Property
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January 31, 2024
Policyholders Can Film Insurers At Exams, Calif. Panel Says
Californians have a right to film their insurers' representatives during coverage examinations, a state appeals court ruled, rejecting Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.'s arguments that the California Insurance Code allowed policyholders to only record themselves on video.
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January 31, 2024
$17.5M Hail Claim Mostly Not Covered, Insurer Says
A storage company's insurer told a Texas federal court that much of the nearly $17.5 million in hail damage the company said it suffered wasn't actually caused by hail, adding that it refused to allow a construction consultant to inspect its property "despite multiple requests."
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January 31, 2024
Lab Says $7M Stolen Data Is Property And Should Be Covered
A national medical testing lab told a Pennsylvania federal court that patient treatment records and at least $7 million of billing data allegedly hijacked by its software contractor was property and should therefore be covered by its insurer.
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January 31, 2024
Fla. Restaurants Say Ian Deductible Was $400K Too High
A Florida restaurant owner told a federal court Wednesday that its insurer charged too high of a deductible for coverage for damages from Hurricane Ian, alleging that the insurer needs to pay it back more than $400,000 of the $1 million paid to account for the correct deductible amount.
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January 31, 2024
No Fee Win For Condos After Midcase Appeal, 11th Circ. Told
The Eleventh Circuit should not grant attorney fees to two Florida condominium associations that persuaded the court to reject Empire Indemnity Insurance's bid to avoid appraisal, the insurer told the court, arguing their victory over the insurer's appeal doesn't entitle them to recover those costs.
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January 31, 2024
Liberty Mutual Units Must Help Cover Warehouse, Court Told
The insurer for a furniture retailer told a California federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to a warehouse owner in underlying bodily injury litigation, saying it was relieved of its defense duties by a lease termination agreement.
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January 30, 2024
Insurer Ordered To Pay Casino $55K In Attorney Fees
An insurer must pay a Las Vegas casino and resort more than $55,000 in attorney fees after a Nevada federal judge sanctioned the carrier in September, ruling that the insurer failed to produce relevant portions of its claims manual during a COVID-19 coverage dispute.
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January 30, 2024
Tenn. Judge Hands Insurer Win In Collapse Coverage Trial
A North Carolina-based insurance company isn't obligated to cover over $1 million in claimed damages and lost rental income connected to the restoration of a century-old building in Chattanooga, a Tennessee federal judge found in a trial ruling Tuesday.
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January 30, 2024
Pipeline Builder Says Insurer Owes Defense In Explosion Suit
A pipeline construction company told a Texas federal court Tuesday that a subcontractor's insurer must defend the company in a personal injury suit stemming from a nitrogen gas explosion, asserting that it qualifies as an additional insured.
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January 30, 2024
Colo. Pizzeria Says Insurer Owes More Fire Coverage
A Colorado pizzeria that was damaged by a fire in 2021 told a Colorado federal court its insurer still owes coverage for business losses and other expenses, arguing that the insurer is in part to blame for the restaurant being unable to complete its restorations required by its policy.
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January 30, 2024
Fennemore Craig Growing In Calif. With Sullivan Hill Merger
In its latest West Coast expansion, Fennemore Craig PC announced Tuesday it is widening its footprint in San Diego through a merger with Sullivan Hill, with the latter's experts in insurance, construction, commercial bankruptcy and employment law joining Fennemore's existing four-attorney team in the city.
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January 29, 2024
Insurer's Counterclaim Tossed From $7M Elevator Verdict Row
An insurer has no grounds to pursue a counterclaim against excess insurer Great American Insurance Co. in a dispute with an elevator maintenance company over a $7.3 million negligence verdict, a Florida federal judge ruled Monday.
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January 29, 2024
Increase In Trafficking Reveals Hospitality Coverage Concerns
As human trafficking continues to increase and travel returns to prepandemic levels, hospitality industry policyholders may see more direct trafficking exclusions and increased education requirements as the insurance industry works to address this growing risk, experts said.
