Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Insurance
-
May 6, 2013
Texas Plant's $1M Policy Leaves Blast Victims In The Lurch
The fertilizer plant that exploded in West, Texas, last month had only $1 million in liability insurance, an unusually paltry amount that will force victims to scramble to find other responsible parties who could cover some of the $100 million in expected insured losses.
-
May 6, 2013
Prudential's $200M Barclays MBS Suit Returns To State Court
A New Jersey federal judge on Monday remanded to state court a lawsuit alleging Barclays Bank PLC and others duped Prudential Insurance Co. of America into buying $200 million in residential mortgage-backed securities, finding that the case is purely a state matter.
-
May 6, 2013
Repurchase Is Ambac's Only Out In $856M MBS Case: Merrill
Ambac Financial Group Inc.'s bond insurance unit can't force Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. affiliate to pay for $856 million in mortgage-backed securities because a loan repurchase is its only remedy, Merrill Lynch told a New York state judge Monday.
-
May 6, 2013
MBIA, BofA Strike Major $1.7B MBS Settlement
Bank of America Corp. agreed Monday to pay $1.7 billion to settle claims from the bond insurer MBIA Insurance Corp. over the bank’s allegedly faulty mortgage-backed securities, a major deal that ends litigation for two companies scarred by the 2008 financial crisis.
-
May 6, 2013
Mercury Insurance Dealt Setback In Fight With Calif. Regulator
A California appeals court ruled recently that Mercury Insurance Co. could not yet challenge an order from the California insurance commissioner that kept alive a battle over whether the insurer collected improper premiums, the regulator said Thursday.
-
May 6, 2013
Prudential Asset Account Service Is Lawful, 7th Circ. Says
The Seventh Circuit on Monday upheld the dismissal of a class action accusing The Prudential Insurance Co. of America of wrongfully pushing a service allowing it to collect investment returns from death benefit accounts established in lieu of lump sum payments.
-
May 6, 2013
Q&A With Hodgson Russ' Patrick Tomovic
In commercial general liability, determining the priority of coverage in multiparty cases involving bodily injury or property damage continues to be an important issue, says Patrick Tomovic, leader of Hodgson Russ LLP's insurance coverage practice.
-
May 6, 2013
Explosives Co. Must Face Insurers' Coverage Suit Over Blast
An explosives recycling company facing property damage litigation over a Louisiana blast lost its bid to escape two suits from insurers who say they don't owe it coverage on Thursday, when a federal judge found he had jurisdiction because the insurers were seeking to rescind their policies.
-
May 6, 2013
NJ Appeals Court Upholds Suit Over Plaintiffs' Attys' Fees
A New Jersey appellate court on Monday declined to permanently dismiss a suit filed by a law firm against a member of a class of dentists represented by the firm in a lawsuit against a health insurer, after ruling their dispute over attorneys’ fees overlaps with a pending federal appeals court ruling.
-
May 6, 2013
Syncora Didn't Investigate Toll-Road Bonds, Macquarie Says
A Macquarie Group attorney told a New York state judge during a hearing Monday that monoline insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc. should have done more due diligence on $496 million worth of toll road-backed bonds it insured instead of blaming Macquarie for a drop-off in traffic on the roads.
-
May 6, 2013
UBS Pays $358M To Settle Assured's RMBS Suit
UBS AG has agreed to pay $358 million to Assured Guaranty Ltd. in an agreement that settles a lawsuit claiming that UBS falsely overstated the quality of mortgage loans underlying residential mortgage-backed securities, Assured announced Monday.
-
May 6, 2013
Girardi Keese Owes $1.4M For Stiffed Fees, LA Firm Says
Personal injury firm Girardi Keese allegedly owes Hart Watters & Carter PLC $1.4 million for stiffing the Los Angeles-based firm on fees after Hart Watters referred a client's fire damage suit to Girardi Keese, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in California state court. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the lawsuit's amount. The error has been corrected.
-
May 3, 2013
Insurer Sued Over O'Melveny's Role In Crane Collapse Cases
East 51st Street Development Co. sued Illinois Union Insurance Co. on Wednesday in New York state court, claiming the insurer refused to drop O'Melveny & Myers LLP after the firm allegedly botched $100 million litigation over a fatal crane collapse and tried to "churn its bill" through wasteful practices.
-
May 3, 2013
Fla. Legislators OK $75B Budget, Can't Agree On Health Care
The Florida Legislature passed the state's $74.5 billion appropriations budget Friday in the final hours of the legislative session, but failed to reach a consensus on how to expand health care coverage for low-income Floridians.
-
May 3, 2013
In Wash., Pro-Policyholder Rulings Push Insurers To Adapt
The Washington Supreme Court has hit insurers with a volley of unfavorable decisions this year, forcing carriers to tiptoe even more carefully in their claims handling than they have been since the state adopted a liberal bad-faith law, experts say.
-
May 3, 2013
Starbucks, HP Sued By Patent Adviser Over Workflow Software
A unit of Marathon Patent Group Inc. filed a suit Friday in Texas federal court alleging Starbucks Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Avon Products Inc. and five other major corporations have infringed its patents relating to online systems for workflow management and collaboration.
