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Insurance
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May 16, 2013
ALI Insurance Principles May Fill In Blanks Left By States
The American Law Institute will debate and potentially approve draft principles of liability insurance at its annual meeting Monday, an under-the-radar project that attorneys say could sway the outcome of cases, particularly in jurisdictions that have few statutes, regulations or judicial precedents on coverage issues.
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May 16, 2013
Judge Backs Class Cert. In PHH Reinsurance Kickback Suit
A California magistrate judge on Tuesday recommended certifying a class of borrowers claiming that mortgage lender PHH Corp. used a shady reinsurance scheme to rake in an unlawful cut of the premiums they paid for mortgage insurance, finding the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Comcast ruling didn't create a barrier to certification.
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May 16, 2013
Port Authority's Suit Over JFK Crash Coverage Tossed
A New York federal judge Wednesday refused to let the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pursue defense and indemnity claims against a construction company and its insurer for an underlying airport runway crash lawsuit, ruling that the court does not have jurisdiction.
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May 16, 2013
LandAmerica Trustee Sues To Erase PE Firm's $10M Claim
Bankrupt title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group asked a Virginia bankruptcy court Wednesday to toss a $10 million claim brought by American Capital Ltd. accusing a company subsidiary of failing to catch defects in two apartment complexes secured by loans in a risky mortgage-backed investment vehicle.
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May 16, 2013
BofA Wants To Keep $10.5B RMBS Suit In Federal Court
Bank of America NA on Wednesday pressed a New York federal judge to reject American International Group Inc.'s motion to move a $10.5 billion lawsuit over residential mortgage-backed securities to state court, arguing that remanding the case would dangerously split the case between federal and state courts and would adversely affect certain bankruptcy proceedings.
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May 16, 2013
Q&A With Much Shelist's Dan Struck
Threats to allege bad faith claims are often of little consequence because there is a practical value for insurers to pay claims slowly, and asserting bad faith only slows down the claims resolution process even more, says Dan Struck, a principal in the policyholders' insurance coverage practice group at Much Shelist PC.
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May 15, 2013
2nd Circ. Asked To Overturn RSUI Win In Crane Collapse Suit
Construction company RCG Group on Wednesday asked the Second Circuit to force insurer RSUI Indemnity to cover claims related to a fatal 2008 crane collapse in Manhattan, arguing that a lower court made a mistake when it let the insurer off the hook.
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May 15, 2013
Indian Harbor Wants No Part Of San Diego Gas Leak Suits
The city of San Diego's primary insurer Indian Harbor Insurance Co. lodged a complaint against the municipality’s excess insurer in New York federal court Tuesday, arguing that it has no obligation to defend the city against a trio of underlying sewer pipe gas leak suits.
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May 15, 2013
US In Talks With Switzerland, Japan On Bank Wind-Down Plans
U.S. bank regulators have opened discussions with their Swiss and Japanese counterparts on coordinating plans for winding down large financial institutions as part of an effort to figure out how to safely take apart a failing global bank, a top official said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2013
Medicare Doesn't Trump State Workers' Comp Law: 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Medicare statute cannot trump a Texas law that requires preauthorization for workers' compensation expenses because Medicare indicates that claimants should exhaust their state law remedies first.
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May 15, 2013
NFL Goes To NY Appeals Court For Concussion Suit Coverage
The National Football League recently took its sprawling insurance fight over former players' head injury suits to a New York appeals court, challenging a trial court's refusal to toss claims brought by a slew of insurance carriers.
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May 15, 2013
CMS Unveils $1B In ACA Grants For Innovative Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday announced availability of $1 billion in Affordable Care Act grants to test new health care delivery models certain to be watched closely as policymakers study whether innovation can deliver higher quality and lower costs.
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May 15, 2013
Q&A With Patton Boggs' Eridania Perez
A possible solution to the insane and unnecessarily expensive discovery process in coverage arbitration is the adoption of rules that limit the scope of discovery requests, says Eridania Perez, a partner with Patton Boggs LLP specializing in insurance and reinsurance.
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May 15, 2013
Goldman Dodges Insurer's $63M MBS Suit In 2nd Circ.
The Second Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a $62.5 million Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. suit alleging Goldman Sachs & Co. hid Fannie Mae’s exposure to toxic loans while underwriting the mortgage giant's securities deals in 2007, calling the case a "classic example of pleading fraud by hindsight."