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January 29, 2024
Pollution Exclusion Applies In Oil Well Row, Underwriters Say
Underwriters for a now-defunct oil services company told a Texas federal court they should not pay a $10.6 million underlying judgment to two companies over drainage losses to their oil wells, because the defunct company's policy excluded pollution and waste claims.
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January 29, 2024
Escrow Agent Not Covered For Fraud Suits, Court Told
An escrow agent no longer has coverage for four underlying suits accusing it of unlawfully withholding funds or distributing them to third parties who had no valid claim to the money, an insurer told a Florida federal court, saying its theft coverage extension endorsement has been exhausted.
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January 29, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Escapes Contractor's Malpractice Suit
A Florida federal judge has agreed to toss a storm damage contractor's more than $1 million lawsuit centering on an acrimonious breakup with its former law firm, but allowed the contractor a chance at refiling its legal malpractice claims.
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January 26, 2024
Nelson Mullins' Rates Spark Coverage Spat Over Builder's Suit
An insurance policy battle between an exterior building product manufacturer and its insurer over who should pay for a law firm's services in a separate lawsuit spilled into Ohio federal court this week after the insurer removed the company's case from state court to the federal arena.
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January 26, 2024
School Says Security Insurer Failed To Cover Stabbing Row
A security company's insurer failed to provide coverage to a school for behavioral problems in an underlying suit alleging a student was stabbed and bullied in the gym due to the school's negligence and tolerance of violence, according to a suit removed to D.C. federal court.
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January 26, 2024
Auto Biz Says Insurer Can't Escape $500K Damage Claims
A vehicle lift installer urged a Minnesota federal court to preserve its counterclaims in a coverage dispute over nearly $500,000 in claims stemming from fire damage and a tipped container, arguing that its insurer constructively denied most of the claim by repeating investigations and denying payments for over a year.
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January 26, 2024
Insurer Denied Early Win In Landlord's Hurricane Damage Suit
An insurer wasn't able to beat a suburban New Orleans commercial property owner's Louisiana federal case over more than $220,000 in 2021 Hurricane Ida damage, but did succeed in limiting testimony.
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January 26, 2024
Texas Motel Says Insurer Fell $750K Short On Storm Damage
AIG unit Lexington Insurance Co. underpaid for storm damage to a Texas Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, offering only a sum more than $750,000 smaller than the company's own repair estimate, the motel's owner told a federal court.
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February 08, 2024
Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2024 Editorial Boards
Law360 is looking for avid readers of its publications to serve as members of its 2024 editorial advisory boards.
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January 26, 2024
State Farm Underpaid Miss. Property Losses, Class Suit Says
A Mississippi homeowner accused State Farm Fire and Casualty in federal court of intentionally underpaying her fire damage claim by using the wrong setting in its pricing software, treating the repairs as new construction and improperly excluding higher labor costs associated with more complicated fixes.
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January 25, 2024
Excess Insurers Win In Construction Defect Coverage Suit
A residential developer wrongly tapped into certain excess insurance, a California federal judge ruled Thursday, finding that the $3.2 million its primary insurer spent on defense costs in underlying construction defect litigation didn't count toward triggering a $10 million excess policy.
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January 25, 2024
Insurer Says Contractor Not Covered In Oil Refinery Fire Suits
A petrochemical contractor is not entitled to coverage for a number of suits over an incident at an Arkansas oil refinery in which a hazardous substance was released and caught fire, an excess insurer told a Texas federal court Thursday, saying the contractor's two-year delay in providing notice bars coverage.
Expert Analysis
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Justices Must Apply Law Evenly In Shadow Docket Rulings
In recent shadow docket decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has inconsistently applied the requirement that parties demonstrate irreparable harm to obtain injunctive relief, which is problematic for two separate but related reasons, says David Hopkins at Benesch.