-
May 3, 2013
Insurer Sues To Duck $1M Patient Data Breach Settlement
Peerless Insurance Co. filed suit in Pennsylvania federal court Thursday to get out of covering losses for a company that mishandled patient medical records when relocating a clinic acquired by hospital operator Select Medical Corp., causing Select to pay $1 million to Texas health authorities over privacy claims.
-
May 3, 2013
3rd Circ. Shuts Down Agent's Nationwide Benefits Suit
An insurance agent's suit alleging Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. unfairly coerced agents to give up compensation benefits was properly dismissed by a lower court, the Third Circuit said Friday, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing and failed to state a plausible injury.
-
May 3, 2013
Arch Insurance Gets Coverage Ruling Tossed In Appeals Court
A New York appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court's finding that Arch Insurance Co. must cover H&H Builders Inc. in litigation over damages stemming from a building that collapsed during a construction project, although the insurer had not yet officially denied coverage.
-
May 3, 2013
Nelson Levine Nabs Reinsurance Dispute Pro From Wollmuth
Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton LLC recently enhanced its global reinsurance practice by luring away an experienced partner from Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP to join its litigation and dispute resolution group in New York, the firm said Friday.
Expert Analysis
-
Proof Is On The Policyholders
Importantly, in Plant Insulation Co. v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., the California Superior Court placed on the policyholder the burden of proving that an asbestos-related bodily injury is not within the completed operations hazard or products hazard — reinforcing that the burden is on the policyholder to prove coverage, say attorneys with Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
-
Common Insurance Problems For Foreclosing Mortgagees
Foreclosing mortgagees and other property transferees can usually recover replacement cost coverage and loss of rents under a policyholder-owner’s property insurance policy, provided a valid, post-loss assignment occurs, and the rebuilding requirement and any other conditions are satisfied. But policyholders and prospective assignees should be cautious in structuring such arrangements, as some courts have applied unreasonably strict interpretations to replacement cost coverage provisions, say attorneys with Lowenstein Sandler LLP.
-
Wisconsin's Take On Ad Injury Coverage Under CGL
The recent decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Air Engineering Inc. v. Industrial Air Power demonstrates that Internet advertising, even if tailored to specific customer inquiries or search terms, qualifies as an "advertising idea" — meaning that there may be coverage for intellectual property claims relating to the misappropriation of that idea, says Nicholas Nierengarten of Gray Plant Mooty.
-
Only A Matter Of Time — Prepare For Geomagnetic Storms
The modern world is increasingly vulnerable to widespread, prolonged power disruptions and outages caused by geomagnetic storms. Provided that policies usually include exclusions for risks that are arguably more remote, it makes sense for insurers to also incorporate exclusions for such storms, say Jason Reeves of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP and William Murtagh of National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
-
Be Careful With NY Honorable Engagement Provisions
Honorable engagement provisions play a prominent role in reinsurance agreements as they expand the discretion of arbitrators and can impact the adjudication of reinsurance disputes. The inclusion of such provision in an agreement can present additional hurdles and opens the door to arguments that would be unlikely if New York law was strictly applied, says Michael Silvestro of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
-
Hacking Attacks Highlight Importance Of Preparation
Over the past few weeks, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets have reported sophisticated attacks on their computer systems, raising significant concerns for just about any company with an online presence. Before hackers strike, companies would do well to review their response plans, data retention policies and insurance program, say Russell Cohen and Stephanie Sharron of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
-
5 PPACA 'Play-Or-Pay' Compliance Techniques To Consider
In response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's recent "play-or-pay" mandate, employers will, no doubt, consider many strategies for compliance. Once an employer understands what it must do, we recommend that it start considering how best to accomplish its objectives by considering the five techniques we have devised, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
-
6 HIPAA Rule Takeaways For Employers
At approximately one-half the length of "War and Peace," the recently published omnibus final rule can overwhelm in-house employment, benefits and privacy counsel trying to discern the rule’s practical implications for covered entities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Stepping back from this superabundance of detail, employers should review the six big-picture takeaways of this rule, says Philip Gordon of Littler Mendelson PC.
-
Not Dead Yet — Calif. Corporate Liability In The Afterlife
By reviewing Greb v. Diamond International Corporation and Robinson v. SSW Inc., the California Supreme Court will resolve whether an out-of-state state-dissolved corporation can be subject to suit in California courts after its state's continuance period expires. There are two plausible paths the court could take to reach a result in which non-California corporations and their shareholders and insurers could rest in peace in the corporate afterlife, say attorneys with Miles & Stockbridge PC.
-
MRI V. National Imaging May Signal New Litigation Trend
Despite potentially fatal flaws in the plaintiff’s complaint, MRI Scan Center LLC v. National Imaging Associates Inc. reflects a new reality — leading plaintiffs firms in the health insurance space are likely to attempt to use the Affordable Care Act as a hook to bring new types of significant, nationwide class actions, say Craig Hoover and Desmond Hogan of Hogan Lovells.