Specialty Lines

  • August 04, 2023

    Vermont Flooding Shows How Rising Risk May Strain NFIP

    The recent flooding that rocked Vermont underscores the increasing difficulty the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its precariously budgeted National Flood Insurance Program face as communities with burgeoning flood risk start relying more heavily on the program for disaster relief.

  • August 03, 2023

    Wealth Co., Insurer Settle Hack Loss Coverage Fight

    A financial planning company and its professional liability insurer have settled their dispute over coverage for a $105,000 email hack scam, the parties told a Florida federal court Thursday.

  • August 03, 2023

    Sperm Bank Not Covered For Suits Over Donor, Insurer Says

    A Georgia-based sperm bank and its related entities can't get coverage for a series of suits over a donor's genetic abnormalities, Allied World Surplus Lines Insurance Co. told a Georgia federal court, claiming the situation began before the effective date of the company's insurance policy.

  • August 03, 2023

    Insurer Looks To Beat NJ Firm's Malpractice Coverage Claim

    A New Jersey law firm's insurer has told a federal court it shouldn't have to cover the firm in a malpractice suit brought as part of a string of client disputes where the firm's previous insurer had already been tapped to provide coverage.

  • August 03, 2023

    Scholastic Says Travelers Can't Trim $14M Settlement Suit

    Scholastic urged a New York federal court not to allow a Travelers unit to dismiss or strike certain claims from the book publisher's $14 million excess coverage suit, which alleged that the insurer is ducking its obligations to pay for a covered settlement and defense costs.

  • August 03, 2023

    Inspection Co.'s Faulty Work Suit Merits Coverage, Court Told

    An inspection company in the refining, chemical and gas processing industries asked a California federal court to find that its insurer wrongly denied professional liability coverage and failed to investigate underlying claims that it performed faulty inspection work.

  • August 02, 2023

    Amber Heard, Insurer Look To Settle Via Magistrate Judge

    Amber Heard and an insurer requested a settlement conference before a magistrate judge in their dispute regarding coverage of Heard's underlying defamation lawsuit brought by Johnny Depp, saying they believe a judge-led settlement conference "is more likely to prove fruitful than a private mediation."

  • August 02, 2023

    No Coverage For Five Guys Worker Privacy Suit, Insurer Says

    Hartford Fire Insurance Co. told a Virginia federal court that it owes no coverage to Five Guys Operations LLC for an underlying privacy class action accusing the burger chain of improperly collecting and storing employee information through a fingerprint time clock.

  • August 02, 2023

    Tesla Inflated Premiums Suit Goes Back To State Court

    A Tesla driver's proposed class action accusing the electric carmaker's insurance division of overcharging premiums must be litigated in state court, a California federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding Tesla has failed to satisfy the $75,000 amount-in-controversy threshold for federal lawsuits.

  • August 02, 2023

    Stock Exclusion Bars De-SPAC Dispute Coverage, Court Told

    A company's dispute with its former CEO over his inability to sell his shares for 180 days after the company's de-SPAC transition is not covered because of a majority shareholder exclusion, the company's insurer told a California federal court while seeking a quick win.

  • August 02, 2023

    Kitchenware Co. Seeks Coverage For Seller's Defamation Suit

    Kitchen appliance maker NuWave told an Illinois federal court that its insurers have been ignoring its invoices after initially agreeing to defend the company against an underlying defamation suit brought by an Amazon reseller.

  • August 01, 2023

    Contractor Says PPP Fraud Suit Belongs In State Court

    A defense contractor seeking coverage of losses after its former CEO was charged with defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of around $10 million asked a Hawaii federal judge to send its suit back to state court as a magistrate judge recommended.

  • August 01, 2023

    5th Circ. Upholds Insurer's Win In Lyft Driver Shooting Row

    The Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday against uninsured motorist coverage for a Texas Lyft driver who crashed while fleeing from a shooter, finding she did not establish that her injuries resulted from a collision with her attacker's vehicle.

  • August 01, 2023

    Insurer Seeks Win In Coverage Suit Over Subway Slaying Case

    A Chubb unit asked a Texas federal court for an early win in its coverage suit against a Subway franchisee, arguing that a nearly $3 million arbitration award granted to the family of a murdered employee falls under a so-called personal animosity exclusion in its policy.

  • August 01, 2023

    Exclusions Don't Bar BIPA Suit Coverage For Condiment Co.

    An insurer for a condiment manufacturer cannot rely on a number of exclusions to bar coverage of an underlying suit accusing the company of violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, an Illinois federal judge ruled.

  • August 01, 2023

    Texas Bar Foundation Gets $4.25M Cy Pres Award

    The Texas Bar Foundation received a $4.25 million cy pres award following an $11 million settlement in a data breach class action.

  • July 31, 2023

    State Law Should Guide Choice-Of-Law Row, Justices Told

    A yacht owner told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that Pennsylvania law and public policy should override a choice-of-law clause in its marine insurance policy, asking it to affirm the Third Circuit's resurrection of its fight against its insurer.

  • July 31, 2023

    Insurer Can't Ax Claim Over $36M Death Settlement, Court Told

    The estate of a deceased child told an Ohio federal court that an insurer for a Catholic charity association can't toss the estate's bid to enforce a $36 million consent judgment against a former association employee, saying the motion to dismiss is premature.

  • July 31, 2023

    SEC Fights To Keep Annuity Commissions Suit Alive

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has urged a Massachusetts federal judge not to toss its suit accusing an investment adviser of keeping his clients in the dark about the lucrative upfront commissions he made on their insurance annuities, arguing that its claims are sufficient and lay out the "who, what, when, where, and how" of the alleged fraud.

