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Insurance
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June 18, 2013
Big Legal Malpractice Suits Jumped In 2012, Survey Says
Both the frequency and severity of professional liability claims against law firms was up last year, according to survey results released Tuesday by an insurance advisory firm.
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June 18, 2013
Allstate Says Evidence Supports Jury's $6M RICO Award
Allstate Insurance Co. urged a Texas federal judge on Tuesday to uphold a jury's $6 million damages award in a civil RICO suit, saying the award is supported by the insurer's claims that a network of chiropractors, lawyers and telemarketers conspired to inflate billings.
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June 18, 2013
AIG Need Not Cover Developer's $14M Blunder, 9th Circ. Says
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday freed an American International Group Inc. excess insurer from covering the bulk of a $14 million arbitration award against a real estate developer over botched construction of a bar in downtown Los Angeles.
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June 18, 2013
2nd Circ. Says Insurer Owes Olin $14M In Pollution Coverage
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a ruling that Olin Corp.’s former insurer must pay $13.8 million to cover class actions over groundwater contamination near a California plant, finding the policies covered claims for homes that were constructed after the policies expired.
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June 18, 2013
ACA Exchanges Creating Competition, Confusion: Reports
States running their own health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are seeing sharp increases in competition that could help contain premiums, but those deferring completely or partially to the federal government have experienced potentially troublesome confusion, according to reports issued Monday.
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June 18, 2013
State Farm Wins $1.7M From Atty Who Kept Subrogation Funds
A federal judge Tuesday imposed a $1.7 million penalty on a Michigan lawyer who allegedly ripped off State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. by keeping a portion of subrogation proceeds that were supposed to have gone to the insurer.
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June 18, 2013
Mills & Reeve Brings In DLA Piper Insurance Team
Mills & Reeve LLP said Tuesday that it will soon pick up a nine-member insurance team from DLA Piper, which is winding down its defendant insurance practice as part of a restructuring in the U.K.
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June 18, 2013
Insurer Tells 2nd Circ. To Fix Choice-Of-Law Confusion
Continental Casualty Co. asked the Second Circuit on Friday to clear up a "misunderstanding" of a New York precedent on identifying which state law governs coverage disputes, as it battled Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London over a construction accident at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. headquarters that led to at least $20 million in settlements.
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June 18, 2013
Bankrupt Insurer Ducks Congoleum Asbestos Coverage
A New Jersey appeals court on Monday upheld a liquidation court ruling that struck bankrupt Congoleum Corp.'s requests for excess insurance coverage from Integrity Insurance Co. for asbestos-related claims because the claims' liability and value allegedly weren't fixed by a deadline in Integrity's amended liquidation closing plan.
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June 18, 2013
Funeral Services Exec Cops Plea In $600M Fraud Case
A former executive of a funeral home at the center of an alleged $600 million fraud scheme involving the sale of prearranged funeral contracts and the misappropriation of insurance premiums on Monday pled guilty in federal court and now faces up to three years in prison.
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June 18, 2013
Q&A With Nelson Mullins' Kevin Doherty
Recent federal laws have shifted the focus on insurance matters to the federal level. Accordingly, our industry needs to come up with new regulations to smooth out the differences between the state insurance laws and recognize that new federal law will take the place of much of existing state law, says Kevin Doherty, a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.
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June 17, 2013
Texas Windstorm Insurer Says It's Climbing Out Of $183M Hole
Texas’ top insurance regulator and bureaucrats with the state’s coastal windstorm insurer said Monday that the troubled agency is on track to dig itself out of a $183 million shortfall following a recent lawsuit settlement over mishandled Hurricane Ike claims.
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June 17, 2013
Mont. Diocese Says Abuse Claims Trigger Broad Coverage
A Montana diocese on Friday pressed a court to hold for the first time that sexual abuse claims trigger a wide swath of insurance policies, starting with those in effect during the first alleged abusive act and ending with those covering the time that alleged injuries from sex abuse become apparent.
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June 17, 2013
GOP Subpoenas Documents On ACA's Co-Op Insurance Plans
House Republicans on Friday subpoenaed documents assessing the financial viability of nonprofit health insurance plans supported with billions of dollars in loans under the Affordable Care Act, saying the so-called co-ops aren’t being properly vetted and could cost taxpayers huge sums of cash.
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June 17, 2013
Estee Lauder Unit Escapes Insurer's Suit Over Attys' Costs
OneBeacon Insurance Group can't recoup from a noninsured affiliate of Estee Lauder Company some of the $3.8 million in defense costs the insurer paid in litigation over Estee Lauder's alleged hazardous waste dumping, according to a New York state court order posted Monday.
