General Liability
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January 09, 2025
Top Climate Stories For Insurance Attys To Watch In 2025
Climate change is fueling a national insurance crisis that is threatening housing markets, municipal tax revenues and the ability to adapt to extreme weather events. Here, Law360 examines the top climate stories attorneys should watch in 2025.
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January 09, 2025
J&J Spin-Off Says Talc Committee Can't Hire Brown Rudnick
Johnson & Johnson's bankrupt spin-off called Brown Rudnick's bid to represent an official committee of talc claimants "an ethical violation," telling a Texas bankruptcy judge that the law firm's previous work for a group trying to toss the case clashes with the committee's support for its Chapter 11 plan.
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January 09, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A Delaware court sided with a policyholder in a dispute over a bump-up exclusion, an Ohio federal court permitted an interlocutory appeal on the number of occurrences at issue over recalled batches of peanut butter, and a Pennsylvania appeals court clarified when stacking of underinsured motorist benefits is permitted. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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January 09, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief Blocks Policy Cancellation In Fire Zones
Insurance companies can't cancel or refuse to renew homeowners coverage for policyholders in the immediate vicinity of the Los Angeles wildfires for one year, the California Department of Insurance announced as fires continue to ravage Southern California.
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January 09, 2025
IRS Gets First Dibs On $1M BP Oil Spill Payout, 11th Circ. Says
The IRS gets first priority to a $1 million settlement BP paid to a staffing company that racked up $23 million in federal tax debt and went bankrupt following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, denying an insurer's claim to the money.
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January 08, 2025
Captive Insurer Says Reinsurer Must Cover Legionnaires' Row
The captive insurer of a Michigan healthcare system asked a federal court Wednesday to find that its reinsurer couldn't sell off coverage responsibilities and owes payment for underlying suits alleging various patients contracted Legionnaires' disease.
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January 08, 2025
Insurer To Fight Limits In Smucker's Salmonella Coverage Suit
An insurer seeking a bigger contribution from its insured J.M. Smucker Co. may appeal a court ruling that found there was just one occurrence within underlying litigation against the food company over 225 batches of salmonella-tainted Jif peanut butter, an Ohio federal judge said Wednesday.
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January 07, 2025
Insurer Seeks Exit From Engineering Co.'s $1M Settlement
An engineering company's insurer told a Texas federal court it needn't cover the company's $1 million payment to settle a man's personal injury claims, arguing the company failed to give proper notice after the underlying court had already entered an over $7.2 million default judgment that was ultimately vacated.
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January 07, 2025
Fla. Crash Victims Can't Get Insurer Payout In Revised Suits
A Florida state appellate panel has blocked three vehicle crash victims' attempts to collect $16 million from an insurer, saying that the company wasn't properly joined as a party by the time settlements were reached and that final judgments were issued in two separate lawsuits over the same incident.
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January 07, 2025
7th Circ. Upholds Tax Penalties For Life Insurance Scammer
The Seventh Circuit upheld Tuesday nearly $400,000 in tax penalties against a man who served prison time for falsifying his returns as part of a scheme to poison his wife and collect on a $20 million life insurance policy.
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January 06, 2025
Zurich Seeks Coverage Support In MetLife Building Injury Row
Zurich American Insurance Co. asked a New York federal court Monday to force another insurer to tap into its $3 million policy to cover the defense of Manhattan's MetLife Building against a suit filed by a worker who was injured at its loading dock.
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January 06, 2025
Pa. Panel Permits Stacked UIM Benefits Within Same Policy
A woman severely injured in a motorcycle accident is entitled to underinsured motorist coverage under the same policy that directly covered the motorcycle, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled, finding that because she held a separate policy providing underinsured benefits, stacking was permitted under the former policy.
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January 06, 2025
Insurance Execs Seek Defense Costs For Self-Dealing Suit
Insurance company executives who were fired amid accusations they stole assets from their company to start a competing venture demanded coverage for the dispute from their new business's insurer in Georgia Federal Court.
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January 03, 2025
Ohio Panel Backs Class Cert. In Farmers Total Loss Suit
An Ohio trial court properly granted class certification over a man's claims that a Farmers Insurance unit failed to pay Ohio insureds state and local sales tax for vehicles insured under their auto policies, a state appeals court ruled while limiting the class only to insureds who suffered a total loss.
