Specialty Lines
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January 11, 2024
Insurer Says Resident's Rape In Memory Ward Not Covered
A dementia facility accused of covering up a rape of a resident by another patient shouldn't have defense coverage against an underlying suit brought by the resident and her family, its insurer told an Alaska federal judge.
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January 11, 2024
Divorce Pauses Husband, Wife IP Row Over Insurance Co.
The North Carolina Business Court halted a lawsuit alleging the husband of an insurance agency owner stole her business records to benefit his newly formed company while keeping $3 million meant for her, reasoning the case will be affected by divorce proceedings the two are going through.
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January 11, 2024
Doctor, Insurers Agree To End Wiretap Coverage Suit
A former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center surgeon has settled with his insurers in a suit seeking coverage for defense in a fellow surgeon's wiretapping and defamation action against him, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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January 11, 2024
Nationwide Wins Dismissal After Pruning Billing Class Action
Nationwide defeated a proposed class action brought by a Pennsylvania man who was seeking confirmation that the insurer was wrongly denying medical benefits related to vehicle crash injuries, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling that his breach of contract allegations were insufficient to survive dismissal.
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January 10, 2024
Foster Org. Not Covered In Child Neglect Suit, Insurer Says
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. asked a Missouri federal court Wednesday to rule that it does not have to defend a foster care nonprofit and one of its employees from a suit alleging they were negligent in the abuse and death of a 3-year-old.
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January 10, 2024
Coverage Fight Over Ad Infringement Suit Stays In Fed. Court
A Minnesota federal judge refused Wednesday to send a dispute over coverage of a copyright infringement suit settlement back to state court, finding the policyholder's mailing of service to the wrong address meant its insurer's removal to federal court could proceed.
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January 10, 2024
Chubb Unit, Bank Settle $15M Scam Coverage Row
A Chubb unit and a California banking company settled their dispute over coverage for a $15 million loss the bank suffered after granting a loan to a woman posing as an heir to aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas Corp., the parties told a federal court Wednesday.
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January 10, 2024
Insurer Can't Get Atty Fees After $10M Death Coverage Win
An architecture firm's insurer cannot recover attorney fees it incurred while successfully opposing coverage for a suit seeking more than $10 million over a worker's death, a Florida federal court ruled Wednesday, adopting a magistrate's finding that the insurer's declaratory suit wasn't a civil action for damages.
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January 10, 2024
Del. Justices Make Waves Undoing Verizon Fraud Coverage
The Delaware Supreme Court delivered a surprising upset by overturning Verizon's coverage of a $95 million settlement with a bankruptcy trust over a fraudulent transfer suit, providing policyholders a loss of uncertain proportions.
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January 10, 2024
Celsius Insurers Seek OK To Pay Execs' Defense Costs
Four excess insurers asked a New York bankruptcy judge to let them provide defense coverage to Celsius Network executives facing investigations, subpoenas and lawsuits.
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January 10, 2024
Geico Drops No-Fault Charges Suit Against NY Pharmacy
Geico informed a New York federal court that it has put to rest a lawsuit alleging a New York pharmacy exploited the Empire State's no-fault insurance system by submitting $1.4 million in fraudulent billing for pharmaceutical products to treat individuals involved in car accidents and eligible for coverage through the insurer.
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January 10, 2024
2nd Circ. Inverted Pleading Standards, NRA Tells Justices
The National Rifle Association of America urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a finding that a former New York state official's statements advising NRA-affiliated businesses to assess their reputational risks did not violate the association's constitutional rights, saying the Second Circuit inverted pleading standards.
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January 10, 2024
Background Check Co. Had Duty To Defend Security Provider
A background check company breached its duty to defend a security services provider accused of negligently hiring a security guard who two patients alleged assaulted them at a California medical center, a Colorado federal court ruled, saying the underlying allegations clearly triggered the company's indemnity obligations.
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January 09, 2024
Insurer Asks NC Justices To Help Secure $524M Judgment
An insurer urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to review a state appeals court's judgment reversing limitations on an embattled insurance mogul's transfer of assets, maintaining that the decision "substantially diminishes" its ability as a judgment creditor to collect a more than $524 million award.
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January 09, 2024
Judge Scoffs At Broker's Pose To Insurer In Buccaneers Deal
In an appeal by Axis Insurance Co. seeking to overturn an Indiana federal judge's decision siding with a broker in an indemnity coverage row involving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one judge on the appellate panel accused the broker on Tuesday of hiding from Axis' claim until a settlement was reached.
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January 09, 2024
Insurance Broker Says Competitor Infringed Trademarks
An insurance broker sued another insurance broker it claimed has infringed on its trademarks and variations of the marks, telling a Texas federal court to find that it is entitled to collect its competitor's profits from the infringement.
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January 09, 2024
Surgical Gown Manufacturer Ends $3M Recall Coverage Row
A medical supply manufacturer told a Texas federal court Tuesday that it had settled a dispute with its insurers over coverage of more than $3 million in losses from the production and recall of surgical gowns made with inadequate material.
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January 09, 2024
Conn. Dealership's Arson Coverage Suit Pared To Single Claim
A Connecticut federal judge has tossed most claims lodged against two insurers in a used car dealership's coverage suit stemming from a 2019 fire caused by arson, allowing only one breach of contract claim against an insurer to continue.
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January 09, 2024
Insurers Must Cover Loss Of 500K Bushels Of Soybeans
A New York state judge said three insurers must cover a commodity company's loss of over 500,000 bushels of soybeans resulting from a Mississippi-based warehouse's entrance into bankruptcy in September 2021, finding the loss occurred during the policy period.
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January 09, 2024
Hinshaw Adds 6-Atty Insurance Team In LA, San Francisco
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP announced Tuesday that it has brought on six insurance attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles, including three partners and three senior counsel, from now-closed Coddington Hicks & Danforth.
