Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Insurance
-
May 21, 2013
After Sandy, NY Insurers May Lose Favored Litigation Tool
A New York Democrat on Friday proposed outlawing policy language that insurers use to deny coverage for losses that stem from both insured and excluded causes, legislation inspired by Superstorm Sandy that would nix insurer-friendly precedent in New York and bring it in line with more catastrophe-prone states.
-
May 21, 2013
NFP Directors Sued Over $1.3B Madison Dearborn Deal
The directors and executives of brokerage services firm National Financial Partners Corp. were hit with a proposed shareholder class action Tuesday over its April deal to be acquired by private equity investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC for $1.3 billion.
-
May 21, 2013
HHS To Manage Ohio's Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan
Ohio officials on Tuesday handed off responsibility to the federal government for running a temporary insurance plan for people with pre-existing conditions, joining a long list of states that have opted out of the hugely expensive program.
-
May 21, 2013
Ill. Pension Fund Slaps AIG With Securities Fraud Suit
An Illinois pension fund on Friday sued American International Group Inc. and current and former executives in New York federal court, saying the insurer schemed to artificially inflate the value of its securities while concealing a risky portfolio that led to a 97 percent drop in AIG's stock price.
-
May 21, 2013
Highmark Says UPMC Can't Fight Sanctions In Antitrust Row
Highmark Inc. on Tuesday defended its bid for sanctions against The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in the contentious antitrust battle over Highmark’s acquisition of West Penn Allegheny Health System Inc., saying UPMC has created an “alternate universe” by staunchly opposing the sanctions.
-
May 21, 2013
Aetna Lost $10M In Surgical Center's Billing Scam, Suit Says
Aetna Health Inc. says it has been defrauded out of nearly $10 million by a New Jersey-based outpatient surgical center, which allegedly submitted wildly inflated reimbursement demands that outpaced Medicare guidelines, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in New Jersey federal court.
-
May 21, 2013
8th Circ. Frees Nautilus From Covering Demolition Blunder
The Eighth Circuit held Monday that Nautilus Insurance Co. had no duty to cover a botched bridge demolition in Illinois, finding three exclusions in a general liability policy applied, according to the published ruling.
-
May 21, 2013
Insurers Dodge Coverage For Kardashian False Ad Suit
A federal judge said Monday that two insurers did not owe coverage to Tria Beauty Inc. in false advertising litigation involving its spokeswoman Kim Kardashian because Tria made the claims for coverage outside of the policy period and an intellectual property exclusion applied.
-
May 21, 2013
GOP Sens. Hammer Lew On IRS Targeting Scandal
Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew on Tuesday said he will push regulators to speed up finishing capital, proprietary trading and other Dodd-Frank Act-mandated rules even as questions over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups dominated his appearance before a Senate panel.
-
May 21, 2013
Health Insurers Take Aim At ACA's 90-Day Waiting Period
Health insurers on Monday bashed key provisions of a proposed Affordable Care Act rule requiring large companies to provide medical benefits within 90 days of a worker’s hiring, telling regulators that they’ll be forced to police employer compliance and that restrictions on when coverage becomes effective pose huge burdens.
-
May 21, 2013
Insurers Dispute Liability For NYC Tower's Sandy Flood Losses
Aspen Specialty Insurance Co. and Landmark American Insurance Co. on Friday sued the HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd. and Edge Fund Advisors joint venture that bought a Manhattan office building last year, alleging that a $19.2 million deductible applies for any coverage they may owe for losses from Superstorm Sandy.
-
May 21, 2013
Q&A With Hunton & Williams' Walter Andrews
It is almost financially impossible to pursue relatively small reinsurance billings that are disputed, which gives reinsurers an opportunity to try to insist on cutting the amounts due since they cannot be sought in litigation, says Walter Andrews, head of the insurance litigation and recovery practice at Hunton & Williams LLP.
-
May 20, 2013
Plan B Ruling Shouldn't Be Stayed, 2nd Circ. Told
Reproductive health advocates on Monday urged the Second Circuit not to delay a court order that Plan B and other emergency birth control pills be made available over the counter without age restrictions, saying a New York federal judge acted reasonably to address political obstructionism.
-
May 20, 2013
Airlines May Launch 'Act Of War' Defense At 9/11 WTC Trial
The owner of the World Trade Center failed Monday to persuade a New York federal judge to prevent American Airlines Inc. and United Airlines Inc. from arguing that the 9/11 attacks were an "act of war" that they could not be held responsible for.
-
May 20, 2013
11th Circ. Slashes Fla. Firm's Award In Condo Coverage Row
The Eleventh Circuit on Monday slashed a $3 million contingency fee awarded to Florida law firm Rosenbaum Mollengarden PLLC, whose equity partner was associated with two previous law firms throughout his representation of a Miami condominium association in an underlying insurance dispute.
