General Liability
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December 04, 2025
Zillow's Climate Score Removal Sparks Insurance Concerns
Zillow's recent decision to reduce the visibility of a climate-risk feature attached to its real estate listings highlights a need to provide consumers with more information on a key driver of insurance costs, given differences in climate-risk modeling practices.
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December 04, 2025
Mt. Hawley Nabs Full Win In Citibank Landlord's Coverage Bid
A New York federal court handed Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. a complete win over a Bronx property owner's claim that the insurer had a duty to defend it from a suit brought by a security guard who tripped in a Citibank parking lot.
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December 04, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Eleventh Circuit said a State Farm unit doesn’t owe $1 million for a gas station shooting, a California federal court gave its final sign-off to a $4 million settlement between Allstate and home insurance policyholders and a Massachusetts federal court certified a class of Liberty Mutual policyholders. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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December 04, 2025
Mortgage Insurer Inks $650K Deal To End ERISA Suit
A mortgage insurance company has agreed to pay $650,000 to close a worker's proposed class action filed in North Carolina federal court claiming its mismanagement of an employee retirement profit sharing plan caused a $1.3 million loss.
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December 03, 2025
Allstate Files RICO Suit Over Fla. Clinic's 'Exorbitant Charges'
Allstate hit a Florida medical practice and its owner with a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint alleging the owner ran an insurance billing scheme for pain management care in violation of permanent restrictions on his medical license.
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December 03, 2025
Cos. Owe $946K For Grain System Collapse, Insurer Says
Companies hired to construct a grain drying, handling and storage facility on a Mississippi farm are responsible for more than $946,000 in damage caused by the system's collapse, the farm operator's insurer told a federal court Wednesday, saying the system failed to perform as represented and warranted.
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December 02, 2025
Drivers Get Class Cert. In Liberty Mutual Rental Coverage Suit
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday granted class certification to a group of auto drivers alleging that a Liberty Mutual subsidiary prematurely terminated car rental coverage, but denied the group's request to pursue its claims for classwide, injunctive relief.
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December 01, 2025
AM Best Says US Home Insurance Market Outlook Is 'Stable'
The U.S. homeowners insurance market is benefiting from a combination of moderating premium growth, reinsurance market stabilization and improved catastrophe risk management practices, global credit rating agency AM Best said Monday, upgrading the outlook for homeowner insurers to "stable" from "negative."
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December 01, 2025
Chancery Sets Standard In Scottish Re Case
The Delaware Chancery Court has signed off on the framework that will govern how scores of insurers press claims in the liquidation of Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc., issuing an opinion to spell out when courts must defer to the state insurance commissioner and when they must step in.
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December 01, 2025
Travelers Asks Texas Court To Allocate $11M Auto Coverage
The Travelers Indemnity Company of America asked a Texas federal court Monday to divvy up $11 million in insurance policy limits to relieve the insurer and the energy company it insured from wrongful death lawsuits following a fatal car crash involving a driver for the company.
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December 01, 2025
Mich. Law Firm's Misrepresentation Voids Policy, Insurer Says
An insurer asked a Michigan federal court to rescind and void a law firm's professional liability policy, saying the firm failed to disclose a potential malpractice claim arising out of its representation of the owner of medical services companies in a racketeering lawsuit and related whistleblower action.
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November 26, 2025
11th Circ. Says State Farm Doesn't Owe $1M For Shooting
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court ruling in an unpublished opinion that ordered State Farm to cover a $1.13 million judgment against a gas station owner by an employee who was shot on the premises, saying that an employer's liability exclusion bars coverage.
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November 26, 2025
Broward Schools Sue Insurer To Cover Parkland Settlement
The School Board of Broward County, Florida, was "wrongfully abandoned" after its insurer failed to provide anything beyond $700,000 to cover a $26 million settlement to resolve suits from the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland high school, the board told a state court.
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November 26, 2025
Ex-Atty Not Covered In $750K Law Firm Purchase Dispute
An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a disbarred attorney, who is currently serving a 90-month sentence for embezzling funds from his clients and law firm, in an underlying suit claiming he owes more than $750,000 for the purchase of a firm, an Illinois federal court ruled.
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November 25, 2025
Bojangles Franchisee Ends Coverage Battle With Final Insurer
The largest franchisee of chicken and biscuit restaurant Bojangles has dropped its claims against the last of three insurers it sued for coverage of an underlying suit over an employee's alleged rape by a co-worker, according to a court filing Tuesday.
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November 25, 2025
$2.6M Coverage Suit Over Bronx School Collapse Paused
A New York federal judge paused a $2.6 million lawsuit Tuesday against Zurich Insurance over unpaid insurance coverage following the collapse of a Bronx school construction site after both parties asked for a stay pending the outcome of a state court lawsuit involving the same claims.
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November 21, 2025
Hyperbaric Chamber Death Suit Not Covered, Insurers Say
Two Nationwide insurers said they have no duty to defend or indemnify a hyperbaric oxygen therapy center or its employees in a suit over the death of a 5-year-old boy, telling a Michigan federal court that there was no bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence, or accident.
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November 21, 2025
1st Circ. Clears IT Co. In Suit Over Zoll Patient Data Breach
An information technology company cannot be held liable for a data breach exposing the health information of patients of a unit of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp, the First Circuit ruled, because the two companies did not have a business relationship permitting them to hold one responsible for another's conduct.
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November 20, 2025
Texas Camp May Struggle To Get Coverage After Flood Deaths
Several wrongful death lawsuits brought against Camp Mystic after a series of deadly floods swept through Texas Hill Country in July have the potential to implicate the camp's general liability insurance program, but whether the camp can secure coverage constitutes a greater challenge, experts say.
