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November 11, 2026
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of Scholastic Inc. in its lawsuit seeking excess professional liability coverage for the remaining portion of a settlement amount reached with Vanderbilt University in an underlying trademark infringement and breach of contract action, holding that coverage was triggered because the underlying settlement was caused by the insured’s rendering of its professional services.
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November 10, 2026
ATLANTA — In a coverage dispute over claims that an insured’s failure to monitor for, investigate, report and stop suspicious orders of opioids contributed to the crisis, the Georgia Supreme Court accepted a reframed certified question from the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to decide whether damages asserted in 26 underlying lawsuits constitute damages “because of bodily injury” as set forth in commercial general liability and umbrella insurance policies and interpreted by Georgia law.
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November 10, 2026
BOSTON — A insured sued its businessowners insurer in a Massachusetts federal court alleging breach of contract and seeking a declaratory judgment that the insurer has a duty to defend and indemnify it for several underlying bodily injury lawsuits arising from products containing the ingredient moringa leaf powder that was imported, held and/or distributed by the insured.
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November 10, 2026
BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland granted one insurer’s motion to dismiss itself from a group of insurers’ appeal challenging the court’s denial of their request for prejudgment interest after the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in their favor in their lawsuit challenging directors and officers liability coverage for federal investigations, shareholder demand letters and a securities class action against Under Armour Inc.
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November 09, 2026
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted in part a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking rescission of the policy and a declaration that it has no duty to indemnify its insured against an underlying lawsuit arising from an assault at a nightclub, holding that the insured’s failure to disclose an assault that occurred less than two months before it applied for the insurance policy renders the policy null and void ab initio and relieves the insurer of its coverage duties.
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November 06, 2026
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims, agreeing with the lower court that the employment practices insurer was not required to provide independent counsel under the terms of the policy.
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November 04, 2026
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Walmart Inc. challenged primary and excess insurers’ petitions seeking rehearing of an Arkansas appellate court’s ruling that affirmed partial summary judgment in its favor in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurers have a duty to defend thousands of underlying actions alleging that it contributed to the opioid crisis by selling and dispensing opioid medications, arguing that the appeals court correctly held that the gravamen of the opioid litigation is not based on its intentional malfeasance but on its failure to put proper controls in place to find and report opioid orders that were suspicious.
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November 04, 2026
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A lawyers professional liability insurer filed a reply brief in support of its motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice of its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying legal malpractice claim brought against its attorney insured, asserting that none of the insured’s “wild or unsubstantiated theories” in his response in opposition justifies a denial of its motion.
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November 04, 2026
TULSA, Okla. — A federal judge in Oklahoma denied an insured’s motion to remand its cyber liability coverage lawsuit against an insurer and insurance agent arising from its $334,388.13 loss caused by a ransomware attack, dismissing the agent as fraudulently joined.
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November 04, 2026
MIAMI — A mediator notified a Florida federal court that a commercial insurer and its insured were unable to resolve the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the policy’s contractual liability exclusion barred coverage for an underlying action brought by a company to which the insured rented event space under a management agreement.
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November 04, 2026
LOS ANGELES — Guess? Inc. and its insurer filed a stipulation asking a California federal court to dismiss Guess’ lawsuit seeking coverage under foreign insurance policies for five underlying actions following mediation where the parties agreed to a settlement in principle.
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October 26, 2026
By Jim Bulkowski and Dr. Nir Kossovsky
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November 03, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A California man who is an attorney and who separately objected to the settlement agreements reached in two separate travel insurance cases failed to show any abuse of discretion in either case, including when it came to incentive awards for the class representatives, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority ruled in two memorandums issued the same day.
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November 02, 2026
SEATTLE — One day after an insurer filed a notice to dismiss its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured in an underlying negligence and wrongful death lawsuit arising from the implosion of the commercial submersible Titan on June 18, 2023, that killed five people, a Washington federal judge dismissed the action without prejudice.
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October 28, 2026
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Primary and excess insurers petitioned for an Arkansas appellate court to rehear its ruling affirming partial summary judgment in favor of Walmart Inc. in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurers have a duty to defend thousands of underlying actions alleging that it contributed to the opioid crisis by selling and dispensing opioid medications.
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October 27, 2026
NEW YORK — An insured on Oct. 26 filed a notice appealing a New York federal judge’s ruling that granted insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment in a declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for underlying claims that the insured violated federal, state and local laws when it deliberately sold and shipped ghost gun parts and kits to New York.
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October 27, 2026
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington denied a senior care liability insurer’s motion to reconsider the court’s denial of cross-motions for partial summary judgment on an assignee’s breach of contract counterclaim in the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no further duty to defend or indemnify its insured against an underlying negligence and abuse action that resulted in a $4.2 million settlement, holding that the motion failed to satisfy Local Civil Rule 7(h)(1).
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October 23, 2026
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An apartment owner insured and the apartment’s property manager filed notices indicating they are appealing a Florida federal judge’s summary judgment ruling that a commercial excess liability insurance policy’s fire exclusion relieves the insurer of its duty to defend against an underlying negligence lawsuit, as well as its duty to indemnify a $17 million jury verdict reached in the underlying action.
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October 22, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — Directors and officers liability insurers argue that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a lower court’s denial of their request for prejudgment interest after it previously ruled in their favor in their lawsuit challenging coverage for underlying securities investigations, shareholder demand letters and a securities class action against Under Armour Inc., arguing that they are entitled to prejudgment interest as a matter of right pursuant to Maryland law.
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October 21, 2026
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that an insurer has a duty to defend its insured against an underlying negligent supervision claim arising from an altercation between two of the insured’s employees, concluding that it is at least arguable that the negligent supervision claim satisfied the insurance policy’s requirement that the bodily injury must both arise out of and be in the course of the employee’s employment with the insured.
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October 21, 2026
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A lawyers professional liability insurer moved for voluntary dismissal without prejudice of its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying legal malpractice claim brought against its attorney insured.
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October 20, 2026
DOVER, Del. — Albertsons and its affiliated grocery store chains filed a reply brief in support of its appeal seeking Delaware Supreme Court review of a lower court’s holding that commercial general liability insurers have no duty to defend and indemnify it against underlying lawsuits seeking to hold it liable for damages arising from the opioid epidemic, seeking reversal and remand to allow the lower court to conduct a full choice-of-analysis to determine whether the California or Idaho law would have applied the same insurance law principles as Delaware.
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October 20, 2026
SEATTLE — The owner and operator of several Potbelly Sandwich Shop restaurants appealed a Washington federal court’s dismissal of its breach of contract lawsuit seeking employment practices liability coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that it violated the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, arguing to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the lower court erred by failing to apply the “liberal-construction principles” that govern coverage disputes under Washington law and misapplied Washington law when it analyzed the insurance policy and underlying allegations.
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October 20, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a professional liability insurer’s petition seeking rehearing of its appeal of a lower federal court’s grant of an insured’s motion to stay the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit pending the outcome of a parallel state court proceeding, refusing to disturb the panel’s ruling that the appeal must be dismissed as moot because the federal court’s stay of the action has expired by its own terms due to a final judgment in the parallel proceeding.
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October 19, 2026
GREENSBORO, N.C. — An automotive parts manufacturer insured on Oct. 16 appealed a North Carolina federal judge’s summary judgment ruling that dismissed with prejudice its breach of contract, bad faith and unfair and deceptive trade practices lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses caused by the “presence of COVID-19” at its facilities.