  • July 31, 2023

    Insurer Can't Trim Church's $1.2M Wire Fraud Coverage Case

    An AIG unit cannot toss a declaratory relief claim it faces over a church's bid to recoup the $600,000 it lost from a $1.2 million wire fraud scheme, a Florida federal court ruled Monday.

  • July 31, 2023

    Insurer Beats Credit Union's Fraud Coverage Suit

    A credit union accused in an underlying suit of covering up an employee's embezzlement doesn't qualify for defense coverage, a Kentucky federal court found Monday.

  • July 31, 2023

    Chubb Units, Broker Prevail In Texas Coverage Row

    A memory care facility manager facing several fraud lawsuits lost its bid for indemnity coverage when a Texas federal judge sided with the management company's insurers and broker, adopting a magistrate judge's recommendation to toss the suit with prejudice for failing to allege plausible claims.

  • July 31, 2023

    Renter's Insurer Demands Stabbing Coverage Ruling

    A renter's insurer told a Georgia federal court that it need not wait for resolution in an underlying case to find no coverage for a tenant who attacked a man at a birthday party at her student housing complex near the University of Georgia.

  • July 31, 2023

    Travelers Must Produce Docs In Newspaper Shooting Suit

    A Travelers unit must comply with a subpoena and turn in documents related to a Maryland newspaper publisher's claims and settlements following an office mass shooting, an Illinois federal judge ruled Monday, finding that the documents are relevant despite Travelers not being the publisher's primary insurer.

  • July 31, 2023

    Insurer Seeks Out From Pending Ex-Girardi Atty Fraud Suit

    Dordick Law Corp.'s insurer is refusing to provide coverage for a lawsuit claiming Dordick hired a former Girardi Keese attorney, who then mishandled a client's settlement funds, saying the firm failed to disclose that the attorney was being investigated over the Girardi Keese embezzlement scandal when he was hired.

Expert Analysis

  • Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: DC On Long-Term Care

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    Washington, D.C., Insurance Commissioner Karima Woods outlines the development of insurance coverage for older adults' long-term care benefits and how regulators and the industry are attempting to resolve issues with the popular product.

  • 5 Buyers' Counsel Tips For R&W Insurance Underwriting Calls

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    With representations and warranties insurance becoming more popular than ever, buyers' counsel participating in underwriting calls for such insurance should follow certain best practices to secure contracts with minimal exclusions, say Bryan O'Keefe and Gena Usenheimer at Seyfarth.

  • When A Denial Of Recovery-Based Insurance Claim Is Invalid

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    Two recent court decisions show that policyholders should not accept denials of coverage based on the uninsurability of restitution or disgorgement-based losses without a detailed, two-part analysis of the specific state's law and the particular facts of the loss, say Stephen Raptis and Emily Buchanan at Haynes and Boone.

  • Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Del. Tackles Mental Health

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    Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro highlights the state's efforts to achieve insurance coverage parity for mental health care by confronting systemic stigma and penalizing disparate and restrictive insurance determinations.

  • Key Takeaways From The NAIC Summer National Meeting

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    Stephanie Duchene and Kara Baysinger at Willkie highlight what insurance practitioners should know about top industry priorities from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recent national meeting, including climate-related risk, diversity and inclusion, and technological innovation.

  • Considerations In Structuring Private Equity D&O Coverage

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    With the surge in investment activity driven by the ongoing pandemic recovery, private equity firms should carefully consider the scope of protection afforded by their directors and officers and general partnership liability programs, and how that coverage fits into their overall risk mitigation strategy, say Geoffrey Fehling and Syed Ahmad at Hunton and Rachel Beck at CAC Specialty.

  • The Complex State Of Insurance In The Cannabis Business

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    Jan Larson and Philip Sailer at Jenner & Block outline the complex cannabis regulatory schemes perplexing courts faced with insurance coverage cases and discuss legislative solutions that could at least begin to reduce the challenges for both policyholders and insurers.

  • D&O Coverage Considerations Amid Increasing SEC Scrutiny

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    With all signs pointing to heightened U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and enforcement, policyholders should be asking four questions to ensure their directors and officers insurance provides the protection they expect and to avoid coverage disputes, say Robin Cohen and Orrie Levy at Cohen Ziffer.

  • Policyholder Best Practices As Cyberattacks Escalate

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    As ransomware attacks increasingly target corporate victims, policyholders should enhance cybersecurity and privacy efforts to avoid regulatory hot water and mitigate the effects of rising insurance premiums and coverage restrictions, say Lee Epstein and Krishna Jani at Flaster Greenberg.

  • Embracing ESG: AIG Counsel Talks SEC Risk Alert

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    As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission responds to the changing landscape on environmental, social and corporate governance investing, including with its recent risk alert, it is imperative that the regulator take a measured approach, says Kate Fuentes at AIG.

  • Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Wis. Tackles Climate Risk

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    Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Mark Afable talks about educating consumers on potential climate-risk coverage gaps and mitigation efforts, and encouraging insurers to recognize the latter in underwriting, in the face of increasingly frequent and severe weather disasters.

  • Insurer Considerations For Post-Pandemic Virtual Mediation

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    To determine whether to continue engaging in virtual mediations after the pandemic ends, insurers should weigh the format's challenges against its benefits, including decreased hostility between parties, time and cost, and increased client participation, say Jennifer Gibbs and Amanda Rodriguez at Zelle.

  • Key Considerations For D&O Policy Related-Claims Clauses

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    A California federal court's decision in Stem v. Scottsdale Insurance — which found that multiple claims were subject to a single policy limit under the related-claims provision in a directors and officers insurance policy — highlights areas of consideration, such as policy language and choice of law, for businesses shopping for D&O policies, say attorneys at Hunton.