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January 03, 2025
Mich. Law Firm Urges Dismissal Of Insurer's Defamation Suit
A Michigan personal injury attorney and his firm are urging a federal judge to toss a defamation lawsuit accusing them of launching a smear campaign against an auto insurance company, arguing opinion pieces they published on the firm's blog are protected by the First Amendment.
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January 02, 2025
Meta Seeks To Pause Social Media MDL Coverage Fight
Meta has urged a California federal court to find that its insurers cannot yet litigate to attempt to avoid covering thousands of pending lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, arguing that the coverage issues overlap with issues in the underlying cases.
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January 02, 2025
Startup Wants New Trial After TransUnion Undoes $18M Loss
A Sixth Circuit panel was wrong to affirm that a startup must come away empty-handed from a dispute with TransUnion LLC over a partnership to develop an online insurance quote marketplace, the startup said in asking the panel to give it a new trial instead of throwing out its jury win completely.
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January 02, 2025
Colo. Justices To Mull Whether Hertz Qualifies As An Insurer
The Colorado Supreme Court will consider whether a rental car company offering insurance coverage to customers qualifies as an insurer under the state's insurance statutes, thereby potentially exposing it to additional liability for claims that it denied coverage in bad faith.
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January 02, 2025
Top General Liability Rulings From The Second Half Of 2024
In 2024, insurers won big in disputes over retaining independent counsel and coverage for litigation pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions and firearm components, while a policyholder saw success in staving off a coverage determination for over 200 underlying sexual abuse lawsuits. Here, Law360 breaks down the top commercial general liability rulings from the latter half of the year.
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January 02, 2025
7th Circ. Won't Review $3.4M Faulty Work Coverage Ruling
The Seventh Circuit declined to review a ruling requiring an insurer to defend an architectural design firm and its owner against faulty work claims seeking more than $3.4 million in damages.
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January 02, 2025
The Top Property Insurance Cases To Watch In 2025
Two cases that could change the policies offered by California's insurer of last resort and a forthcoming Hawaii Supreme Court decision on a $4 billion wildfire settlement are among the top property insurance suits to follow in the new year. Here, Law360 looks at five cases that practitioners should note in 2025.
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January 02, 2025
The Top Property Insurance Decisions Of 2024
A novel climate change coverage suit in Hawaii, three state high court pandemic coverage rulings and a Colorado ruling on a late claim-filing rule are among the top property insurance decisions of 2024. Here, Law360 breaks down the cases that drew the most attention among practitioners in the property insurance space.
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January 02, 2025
3M, Meta MDLs Top General Liability Cases To Watch In 2025
Courts across the country are expected to weigh in on a number of important issues this year in general liability insurance cases, led by a multidistrict litigation coverage suit in Delaware against Facebook that raises similar issues seen in opioid coverage battles. Here, Law360 looks at the top cases to watch this year.
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January 01, 2025
NC Cases To Watch In 2025: NASCAR Fight, Healthcare Rows
NASCAR is fighting antitrust claims in North Carolina even after removing a controversial exclusivity clause from its race team contracts, and the Tar Heel State's medical industry could see massive shake-ups from a challenge to a healthcare competition law and alleged impropriety in a major hospital system acquisition.
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January 01, 2025
Connecticut Cases To Watch In 2025: Ethics, Mergers & Actors
A suit over McCarter & English LLP's municipal loan advice and a Yale-owned heath network's legal battle over a beleaguered acquisition deal are just two multimillion-dollar cases that will keep Connecticut courts busy next year.
Expert Analysis
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Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling
In Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance, the Hawaii Supreme Court became the first state court to classify greenhouse gasses as pollutants barred from insurance coverage, a ruling likely to be afforded great weight by courts across the country, say Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman at Hinshaw & Culbertson.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.
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Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.
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3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim
The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks
With all the regulatory activity surrounding antitrust and unfair competition claims, as highlighted by last month's D.C. federal court decision that Google is a monopolist, businesses must not only ensure compliance, but also understand their potential insurance coverage when such claims arise, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes
As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.
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Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.