General Liability
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June 18, 2025
Data Center Risks Call For Close Eye During Policy Renewal
Data centers in the United States continue to grow, but the operators have an often unique portfolio of risks that may not fit squarely within the coverage provided by existing insurance products. Here, Law360 speaks with Reed Smith partner Stephen T. Raptis about the potential risks that data center operators may face and how these policyholders should approach renewals to ensure the data center is properly covered.
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June 18, 2025
Loss Of Ga. Immunity Doctrine A Blow To Malpractice Defense
Lawyers in the Peach State are expected to have a tougher time defending against legal malpractice claims now that the Georgia Supreme Court has thrown out an attorney judgment immunity doctrine that was more than 30 years old, rejecting a bid from more than two dozen law firms to keep it alive.
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June 17, 2025
AIG Unit, Air Co. Seek Quick Wins In Herbicide Damage Row
An air services company told a New York federal court that an AIG unit must provide general liability coverage for a lawsuit seeking nearly $2.5 million for grass damage from herbicides, while the unit countered that neither company's general liability policy nor specialty "aerial applicator" policy applies.
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June 17, 2025
Chubb Must Cover Income Losses After Explosion, Co. Says
A refrigeration and air conditioning compressor manufacturer is entitled to tap into its Chubb policy's $34 million in business interruption coverage after it was forced to restrict production at one of its facilities following an explosion, the manufacturer said in a complaint removed to Oklahoma federal court Tuesday.
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June 17, 2025
Insurer Can't Force Another To Cover Worker Injury Suit
An insurer cannot force another to defend a property owner in an underlying worker injury lawsuit through the doctrine of equitable estoppel after both insurers ultimately agreed the policy in question isn't triggered, a New York federal court ruled, finding the policy unambiguous.
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June 13, 2025
Co. Must Pay Travelers $4.5M For Construction Bond Default
A signage company accused of failing to perform agreed upon work at a New York redevelopment project must reimburse Travelers over $4.5 million for settling a contractor's claims made against a performance bond, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled.
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June 12, 2025
Air India Disaster Likely To Pose Massive Insurance Costs
Thursday's deadly Air India disaster could implicate a range of insurance coverage proceedings, but experts said massive costs will likely be shared by multiple insurers in a process that will be shaped in part by investigations into the cause of the crash.
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June 12, 2025
Ohio Law Bars Cities' Negligence Claims Against Hyundai, Kia
A California federal court sided with Hyundai and Kia by finding that an Ohio products liability law bars negligence claims from five Ohio cities in sprawling multidistrict litigation alleging the automakers knowingly sold vehicles with design flaws that resulted in a car theft crime spree.
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June 12, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Mandarin Oriental notched a discovery win in its COVID-19 coverage action while appeals courts dealt further defeats in other pandemic-related insurance cases, Uber filed a racketeering lawsuit over sham injury payouts and the Fourth Circuit sided with an insurer in a dispute over stacking policy limits. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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June 12, 2025
Fla. Death Damages Row Signals Insurers' Tort Reform Focus
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' veto of a bill that would have repealed limits on noneconomic damages in fatal medical malpractice cases — despite state lawmakers' overwhelming support of the measure — signals broad concerns over how tort reform legislation could impact the insurance industry.
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June 12, 2025
6th Circ. PFAS Ruling Entrusts Coverage Suits To Fed Level
The Sixth Circuit forged its own jurisdictional standard in determining that when coercive and declaratory claims are closely intertwined it's likely an abuse of discretion for a federal court to abstain from adjudication, and experts are praising the decision as a thorough analysis of the appropriateness of exercising jurisdiction over insurance disputes.
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June 12, 2025
Insurer Says $30M Counterclaims Against Builder Not Covered
An insurer says it owes no coverage for nearly $30 million in counterclaims against a construction company that allegedly violated its contract for a Texas project, telling a Tennessee federal court that the counterclaims either didn't involve covered bodily injury or property damage or were otherwise excluded.
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June 12, 2025
TATA AIG Leads Insurance Cover For Air India Crash
TATA AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd. is the lead insurer for hull and liability on the Air India flight that crashed just after take off in Ahmedabad, India on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
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June 11, 2025
Chubb Unit Underpaid Hydroelectric Plant Losses, Suit Says
A Chubb unit underpaid a renewable energy plant operator for losses sustained after several water flow barriers malfunctioned, the assignee of the operator told a New York federal court, saying the insurer paid less than half of the $5.6 million it owed.
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June 11, 2025
Insurer Says Day Care's $1M Child Injury Verdict Not Covered
A day care's insurer told an Alabama federal court it has no duty to cover a $1 million judgment against the center after a jury found it liable for leaving a woman's child in a van during a field trip, citing an exclusion for bodily injury arising from "any auto."
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June 11, 2025
Uber Says Fla. Firm, Drivers Staged Wrecks For Profit
Uber told a Florida federal court Wednesday that at least five of its drivers faked accidents and colluded with healthcare providers and a Florida law firm to file sham litigation against the ride-hailing platform and its insurer, costing millions of dollars in legal defense and settlements.
