Specialty Lines

  • September 18, 2025

    2nd Circ. Wary Of Retailer's Bid For Ghost Gun Suit Coverage

    The Second Circuit seemed skeptical of a Texas-based firearms retailer's argument that it is owed coverage for suits alleging it contributed to gun violence by selling unfinished components used to assemble what are known as ghost guns, grilling the retailer Wednesday for specific allegations of negligence that would trigger coverage.

  • September 17, 2025

    No Response From Insurers To Coverage Requests, Co. Says

    A Seattle-based marine logistics company told a Washington federal court that a trio of marine insurers failed to issue a coverage opinion before it ultimately settled an arbitration earlier this year involving an $18.6 million counterclaim over vessel damage, adding that the insurers conducted no investigation, either.

  • September 16, 2025

    Travelers Must Cover Scholastic's IP Suit Costs, Not Damages

    A Manhattan federal judge has ruled that a Travelers unit must cover Scholastic Inc. for costs incurred in its defense and settlement of a trademark and copyright infringement suit, but not pay consequential damages Scholastic had sought.

  • September 12, 2025

    Conn. Supreme Court Snapshot: Amazon Wages Top Sept.

    A wage and hour dispute between Amazon and its Connecticut warehouse workers is the top corporate dispute on the Connecticut Supreme Court's September docket after the justices agreed to answer a certified question over whether state law requires the retailer to pay employees undergoing security screenings.

  • September 11, 2025

    Environmental Deregulation Fuels Insurance Uncertainties

    President Donald Trump's policy agenda of dismantling environmental regulations has created more uncertainty in the insurance world, where the benefit from decreased government enforcement may be undercut by shifting litigation risks, new legal theories and potential lingering exposures, insurance attorneys said.

  • September 11, 2025

    OpenAI Death Suit Heightens AI Insurance Concerns

    A wrongful death lawsuit filed against OpenAI and its CEO has insurance experts evaluating what potential carrier involvement may look like, bolstering concerns over whether creators of artificial intelligence platforms have proper coverage and whether carriers could be on the hook for potentially large losses.

  • September 11, 2025

    Lloyd's Fossil Fuel Reversal Strikes Experts As Political

    Lloyd's of London's recent move to relax coverage restrictions for certain fossil fuel businesses reflects a more permissive political climate for polluting industries, experts said, while advocates for sustainable investment called it bad business. 

  • September 11, 2025

    Insurers Claim 'Collusion' In Ga. School's $345M Abuse Deal

    Five insurance companies urged the Georgia Court of Appeals Thursday to let them off the hook for a $345 million settlement between a private school and nearly two dozen men who said they were sexually abused as students, alleging the deal was "tainted by collusion" and well outside the bounds of their respective policies.

  • September 11, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    A New York federal court analyzed policy limits and retentions over abuse claims against the Archdiocese of New York, the First Circuit ordered an insurer to defend a class action over allegedly faulty heating oil, and insurers notified the Fifth Circuit of a potential settlement in their hurricane arbitration appeal.

  • September 11, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Revisit Doctor's Captive Insurance Case

    The Fifth Circuit rejected a Texas doctor's request for the full court to review a panel's July decision that he was not entitled to $1 million in tax deductions linked to his urgent care network's captive insurance company.

  • September 10, 2025

    Liberty Says Subcontractor's Insurer Must Defend Injury Row

    A subcontractor's insurer must defend and indemnify companies insured by a Liberty Mutual unit on a primary basis in a worker's injury lawsuit, the unit argued to a New York federal court.

  • September 10, 2025

    $5.9M Fidelity National Data Breach Settlement Gets Final OK

    A Florida federal court officially signed off on a $5.9 million settlement of a proposed class action against title insurer Fidelity National Financial over a November 2023 data breach that allegedly impacted roughly 1.3 million individuals, noting the court was notified of a settlement just seven months after the litigation commenced. 

  • September 10, 2025

    McCarter & English Atty Admitted Breaches, Insurers Claim

    Two insurance companies have asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge's permission to file a late request for a quick win on two breach of contract claims against McCarter & English LLP and one of its attorneys, saying the lawyer's deposition left no facts in dispute on those specific counts.

  • September 08, 2025

    Court Tosses Benefits Co.'s Atty Fee Claim Against Insurer

    An Illinois federal court on Monday threw out a benefits administration company's counterclaim for attorney fees under a state statute relating to "vexatious and unreasonable" conduct by insurers, finding that the company failed to support its claims that an insurer engaged in such conduct with sufficient facts.

  • September 04, 2025

    Progressive Class Cert. Reversals Point To Claim Individuality

    Progressive Insurance secured another class certification reversal in a lawsuit over certain adjustments the insurer makes when calculating the actual cash value of a totaled vehicle, and one of the carrier's attorneys praised the Fourth Circuit for finding that the issues at hand are individualistic in nature. King & Spalding LLP's Jeffrey Cashdan spoke to Law360 about that victory and two others for the carrier in the circuit courts.

  • September 04, 2025

    Cyber Claims May Hide AI-Related Risks, