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Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

  • September 16, 2024

    Michigan Panel: Additional Insured Coverage Triggered For Premises Liability Suit

    DETROIT — A Michigan appeals court held that it is clear that defendants are additional insureds because the insured entered into a written lease that required it to name them as additional insureds and an underlying death arose out of the decedent’s use of the part of a premises that was leased to the insured, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of the defendants in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit.

  • September 16, 2024

    Texas High Court Refuses To Review Insured’s Petition In Suit Challenging Practices

    AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court denied an insured’s petition to review an appeals court’s reversal of a class certification order in a lawsuit alleging that an insurer withheld interest that was due on life insurance policies; one justice filed an opinion concurring in the denial of the petition but opining that “in the future, the lower courts should expressly resolve any jurisdictional objections, whether complex or simple, before turning to any merits issue.”

  • September 16, 2024

    Bump-Up Exclusion Unambiguously Bars Coverage, Insurers Argue To 4th Circuit

    RICHMOND, Va. — Asserting that an appellant insured “has it backward,” insurers asked the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a lower federal court’s holding that a “bump-up” exclusion unambiguously precludes directors and officers liability insurance coverage for the $90 million settlement of two underlying lawsuits arising from a 2015 merger.

  • September 13, 2024

    Panel: Insured Did Not Show It Provided Timely Notice Of Medical Malpractice Suit

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York appeals court concluded that an insured failed to demonstrate that it timely notified its insurer of an underlying medical malpractice lawsuit, affirming a lower court’s denial of the insured’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurer has to duty to defend and indemnify it against the underlying action and a related third-party complaint.

  • September 13, 2024

    Utah Judge Rules For Insurer In Coverage Dispute Over Ill. BIPA Violation Claims

    SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge entered judgment in favor of a general liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action alleging its insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), finding that various policy exclusions bar coverage.

  • September 11, 2024

    BIPA Violation Suit Did Not Trigger Coverage, Illinois Majority Rules In Reversal

    CHICAGO — A majority of an Illinois appeals court panel on Sept. 10 held that an underlying lawsuit alleging that an insured violated the Biometric Information Privacy Act did not trigger coverage under its “Cyber, Data Risk, and Media Insurance” policies, reversing the lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the insured and remanding for the court to enter summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the issue of its duty to defend.

  • September 11, 2024

    5th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Subrogation Suit On Other Grounds

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 10 held that an oil well operator is not liable to the excess insurer of an oilfield consultancy, affirming on other grounds a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the oil well operator in the insurer’s subrogation breach of contract lawsuit seeking reimbursement for the $5 million it paid toward the settlement of an underlying injury lawsuit.

  • September 11, 2024

    Panel: Court Lost Subject Matter Jurisdiction When It Allowed Insurer To Intervene

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of hotel owners and operators in a negligence lawsuit arising from a slip-and-fall injury, finding that the lower court lost subject matter jurisdiction over the lawsuit when it granted an insurer’s motion to intervene.

  • September 11, 2024

    Judge Dismisses $1M Crime Coverage Suit Following Stipulation By Law Firm, Insurer

    FLINT, Mich. — Following a stipulation of dismissal by the parties, a federal judge in Michigan dismissed with prejudice a law firm insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit alleging that its insurer owed $1 million in crime coverage for its $1,602,107.98 in total losses stemming from a fraudulent funds transfer.

  • September 10, 2024

    Panel Refuses To Reconsider Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Prompted By Pandemic

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused to reconsider its ruling that affirmed a federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insured in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • September 06, 2024

    Panel: ‘Sound Reasons’ Exist Why Excess Insurers Should ‘Stay On The Sidelines’

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate panel on Sept. 5 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of two excess insurers in a private equity management firm insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit, finding that “there are sound policy reasons why the excess insurers should stay on the sidelines” of the professional liability coverage dispute.

  • September 06, 2024

    Washington Panel: Domestic Abuse Exception To Intentional Loss Exclusion Applies

    SEATTLE — A Washington appeals court reversed a lower court’s summary judgment in favor of an insurer in an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for her losses arising from an assault and arson by her ex-husband, finding that the insured satisfied the domestic abuse exception to the policy’s intentional loss exclusion.

  • September 06, 2024

    Texas High Court Refuses To Review Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over Wrongful Death

    HOUSTON — The Texas Supreme Court denied an insured and its insurer’s petitions seeking review of an appeals court’s finding that they “conclusively established” that a defendant breached a contract by not maintaining the minimum required insurance coverages and not ensuring that the insured and its employees qualified as additional insureds but did not “conclusively” prove damages for the breaches.

  • September 05, 2024

    Panel Reverses Ruling In Professional Liability Insurer’s Favor On Bad Faith Claim

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 4 reversed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a professional liability insurer on a claim for bad faith in a coverage dispute arising from a medical malpractice lawsuit, finding that the lower court erred in concluding that the bad faith claim was time-barred.

  • September 04, 2024

    5th Circuit Stands By Reversal In Professional Liability Suit Over Oil Spill Claims

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 3 denied plaintiffs’ request to reconsider last month’s reversal of a lower federal court’s enforcement of a settlement in a lawsuit alleging that law firm insureds committed legal malpractice by failing to properly handle plaintiffs’ claims for compensation of damages caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, finding that there was no enforceable settlement because the defendants did not accept the plaintiffs’ counteroffer.

  • September 04, 2024

    11th Circuit: Accounting Not Performed For Financial Institution, No Coverage Owed

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a professional liability insurer in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by assignees of an accounting services provider insured, finding that no coverage is owed for the insured’s alleged liability arising from its audit of a food services company because the insured’s accounting was not performed for a financial institution.

  • September 04, 2024

    Insurer Challenges Panel’s Affirmation Of Judgment In Favor Of Contractor’s Assignee

    ATLANTA — An insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s $557,500 summary judgment in favor of a contractor insured’s assignee in a lawsuit seeking coverage for damage incurred as a result of the insured’s misconduct.

  • September 04, 2024

    Global Medical Device Company Dismisses Claims Against Primary D&O Insurer

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A primary directors and officers liability insurer and a global medical device company insured filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice of the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for defense and settlement costs arising from an underlying False Claims Act lawsuit.

  • August 15, 2024

    COMMENTARY: Campus Protests May Trigger Insurance Coverage For Property Damage And Economic Losses

    By Amber Finch, Anthony Crawford and Adrienne Kitchen

  • September 03, 2024

    5th Circuit Panel Refuses To Reconsider Dismissal Of $192M Coronavirus Coverage Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Aug. 30 per curiam order denied Texas’ largest nonprofit health system petition seeking rehearing en banc of a majority opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of its commercial property insurer in its lawsuit seeking coverage for $192 million in business interruption losses arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

  • September 03, 2024

    Parties Dismiss Counterclaims In Coverage Dispute Over Earplug Liability Suits

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Plaintiffs and their insurer on Aug. 30 agreed to voluntarily dismiss two of the insurer’s counterclaims four days after a Delaware judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for reargument of his ruling in favor of liability insurers in a coverage lawsuit arising from an underlying earplug product liability multidistrict litigation that resulted in a $6 billion settlement and millions of dollars of defense costs.

  • August 30, 2024

    Texas Panel: Court Lacked Jurisdiction For Coverage Dispute Over Drowning Death

    HOUSTON — A Texas appeals panel on Aug. 29 held that a lower court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over a plaintiff insurer’s declaratory judgment claim and a defendant insurer’s counterclaim in a coverage dispute arising from a drowning death, reversing the lower court’s judgment in part and rendering judgment dismissing the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.

  • August 30, 2024

    Louisiana Panel: Court Erred In Denying CGL Insurer’s Exception Of Res Judicata

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appeals court reversed the part of a lower court’s judgment that denied a commercial general liability insurer’s exception of res judicata in a coverage dispute over injuries that occurred at a construction site, finding that the insurer satisfied all of the elements on an exception of res judicata.

  • August 30, 2024

    Judge Rules In Favor Of D&O Insurer In Bad Faith Suit Seeking Indemnification

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted a directors and liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit seeking satisfaction of a $1,901,056 underlying stipulated judgment and alleging a claim for bad faith, finding that the underlying damages are restitutionary in nature and, as a result, not covered under the D&O policy.

  • August 29, 2024

    No Coverage Owed To 7-Eleven For Bodily Injury Suit, Federal Jude Rules

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida granted insurers’ motion for summary judgment in a 7-Eleven store’s declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking coverage for a customer’s underlying bodily injury action alleging that a 7-Eleven employee physically struck him numerous times, finding that the general liability insurance policy’s assault and battery exclusion applied and the liquor liability insurance policy is inapplicable.