-
May 20, 2013
Lew Likely To Face Flak Over IRS, Not Financial Rules
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is scheduled to address potential risks to the financial system when he appears before Congress this week, but the growing scandal over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups threatens to overshadow his eagerly anticipated faceoff with lawmakers over everything from systemically important financial institutions to money market fund reform.
-
May 20, 2013
Kasowitz Opens LA Office With 2 Ex-Jenner & Block Pros
Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP opened the doors to a new office in Los Angeles on Monday with the addition of two well-regarded policyholder attorneys from Jenner & Block LLP: Jerold Oshinsky, the former co-chair of Jenner's insurance group, and Linda Kornfeld, who is now Kasowitz's managing partner in LA.
-
May 20, 2013
Insurers Dodge Coverage Of $96M Libel Suits In 2nd Circ.
The Second Circuit on Monday let three insurers off the hook in two suits seeking coverage for a $96 million defamation action against First Advantage Litigation Consulting LLC, agreeing with a lower court that none of them had a duty to defend or indemnify First Advantage.
-
May 20, 2013
Calif. Insurer Accused Of Bilking Policyholders
A California man claiming he is being shortchanged on his medical insurance benefits lodged a putative class action in state court accusing Unum Life Insurance Co. of America of denying an annual benefit increase guaranteed in its long-term care policies.
-
May 20, 2013
HHS Adjusts Payments For Pre-Existing Condition Plan
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule Friday revamping payment rates for its Affordable Care Act-mandated pre-existing condition insurance plan, saying the program would otherwise run out of funding because of higher-than-expected costs.
Expert Analysis
-
Calif.'s Subcontractor Defense Regime: Order Or Chaos?
With the enactment of Civil Code Section 2782.05, the California Legislature has created a new regime to govern a subcontractor's duty to defend a general contractor or construction manager on most nonresidential projects. While this new regime appears intended to benefit construction participants, its lack of guidance will likely result in disagreements and litigation among the participants, say attorneys with Jones Day.
-
Ill.'s Unclear Endorsement For Asbestos-Injury Losses
The Illinois appellate court decision in John Crane Inc. v. Admiral Insurance Co. on joint and several liability of excess insurers covering asbestos-related injury claims left several questions unanswered — most importantly, regarding separate injury triggers and the "all sums with stacking" approach, say attorneys with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.
-
Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
-
The Evolution Of Ohio's Statute On Employer Tort Claims
With the recent change in Ohio law on employer intentional tort claims comes changes to the good faith obligations an insurance carrier owes to its insureds: In cases involving employer intentional tort claims, insurers may no longer select counsel. Rather, insureds have the right to select counsel with whom they have a preferred relationship and whom they trust, says Thomas Wyatt Palmer of Thompson Hine LLP.
-
Know Your Risks Before Going Green In Construction
Although there are benefits to “going green” in the construction, development and operation of buildings, there are also risks unique to green building that will test the boundaries of coverage under typical liability insurance policies, say attorneys with Sedgwick LLP.
-
Avoiding Bad Faith Liability Just Got More Difficult
For insurers in Florida, the Florida District Court of Appeal decision in Goheagan v. American Vehicle Insurance Co. is troublesome as it suggests that even the best claims-settlement practices may not completely shield an insurer from potential bad faith liability, says Kip Adams of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
-
How The Fed's Stress Test Rules Mitigate Systemic Risk
The savings and loan holding company regulatory regime established by the Dodd-Frank Act appears to be having the ultimate effect of reducing the number of SLHCs, especially those that are predominantly insurance enterprises, say attorneys with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
-
Past Its Prime: Weedo V. Stone-E-Brick
It is time for the New Jersey Supreme Court to take up again the construction-defect coverage issues first addressed in Weedo v. Stone-E-Brick Inc. and to update them for the post-1986 commercial general liability coverage of subcontractors’ faulty workmanship, says Carl Salisbury of Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton LLP.
-
Calif. To Draw The Lines In Disparagement Liability
The California Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Swift Distribution Inc. will resolve a hot debate about the scope of implied disparagement liability under California law, likely determining whether insurers must defend lawsuits involving allegations of intellectual property infringement, unfair competition and false advertising, says Tyler Gerking of Farella Braun & Martel LLP.
-
Don't Underestimate The Power Of FIO
The importance of the Federal Insurance office should not be underestimated. In order to understand why, one has to examine how the regulation of the insurance business actually operates and what forces are driving the U.S. regulatory agenda, says Skip Myers of Morris Manning & Martin LLP.