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November 20, 2025
EEOC Accuses Northwestern Mutual Of Blocking DEI Probe
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a Wisconsin federal court Thursday to force Northwestern Mutual to hand over details about its diversity, equity and inclusion policies and workplace trainings, saying the company's evasion is impeding an investigation into a former employee's bias allegations.
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November 20, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a dispute over coverage for sex-trafficking suits, the Illinois Supreme Court questioned whether regulatory permits override pollution exclusions, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed an apartment owner's $27 million jury award for fire damage.
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November 20, 2025
AI Chatbots Spark Coverage Concerns Over Privacy Claims
Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are raising novel concerns about potential privacy violations under federal and state wiretapping and eavesdropping laws, prompting questions about coverage for such claims, a policyholder attorney told Law360. Here, Stephanie E. Gee of Reed Smith LLP breaks down the issue.
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November 19, 2025
Colo. High Court Considers Insurers' Noncooperation Defense
Colorado Supreme Court justices on Wednesday questioned the scope and effects of a state law requiring insurers to meet certain requirements in requesting information from policyholders before bringing a failure-to-cooperate defense, in a case where a man was denied claims after not turning over medical records.
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November 19, 2025
Contractor Not Covered In Pa. Hotel Construction Dispute
A pair of Zurich insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify a contractor accused of mismanaging the construction of a dual-brand hotel in Pennsylvania, a California federal court ruled, saying coverage for the alleged property damage is barred by a "course of construction" exclusion.
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November 19, 2025
Senate GOP Resists Extending Expanded ACA Tax Premiums
Senate Finance Committee Democrats on Wednesday urged their Republican counterparts to extend the enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year, but Republicans said they were looking for other options to address rising healthcare costs.
'Public Policy' Exclusion Raises Red Flags For Insured Attys
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a coverage dispute over claims that a Philadelphia hotel ignored sex trafficking, drawing the attention of policyholder attorneys who believe the hotel's insurers asked the court to step beyond the bounds of insurance contracts by applying an implicit "public policy" exclusion.
Colo. Plan To Cut Auto Rates Aims To Educate Policyholders
Colorado's governor is aiming to increase transparency in rate-making and improve public safety under his plan to combat rising auto insurance premium costs, but more action from policymakers may be required to spur significant change in the state's auto insurance industry, experts say.
Calif. Insurer Solvency Rule Draws Mixed Reactions On Reach
A proposed California rule to require insurers to report on long-term climate and technological risks could boost oversight of major industry and consumer threats, but experts also said the rule could go further in pushing carriers to be more eco-friendly.
Expert Analysis
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How Unchecked AI Exposes Expert Opinions To Exclusion
A growing number of cases illustrate the potential for misuse of artificial intelligence tools by experts in litigation, resulting in reports with hallucinated information or unexplainable analysis, so to embrace the efficiencies AI tools introduce without falling victim to the risks, attorneys and experts should implement a few best practices, say attorneys at Willkie Farr.
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'Measure Twice, Cut Once' Also Applies To Builders' Insurance
A New York federal court's recent decision in Ohio Security Insurance v. Southwest Marine and General Insurance, denying additional insured coverage, shows why it's key to apply the caution of "measure twice, cut once" to construction contracts and insurance policy language, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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1st Circ. Offers Diversity Jurisdiction Lessons For Assignees
A recent First Circuit opinion in Gore v. SLSCO, dismissing a case after years of litigation, serves as a cautionary tale about what can go wrong if an assignee has not alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate there is complete diversity jurisdiction, says Ray Gauvreau at Robinson & Cole.
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How Trial Attys Can Sidestep Opponents' Negative Frames
In litigation, attorneys often must deny whatever language or association the other side levies against them, but doing so can make the associations more salient in the minds of fact-finders, so it’s essential to reframe messages in a few practical ways at trial, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Cyber Ruling Illustrates Risks Of Overlapping Coverages
A Minnesota federal court recently held that insurer Illinois Casualty had to defend a suit alleging personal and advertising injury under both cyber protection coverage and the general liability coverage, highlighting complications that can arise when a single claim triggers multiple coverages, says Andrea Martinez at Wiley.
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Ill. State Farm Suit Tests State Insurance Data Demand Limits
The Illinois Department of Insurance's recently filed suit against State Farm, seeking nationwide data on its homeowners insurance, raises important issues as to the breadth, and possible overreach, of a state's regulatory authority, says Stephanie Pierce at Kutak Rock.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving claims related to oil and gas royalty payments, consumer fraud, life insurance, automobile insurance, and securities violations.
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Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.
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How CGL Policies May Respond To Novel AI Psychosis Claims
As courts and regulators begin to confront the realities of mental and physical injuries allegedly induced by artificial intelligence chatbots, commercial general liability insurers will need to reevaluate policy language, underwriting practices and claims handling protocols to address this emerging risk landscape, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Punitive Damages Awards Should Be Limited To 1st Instance
Recent verdicts in different cases against Johnson & Johnson and Monsanto showcase a trend of multiple punitive damages being awarded to different plaintiffs for the same course of conduct by a single defendant, a practice that should be deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, says Jacob Mihm at Polales Horton.
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AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy
Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.
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The Emerging Issues Shaping Real Estate Project Insurance
As real estate faces increasingly complex considerations — such as climate losses, "nuclear verdicts" and regulatory changes — insurance is evolving into a strategic function that should be discussed early in the planning stages of a project, says Jason Adams at Cox Castle.
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Insurer Investigation Lessons From 'The Real Housewives'
The recent indictment of "Real Housewives of Potomac" stars Wendy and Edward Osefo on charges of insurance fraud serves as a cautionary tale for commercial policyholders about the tools insurers may use to investigate a suspicious or large insurance claim, and offers lessons on recordkeeping and cooperation, say attorneys at Hunton.