Specialty Lines
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June 05, 2025
Norton Rose Adds Corporate Pro To Growing Chicago Office
Norton Rose Fulbright announced the growth of its Chicago office Thursday with the addition of a "highly regarded corporate lawyer," who will serve as a partner in the firm's business practice group and as a member of its transactional and regulatory insurance team.
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June 05, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Sixth Circuit said a coverage dispute over PFAS litigation shouldn't have been sent back to state court, the Tenth Circuit found that an insurer did not unreasonably deny a hail damage claim and a Florida federal court freed an insurer from paying an $8.5 million deal over construction defects. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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June 04, 2025
3 Ways DOL Benefits Chief Nominee May Affect ERISA Cases
A key committee will decide Thursday whether to send President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Labor’s employee benefits arm ahead for a full Senate vote, setting the stage for what attorneys expect will be an employer-friendly shift in policies. Here are three ways Daniel Aronowitz could change benefits litigation if confirmed.
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June 04, 2025
Agent Seeks Toss Of Insurer's $1M Reinsurance Loss Suit
An insurance company's suit alleging that an insurance agent's errors cost the company its reinsurance through the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. should be tossed, the agent told a Michigan federal court, arguing that the claims are time-barred and have already been litigated.
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June 03, 2025
Adjustment Of Claims Ordered After $66M Boat Death Suit
A North Carolina federal judge granted a preliminary injunction ordering an adjuster to proceed with adjusting claims for insurers, including one related to a 2021 fatal Florida boat accident that resulted in a $66 million consent judgment against a policyholder.
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June 03, 2025
Conn. Judge Narrows McCarter's Defenses In $22M Loan Suit
A Connecticut state court trimmed McCarter & English LLP's defenses in a $22.3 million suit over its role crafting loans for recreational improvements in a Long Island, New York, town, saying the firm cannot pursue a comparative negligence defense but can proceed with its fraud argument.
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June 03, 2025
The Law360 400: A Look At The Top 100 Firms
A rebound in client work sent the nation’s largest law firms into growth mode last year, driving a wave of hiring, mergers and strategic moves that reshaped the top tier of the Law360 400. Here's a preview of the 100 firms with the largest U.S. attorney headcounts.
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June 02, 2025
Insurance Experts Examine AI's Challenges For Underwriting
Academics, attorneys and insurance industry officials took a look at the myriad ways artificial intelligence could affect the "insurance value chain," as one conference panelist put it, across claims, litigation and underwriting, including the coverage of AI-related occurrences themselves.
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May 29, 2025
Insurer Waived Arbitration For Many Reasons, NJ Panel Rules
An insurer waived its right to arbitration for many reasons, a New Jersey appellate panel affirmed, finding a pier owner's coverage dispute concerning underlying litigation brought against it by public utilities blaming it for a fluid leak in the Hudson River must head to trial.
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May 29, 2025
Q&A: What's The Deal With Insurance-Linked Securities?
The use of insurance-linked securities has boomed in recent years, helping increase overall global reinsurance capacity and allowing investors to participate in reinsurance transactions without having to become licensed reinsurers themselves. Here, Law360 talks to Nicholas Berry, a London-based partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, on the mechanics of ILS transactions and why he thinks this alternative asset type is here to stay.
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May 29, 2025
FDA Changes May Put CGL Policies In Play, Experts Say
Changing regulations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Trump administration may make food contamination risks a higher concern for certain policyholders, and insureds should closely review their commercial general liability and product recall policies for potential coverage, experts say.
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May 29, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Towers Watson's insurers don't have to cover shareholder litigation, the Fifth Circuit said its hands were tied concerning fire damage arbitration, North Carolina's highest court allowed a homeowner who didn't read his policy to continue his agency negligence case and a Georgia couple say two personal injury firms misled them. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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May 29, 2025
Lindberg Can't Skirt $122M Contempt Order, NC Panel Told
Insurance companies that convicted billionaire Greg Lindberg allegedly bled dry told the North Carolina Court of Appeals not to let him duck a $122 million contempt order, saying he didn't even show up for the hearing and has done nothing since to purge his contempt.
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May 28, 2025
Law Firm's Suit Against AIG Unit Cut Down To Contract Claims
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday trimmed a law firm's suit claiming an AIG unit allegedly misled it into representing a sports memorabilia collector in underlying civil and criminal fraud cases without payment.
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May 28, 2025
4th Circ. Finds Towers Watson's Merger Deals Not Covered
Towers Watson's insurers have no obligation to pay out their remaining directors and officers coverage to help fund settlements resolving shareholder litigation over the company's merger with Willis, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday, saying the deals fall plainly within the scope of a so-called bump-up exclusion.