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May 14, 2013
Fla.-Owned Insurer's Shutdown Of Ethics Office OK'd
Florida Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel reported Tuesday that she did not find evidence of retaliation in state-owned insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s decision to disband its Office of Corporate Integrity shortly after it conducted investigations into misconduct at Citizens.
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May 14, 2013
9th Circ. OKs Revoking Medicare Part D Insurer's Contract
Federal regulators acted properly when they revoked the Medicare Part D contract of a prescription drug insurance provider for delaying patient access to medications for cancer, HIV and AIDS, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday in the first such case to reach a federal appeals court.
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May 14, 2013
Hospital's $350M Bond Issuance Suit Falls In 5th Circ.
A Louisiana hospital operator on Tuesday lost its suit over bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee Corp.'s delay in deciding to approve its plan to issue $350 million in additional bonds, when the Fifth Circuit ruled their agreement allowed National Public to withhold approval.
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May 14, 2013
Texas Sens. Pass Bill Limiting Insurers' 3rd-Party Recovery
The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill clamping down on health insurers’ practice of aggressively collecting damages from third parties that caused injuries to insured patients by making them share in attorneys' fees, sending the measure to Gov. Rick Perry for approval.
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May 14, 2013
Lloyd's Wants Out Of LA Firm's Malpractice Coverage Suit
Lloyd's of London underwriters on Monday pushed for a quick victory in a fight with a Los Angeles law firm over defense coverage for malpractice claims stemming from a $7 million award against an alleged ex-client in a property dispute.
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May 14, 2013
Sen. Wants $440M In IRS ACA Funding Suspended
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday to help hold back nearly $440 million earmarked to fund the Internal Revenue Service's responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act, saying the IRS must first resolve concerns over its recent behavior.
Expert Analysis
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Cyber Risk Insurance May Cost More Than You Think
With companies and individuals steadily floating toward digital storage, insurers and insureds must note that the potential monetary loss for notifying of a data breach alone can be significant and review several factors that could expose the organization to financial difficulties, say attorneys with Zelle Hofmann Voebel & Mason LLP.
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Be Proactive To Avoid Institutional Bad Faith Claims
Institutional bad faith claims, what one may call a bad faith claim on steroids, should not be taken lightly as they can damage a company’s reputation, wreak havoc during the litigation process and expose the company to substantial extra-contractual and punitive damages, say attorneys with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
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Horses Are Off The Shelves, But Litigation Will Continue
Regulators, food distributors and lawyers are scrambling to determine the legal and reputational consequences of the still-growing horse meat scandal that recently hit Europe. Amid the recalls, finger-pointing and consumer outrage, one thing remains certain: You will have time to bet on many Derby winners before this scandal is fully resolved, say attorneys with Cozen O'Connor.
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A Translation Of IRS Policy On Health Insurance Issuers
The IRS recently issued proposed regulations on the $500,000 deduction limit for compensation paid by certain health insurance companies to their employees. Because these complex rules differ significantly from the more common applications of Section 162(m), a thorough analysis is required even if a company is exempt from or in compliance with the rule, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 2
Remember that the structure of a meeting guides the team's conduct. There are three types of alternative meeting structures that can and should be utilized by the litigation team, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 1
Many litigation teams struggle with making good decisions and running effective team meetings for three reasons: compromised decision-making, lack of healthy meeting conflict, and lack of alternative meeting structures, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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How HIPAA Marketing And Sale Provisions May Apply To You
In light of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's new requirements on the use of personal health information for marketing and sale purposes, it is important to note that not just covered entities but also advertisers, data aggregators, market researchers and others who want access to PHI will be impacted, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
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What To Know About ACA Collective Bargaining
For companies with a unionized workforce, the Affordable Care Act poses additional challenges and strategic considerations above and beyond those confronting nonunionized workforces. In addition to the general matter of "pay or play" provisions, unionized companies must also keep in mind of what may constitute an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act, say attorneys with Epstein Becker & Green PC.
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FAQs On Franchise Development Insurance
The franchisor-franchisee contractual relationship is one that incites many questions, particularly in terms of insurance. As specific fact patterns and state laws differ, insurers and insureds should use the general principles regarding frequently asked questions of insuring franchise developments as guidelines, says Carl Anthony Maio of Fox Rothschild LLP.
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Pa. Makes Its Mark On Chinese Drywall Dispute
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the shipment of defective drywall from China to the United States constituted one “occurrence” for purposes of insurance coverage. While the case provides rare guidance on the number of occurrences issue in the Chinese drywall context, the impact of the decision is still limited, says Andrea Cortland of Cozen O'Connor.