antitrust action arising from its acquisition of the rights to distribute a prescription medication used to treat mobility issues in people with advanced Parkinson's disease.
-
April 27, 2026
AUGUSTA, Ga. — An attorney insured and his wife filed a notice indicating that they are appealing a Georgia federal court’s summary judgment ruling that a lawyer’s professional liability insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify against an underlying trade secrets lawsuit, challenging the court’s holding that the underlying action contains claims that are, at most, incidental to his performance of legal services and do not arise from any acts the insured took in rendering professional services.
-
April 27, 2026
AUSTIN, Texas — Overruling objections filed by the insured, a federal judge in Texas agreed — in adopting a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation granting summary judgment to the insurer on claims of breach of contract, bad faith and violations of the state insurance code — that the insurer had no duty to defend under a homeowners policy in an underlying suit alleging that the insured conspired with his brother to defame and emotionally harm a group of plaintiffs.
-
April 24, 2026
LOS ANGELES — The California Fair Plan Association (CFP) said it is appealing a California court’s grant of summary adjudication in favor of an insured as to his sole remaining claim for declaratory relief in his lawsuit alleging that CFP issued property insurance policies with fire coverage that is unlawfully restrictive as to smoke damage claims.
-
April 23, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del. — One day after the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss all remaining claims and counterclaims, a Delaware judge dismissed with prejudice a directors and officers liability coverage dispute over claims that directors, officers and controlling shareholders breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS Corp.
-
April 22, 2026
BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland on April 21 dismissed without prejudice all claims between Maryland, the insurer of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), and the owner and technical manager of the ship M/V Dali, which allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, after the parties indicated that they had reached a settlement in the exoneration lawsuit.
-
April 22, 2026
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 21 held that a lower court erred in dismissing Florida insureds’ breach of contract complaint for lack of jurisdiction without analyzing whether the claims against insurers were frivolous, vacating in part and remanding for a new jurisdictional inquiry under the Class Action Fairness Act.
-
April 20, 2026
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Following an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority’s reversal of a federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insured and remand for a jury trial after holding that a jury could reasonably find the insurer knew or should have known that liability was clear, a Florida federal jury concluded that the insurer did not handle an estate’s allegations of negligent security against the insured in bad faith.
-
April 20, 2026
PITTSBURGH — Bakery owners sued their insurer and insurance broker in a Pennsylvania court seeking coverage for their losses arising from the collapse of a fire escape at the front of their bakery building, alleging that the insurer solely used Google Maps and Google Street View to improperly determine that their loss was not covered because it was caused by “long term wear and tear and maintenance issues” and not by wind and rain.
-
April 17, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — In a coverage dispute arising from underlying allegations that a Louisiana sheriff and his deputies violated constitutional and state rights by using excessive force during an arrest, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals certified a question to the Louisiana Supreme Court to determine whether an injured third party has the right to sue an insurer under Louisiana's Direct Action Statute even if the insured breached a cooperation clause in the insurance policy.
-
April 15, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted a renters insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying negligence lawsuit brought by a Los Angeles County police officer, ruling that the pleadings demonstrate that the insured’s deliberate conduct caused the police officer harm and that whether the insured intended to cause the injury is immaterial.
-
April 15, 2026
MIAMI — A Florida federal jury reached a verdict in favor of a law firm as to its breach of implied contract claim in its lawsuit seeking payment from an excess directors and officers liability insurer for its legal representation of an insured in underlying criminal and civil lawsuits but ruled against the law firm as to its promissory estoppel claim.
-
April 14, 2026
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Three weeks after a reinsurer moved for dismissal on subject matter jurisdiction grounds, a municipal risk pool operator voluntarily dismissed with prejudice its declaratory judgment actionin which it sought reinsurance coverage for claims arising from an underlying lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a school employee and negligent supervision by a board of education.
-
April 14, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del.— An insurer filed an application for certification of interlocutory appeal of a Delaware court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of a technology company insured in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying securities class action and a Securities Exchange Commission lawsuit arising from a merger between a privately held company and a special purpose acquisition company, challenging the lower court’s holding that its interpretation of the policy’s “public offering” exclusion blurs the line between parent and subsidiary and “would undermine the narrow function of insurance exclusions.”
-
April 13, 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal judge in New Mexico granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit arising from fatal dog bite injuries, agreeing with the insurer that the policy’s animal bite endorsement limits coverage to $25,000.
-
April 10, 2026
BALTIMORE — Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown said on April 9 that the state has reached a settlement in principle with the owner and technical manager of the ship M/V Dali, which allided with and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, noting that the settlement resolves a portion of the state’s claims in an exoneration lawsuit.
-
April 10, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action alleging that its insured fraudulently induced a company to pay $1,965,000 for 151,200 COVID-19 test kits that were never delivered or refunded, holding that no coverage was triggered because the underlying action alleged intentional and fraudulent conduct by the insured.
-
April 08, 2026
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A district court did not err in finding that a pollution exclusion bars coverage for an underlying bodily injury claim stemming from carbon monoxide exposure because carbon monoxide qualifies as a pollutant and the carbon monoxide was dispersed, as required by the pollution exclusion, from a portable heater, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said April 7 in affirming the lower court’s ruling in favor of an insurer.
-
April 08, 2026
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly reversed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a health care organizations management liability insurer in a lawsuit seeking to enforce an underlying $2.4 million consent judgment against its inpatient substance abuse treatment facility insured, holding that the policy may provide partial coverage for a complaint even if the complaint contains some excluded sexual abuse claims.
-
April 07, 2026
SEATTLE — A manufacturer that, along with its insurance company, settled a personal injury lawsuit cannot assign its rights to an alleged legal malpractice claim to its insurer, a Washington appeals panel held April 6 in answering a certified question, finding that there is a potential conflict between the insured and the insurer after the insurer defended the insured pursuant to a reservation of rights to deny coverage.