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June 11, 2025
Insurer Says Law Firm Mishandled Pesticide Exposure Suit
An insurer is claiming it is owed at least $625,000 from a law firm hired to defend a poultry farm against a suit over toxic pesticide exposure, alleging in federal court that it was forced to settle the suit above policy limits due to the firm's negligence and malpractice.
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June 10, 2025
IT Co. Urges 1st Circ. To Affirm It's Blameless For Data Breach
An information security technology company urged the First Circuit on Tuesday to affirm that it isn't liable for a 2018 data breach that exposed confidential information of more than 277,000 of the medical device maker's patients, arguing that the insurer assignee of the device maker had no valid points.
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June 10, 2025
Insurer Seeks Exit From Missouri Tree-Cutting Dispute
An insurer that separately insured a farm and a man accused by the farm of trespassing on its property and cutting down "valuable trees" told a Missouri federal court it should owe no coverage to the man, pointing to an exclusion for damage to vegetation.
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June 09, 2025
8th Circ. Affirms Travelers Doesn't Owe $1.4M For Wall Failure
A Missouri property developer can't recover from Travelers $1.4 million for lost rental income and soft costs after a retaining wall failure caused delays at an apartment construction project, the Eighth Circuit ruled Monday.
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June 09, 2025
Hinshaw Welcomes Insurance Litigator To New Orleans Team
Hinshaw & Culbertson has added a partner from Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz to its global insurance services practice in New Orleans, where she will represent insurance companies and other entities, the 500-lawyer firm announced Monday.
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June 09, 2025
City Says Insurer Owes $9M For Wrongful Incarceration Deal
An insurer for a North Carolina city improperly denied coverage for an underlying suit brought by a Black man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 44 years and is now on the hook for a $9.3 million settlement payment, the city argued in a suit removed to federal court.
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June 06, 2025
Contractor Says Insurer Owes $2M For Caltrans Bridge Losses
A Zurich Insurance Group unit cannot use exclusions to avoid covering more than $2 million in losses a contractor incurred after losing steel casings while constructing a bridge foundation near a Northern California city for the state Department of Transportation, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court.
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June 06, 2025
Other Carrier Must Cover $1.1M Injury Award, Insurer Says
A chiropractor's insurer must pay a $1.1 million award entered against him and the clinic where he works in a suit over injuries that a woman sustained during treatment, the clinic's insurer told a New York federal court, saying the other carrier's policy provides primary coverage.
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June 05, 2025
Novel Climate Change Death Suit Raises Insurance Questions
A novel suit accusing oil and gas companies of contributing to a woman's 2022 heat wave death could lead to future insurance disputes, but experts said common exclusions and other policy terms could leave the companies footing defense costs.
Expert Analysis
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Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling
While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.
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In-House Expert Testimony Is Tricky, But Worth Considering
Litigation counsel often reject the notion of designating in-house personnel to provide expert opinion testimony at trial, but dismissing them outright can result in a significant missed opportunity, say David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law and Martin Pitha at Lillis Pitha.
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Tracking Changes To AI Evidence Under Federal Rules
As the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close, important changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom are on the horizon, including how to handle evidence that is a product of machine learning, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law
The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.
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What To Know About NAIC's Risk-Based Capital Task Force
Attorneys at Debevoise outline key details of the Risk-Based Capital Model Governance Task Force, which was recently launched by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, including the task force's objectives, and potential implications for insurers and their investment strategies.
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How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case
Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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AG Watch: Texas Is Entering New Privacy Enforcement Era
The state of Texas' recent suit against Allstate is the culmination of a long-standing commitment to vigorously enforcing privacy laws in the state, and while still in the early stages, it offers several important insights for companies and privacy practitioners, says Paul Singer at Kelley Drye.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing
As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Managing Anti-Corporate Juror Views Revealed By CEO Killing
After the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson laid bare deep-seated anti-corporate sentiments among the public, companies in numerous industries will have to navigate the influence of related juror biases on litigation dynamics, say Jorge Monroy and Keith Pounds at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
In a continuation of trends in property and casualty insurance class actions, last quarter insurers struggled with defending the merits and class certification of sales tax and fee suits, and labor depreciation cases, but succeeded in dismissing privacy class actions at the pleading stages, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.
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Evidence Rule May Expand Use Of Out-Of-Court Statements
A proposed amendment to Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(A) would broaden the definition of nonhearsay, reflects a more pragmatic approach to regulating the admissibility of out-of-court statements by declarant-witnesses, and could help level the playing field between prosecutors and criminal defendants, say attorneys at Hangley Aronchick.
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The Math Of Cross-Examination: Less Is More, More Is Less
When conducting cross-examination at trial, attorneys should remember that “less is more, and more is less” — limiting both the scope of questioning and the length of each query in order to control the witness’s testimony and keep the factfinders’ attention, says Thomas Innes at the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
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Appealing An Interlocutory Order On Insurer Duty To Defend
A recent First Circuit decision on a motion regarding an insurer's duty to defend underlying litigation highlights how policyholders may be able to pursue immediate appeals of interlocutory orders, especially in light of other circuit courts' stances on this issue, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.