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May 27, 2025
Pharma Co. Says Chubb Failed To Pay Covered Defense Costs
A New Jersey pharmaceutical company said Chubb owes nearly $6.5 million in outstanding defense costs related to a multibillion-dollar arbitration dispute over the manufacture of an antiviral drug, according to a suit removed to federal court Tuesday.
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May 27, 2025
Property Co. Not Covered In Condo Fire Suits, Insurer Says
A property management company isn't covered for suits claiming it hired an unlicensed contractor whose work caused a fire at a condo complex, an insurer told a Florida federal court, saying coverage isn't available under a commercial general liability policy and is limited under a professional liability policy.
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May 23, 2025
Judge Tells Boat Crash Widow To Replead $66M Insurer Suit
A Florida federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by the widow of the victim of a fatal boat crash seeking to get insurers to pay $66 million judgments but told the widow to replead her claims without the bad faith allegations to streamline discovery in the first stage of the litigation.
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May 22, 2025
Affirmative AI Coverage Challenges Specialty Insurance Lines
Boutiques and major insurers alike have recently issued long-anticipated affirmative coverage for artificial intelligence risks, a divisive bet on the increased need for explicit protection and pricing of the technology's specific risks, even as existing policies offer many similar protections.
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May 22, 2025
Virus Coverage Revival Loss Shows Import Of Judicial Finality
A North Carolina federal court's ruling that Golden Corral can't set aside a judgment against its bid for pandemic-related coverage despite recent policyholder success in the state Supreme Court highlighted the importance of judicial finality, while marking the difference between state and federal courts weighing insurance issues.
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May 22, 2025
Mich. Justices To Review Nationwide's Unitary Tax Filing Win
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Thursday to weigh an appeal by the state's tax agency of a decision that said Nationwide entities could file their taxes as a unitary group to share tax credits among its members.
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May 22, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court passed on insurer challenges to tribal jurisdiction in COVID-19 coverage cases, a Washington federal court approved Symetra's $32.5 million overcharging settlement, legal malpractice claims outpace inflation and a condo association's timing in serving an insurer helped it avoid removal to Florida federal court.
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May 21, 2025
USAA's $3.25M Data Breach Deal Granted Final OK
Customers of USAA have received final approval for their $3.2 million settlement agreement to resolve claims that cybersecurity shortcomings affecting the bank's online insurance quote system paved the way for cybercriminals to open fraudulent memberships.
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May 21, 2025
Court Approves $32.5M Symetra Settlement For Overcharging
A Washington federal court has given final approval for a $32.5 million settlement resolving claims between Symetra and life insurance policyholders who claimed the company used undisclosed factors to overcharge them.
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May 20, 2025
Insurers Say Legal Malpractice Costs Keep Outpacing Inflation
The frequency at which major law firms faced malpractice claims held relatively steady in 2024, but payouts on claims continued to boom at a rate outpacing general inflation, according to this year's legal professional liability insurance survey, with nearly half of insurers surveyed reporting having paid at least one claim over $150 million.
Expert Analysis
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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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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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Tools For Witness Control That Go Beyond Leading Questions
Though leading questions can be efficient and effective for constraining a witness’s testimony, this strategy isn’t appropriate for every trial and pretrial scenario, so techniques like headlining and looping can be deployed during direct examination, depositions and even witness interviews, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.
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Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis
In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.
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4 Do's And Don'ts For Trial Lawyers Using Generative AI
Trial attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools should review a few key reminders, from the likelihood that prompts are discoverable to the rapid evolution of court rules, to safeguard against embarrassing missteps, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.
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5 Argument Techniques For Policyholder Advocates
Winning insurance coverage disputes often comes down to who has articulated the more compelling interpretation of the relevant policy language, which is why the best policyholder advocates come back to certain tried and true argument approaches, says Greg Van Houten at Haynes Boone.
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Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses
In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Del. Ruling Further Narrows Scope Of 'Bump-Up' Exclusion
The recent Delaware Superior Court ruling in Harman International v. Illinois National Insurance offers a critical framework for interpreting bump-up exclusions in management liability insurance policies, and follows the case law trend of narrow interpretation of such exclusions, says Simone Haugen at Tressler.
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A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape
Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.
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Best Practices To Optimize Cybersecurity Insurance
As cyberthreats continue to evolve, the risks associated with third-party vendor breaches are an increasing concern, so businesses must not only reevaluate their internal cybersecurity insurance, but also take proactive steps to evaluate and manage the risks posed by their third-party relationships, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario
Parties are generally required to meet and confer to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing a related motion, but courts should dispense with this conferencing requirement when a party fails to specify a time by which it will complete its production, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law.
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Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025
As insurance industry participants look to plan for the year, regulatory changes, climate-related challenges, the ongoing effects of social inflation and the potential for significant mergers and acquisitions will be among the key items for insurer boards and management to have on their radar, say attorneys at Debevoise.