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June 17, 2013
Conn. High Court Slashes Coverage For Nursing Home Fire
The Connecticut Supreme Court has sharply reduced the amount of insurance available for wrongful death and injury claims stemming from a nursing home fire set off by a resident, holding in an opinion to be published Tuesday that coverage was limited to $1 million, not $10 million, as a lower court had ruled.
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June 17, 2013
JPMorgan Can't Shake MBS Fraud Claims In $300M Ambac Suit
Ambac Assurance Corp. can pursue fraud claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co. over residential mortgage-backed securities it insured because the deal closed so quickly that the bond insurer might not have had a chance to review the loan files, a New York state judge ruled Monday.
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June 17, 2013
Q&A With Barger & Wolen's Royal Oakes
The use of the “genuine dispute” doctrine has been a huge step forward in dealing with dubious “bad faith” suits, says Royal Oakes, a partner with Barger & Wolen LLP specializing in insurance law.
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June 17, 2013
ACA Medicaid Expansion Passes In Calif. Legislature
The California State Legislature voted on Saturday to expand Medicaid benefits to 1.4 million low-income residents, approving a provision of the federal Affordable Care Act.
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June 17, 2013
Pillsbury Adds Lowenstein Policyholder Pro In NY
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has snapped up a former Lowenstein Sandler PC insurance specialist as a partner in its New York office, expanding its offerings for commercial policyholders suing their insurers, Pillsbury said Monday.
Expert Analysis
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How To Avoid Discriminatory Wellness Programs Under HIPAA
In addition to providing clear guidance for designing nondiscriminatory wellness programs, recent insight from the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services may also bring more outcome-based programs and new plan designs that shift costs to employees who do not participate, says Priscilla Ryan of Sidley Austin LLP.
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Medhi Ali V. Federal Insurance Isn't So Devastating
Commentators are chalking up the Second Circuit's decision in Medhi Ali v. Federal Insurance Co. as a major victory for insurers, claiming that policyholders lost a key precedent used to argue that an excess insurer must “drop down” to cover losses below its attachment point. But not so fast — there are several reasons why the ruling isn't as devastating as some claim, says Erica Villanueva, Farella Braun & Martel LLP
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New Ways To Manage Old Pension Liabilities
If there were techniques to reduce or even eliminate future pension payment obligations and their volatile financial statement impact without breaking promises to retirees, private equity buyers might find a number of transactions more viable. With that in mind, private equity buyers may be able to adopt some of the approaches used recently by General Motors and Verizon, say Sarah Fitts and Alicia McCarthy of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
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Wrap Your Head Around ISO's Additional Insured Revisions
Presumably in response to developing law on the scope of additional insured coverage, the Insurance Services Office has recently revised its standard commercial general liability forms and endorsements. Although the true scope of their effect is unclear, the revisions can further complicate an already complex area and negatively impact both additional and named insureds, says Roberta Anderson of K&L Gates LLP.
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Is TAR Right For Your Discovery Project?
There are several critical decision factors to weigh to assess whether Technology Assisted Review is right for a discovery project — for example, the nature of the case, internal capabilities, production considerations and overall comfort with this technology, say Michele Lange and Joseph White of Kroll Ontrack Inc.
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Appraisal Process Is Ripe For Revision
In recent years, the once-amicable and prompt appraisal process has devolved into nonjudicial dispute resolution devoid of procedural rules — how do we rein in the appraisal process? The best answer may be to revise the standard appraisal provision, which would eliminate most of the commonly occurring disputes, say attorneys with Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP.
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Class Arbitration Is Back In Arbitrators’ Hands
Arbitrators can still interpret contracts pretty much any way they want, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter. The holding should come as no great surprise as it reflects decades of federal arbitration law, yet the unanimous ruling is a surprise, given what preceded it, says Christopher King of Homer Bonner Jacobs.
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FHFA's New Aim At Lender-Placed Insurance
Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency proposed consideration of new regulations for lender-placed insurance, specifically over sales commissions and reinsurance activities. Lender-placed insurance has long-raised regulatory and litigation concerns, and the prospect of new FHFA regulations is an important issue for lenders, say attorneys with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
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NY Further Expands Scope Of Discovery In Bad Faith Cases
The Supreme Court of the State of New York recently granted the insured’s request for the production of certain claims-file material and previously sealed discovery in Estée Lauder Inc. v. OneBeacon Insurance Group LLC, leaving insurers with yet another troubling instance of a broadened scope of discovery in bad faith cases, say attorneys with Cozen O'Connor.
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How To Fight For Coverage In Solar Panel Defect Claims
A wave of large lawsuits could be coming against solar panel manufacturers, panel distributors and dealers and contractors — what can businesses expect when they turn to their insurance companies for help with these claims? Unfortunately, history shows that insurance companies will refuse to honor coverage and aggressively fight when policyholders are forced to sue, says Scott Turner of Anderson Kill & Olick PC.