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January 09, 2024
Car Care Provider Wants 'Fact-Phobic' Class Action Tossed
A vehicle care protection provider and its insurer urged a Washington state federal court to toss a "fact-phobic" proposed class action accusing the provider of illegally selling noncompliant service contracts, saying the agreement at issue is not a service contract.
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January 09, 2024
Insurance Boutique Co-Founder Joins McGuireWoods
A founding partner of insurance boutique Pasich LLP and former adviser at consultancy AECOM is joining McGuireWoods LLP's national insurance recovery team, the firm said Monday.
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January 08, 2024
Claims Against LA Ad Firm Trimmed In $10M Fraud Row
An Ohio federal judge trimmed claims of fraudulent misrepresentation and conversion against a Los Angeles-based advertising firm and its chief executive officer, leaving intact seven other counts in an insurer's $10 million racketeering fraud suit against an ex-executive and, the suit says, his co-conspirators.
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January 08, 2024
Store Says Insurers Owe $2.7M In Jewelry Heist Coverage Row
A California jewelry store that won a $2.7 million judgment against a security company it accused of negligence after the store was burglarized said the security company's insurers must pay the judgment, arguing the insurers wrongly denied coverage for the security company.
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January 08, 2024
Fidelity National Financial Faces Data Breach Class Action
Fidelity National Financial and a subsidiary are facing a proposed class action in Florida federal court that accuses the title insurer and mortgage lender of failing to protect the personal information of roughly 1.3 million customers from a November cyberattack.
Expert Analysis
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Securing Coverage For Investors' Political Risk Claims In 2022
While recent world events highlight the need for foreign investors to protect themselves from losses related to political instability, businesses should be aware of the ways political risk insurers may seek to deny or delay payment of claims, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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How NJ Bad Faith Auto Insurance Bill Compares To Pa.'s
The recently enacted New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act, is in some ways narrower and in other ways broader than Pennsylvania's notoriously strict bad faith statute and leaves open many fundamental questions, which took Pennsylvania decades of litigation to resolve, say Kristin Jones and Brian Callaway at Troutman Pepper.
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Reach Of Ohio Ransomware Ruling Limited To Policy At Hand
While an Ohio appellate court's recent decision allowing the insured's ransomware attack claim to proceed in EMOI Services v. Owners Insurance may seem significant for insurance jurisprudence, it should not have implications beyond policies specifically insuring damage to software, says Jane Warring at Zelle.
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D&O Insurance Lessons From The Rise And Fall Of Theranos
After the fall of Theranos and the recent criminal conviction of founder Elizabeth Holmes, startups seeking to protect their directors and officers from exposure to personal liability should consider how eye-popping company valuations and other changes to the startup landscape will affect their D&O policies, say Lilit Asadourian and Kathryn Bayes at Reed Smith.
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Flawed NY Insurance Law Needs Amendments
The New York Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, recently signed by the governor, imposes a multitude of problematic disclosure obligations on defendant-insureds, which the Legislature should — and likely will — seriously consider modifying or eliminating, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Beyond Insurance: Mitigating Cyber Risk In 2022
As insurers move to higher premiums and less coverage for cyberattacks, companies should consider restructuring their risk mitigation strategies for the upcoming year to lessen their reliance on insurance support for data security issues, say professionals at StoneTurn.
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Justices May Hesitate To Review Calif. Fraud Coverage Case
In Adir International v. Starr Indemnity, the policyholders are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their challenge of a California law prohibiting insurers from defending insureds in certain consumer protection claims, but the court may not be ready to decide the issue at this time, says Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.
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NY Case Shows Insurance Possibility For SEC Disgorgements
Directors and officers insurers almost invariably deny coverage for payments described as disgorgements in settlement agreements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but the recent decision of New York's highest court in J.P. Morgan v. Vigilant demonstrates how policyholders can negotiate an insurable settlement with the SEC, say Stephen Weisbrod and Tamra Ferguson at Weisbrod Matteis.
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JP Morgan Ruling May Have Broad Insurance Implications
The New York Court of Appeals' recent decision in J.P. Morgan Securities v. Vigilant Insurance — that settlement funds paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not constitute a penalty for insurance purposes — could have far-reaching application in other types of insurance litigation where plaintiffs could be characterized as seeking equitable relief, say Robert Shulman and Cristen Rose at Paley Rothman.
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Insurance Tips For Mitigating DOJ Cyber Initiative Risks
For companies and executives involved in False Claims Act actions alleging cybersecurity failures like those envisioned by the U.S. Department of Justice's new cyber fraud initiative, certain insurance policies could help defray the substantial costs of defense and even settlement liability, say attorneys at Hunton.
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M&A Rulings Provide Guidance On 'Bump-Up' Claim Coverage
As M&A activity continues to surge, several recent federal court decisions can guide companies in structuring their insurance programs and assessing whether so-called bump-up claims arising from particular M&A transactions may be covered, say Robin Cohen and Orrie Levy at Cohen Ziffer.
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BIPA Ruling Should Aid Insurers In Privacy Claims
Massachusetts Bay Insurance v. Impact Fulfillment Services, a recent decision by a North Carolina federal court finding that a Biometric Information Privacy Act claim was precluded under an insurance exclusion, represents a potentially significant win for insurers due to its broadly applicable contract interpretation, say Joshua Polster and Conor Mercadante at Simpson Thacher.
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Insurers Should Honor Astroworld Coverage Obligations
While insurers may be eager to shift blame on Astroworld showrunner Travis Scott for conditions that resulted in 10 deaths and dozens of injuries, arguments suggesting the tragedy shouldn't be covered appear baseless in light of the facts and the law, says Benjamin Massarsky at Miller Friel.