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Ill. COVID Rulings Correctly Adopt Physical Loss Standard
In two recent decisions, Sweet Berry Cafe v. Society Insurance and Lee v. State Farm, Illinois appellate courts properly followed the Illinois Supreme Court's standard for physical loss when deciding COVID-19 business interruption cases, says Melinda Kollross at Clausen Miller.
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A Guide To Extrinsic Evidence In Determining Duty To Defend
As the eight-corners rule for the duty to defend is increasingly riddled with exceptions to its strict formulation of confining the analysis to only the language of the insurance policy and the underlying complaint, Richard Mason at MasonADR discusses the newest notable decisions and offers strategies for attorneys litigating the duty to defend.
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Political Risk Insurance May Help Cos. Hurt By Russian War
As Russia’s war on Ukraine causes severe economic fallout, it’s crucial that U.S. companies with operations in the region understand what losses might be covered by their political risk insurance policies, and take steps to ensure that all available coverage is preserved and maximized, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.
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Conn. Ruling Widens Scope Of Property Insurance Appraisals
After the Connecticut Supreme Court’s recent decision in Klass v. Liberty Mutual, holding that appraisers can apply the state’s matching statute when determining the amount of loss, insurers may not avoid appraisal on the sole basis that there is a coverage dispute, and policyholders will likely attempt to further expand the scope of appraisers' authority, says Peter Kelly Golfman at Zelle.
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New 'Bad Faith' Claim Law Holds NJ Insurers Accountable
New Jersey’s recently enacted Insurance Fair Conduct Act, giving policyholders a bad faith cause of action for claims involving uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, is an important step toward countering unfair insurer advantage and expanding consumer protections, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Insurance Implications Of Texas '8 Corners' Rulings
Two recent Texas Supreme Court opinions resolve a long-pending question by reaffirming the so-called eight-corners rule as the primary means for determining an insurer's duty to defend, which should provide greater consistency between future state and federal decisions, says Susan Kidwell at Locke Lord.
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Why I'll Miss Arguing Before Justice Breyer
Carter Phillips at Sidley shares some of his fondest memories of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer both inside and out of the courtroom, and explains why he thinks the justice’s multipronged questions during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments were everything an advocate could ask for.
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Defense Counsel Must Alter Tactics To Fight Outsize Verdicts
If defense counsel continue to use the same strategies they’ve always relied on without recognizing plaintiffs attorneys’ new playbook, so-called nuclear verdicts, such as the recent $730 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case in Texas, will continue to proliferate, says Robert Tyson at Tyson & Mendes.
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BigLaw Must Nix All-Or-Nothing Work Model To Retain Talent
Record numbers of workers quitting in the “Great Resignation,” paired with the growing success of nontraditional and freelance legal services, show that BigLaw’s management committees must reconsider rigid billable hour expectations and be open to part-time and noncontinuous work arrangements, says Hui Chen at Hui Chen Ethics.
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11th Circ. Ruling Highlights Trend Of Stricter Insurer Valuation
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in favor of the insurer in Metal Products v. Ohio Security Insurance is a jarring reminder that both Florida insurance companies and courts are increasingly viewing policy valuation provisions with stricter scrutiny, say Gina Lozier and Christopher Choquette at Berger Singerman.
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The Flaws In The Traditional Approach To Hiring A Law Firm
Trevor Faure at Smarter Law Solutions and Gregory Richter at Major Lindsey offer an inside look at Teva Pharmaceuticals' recent overhaul of its law firm relationships through anonymous grading, and discuss how the company’s surprising findings on the correlation between quality and cost reveal shortcomings in traditional business development.
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Federal Courts Are Right Venue For COVID Insurance Cases
Two recent Law360 guest articles positing that state, not federal, courts should be deciding COVID-19 insurance coverage disputes incorrectly assume that these cases contain novel insurance law issues, say attorneys at Dentons.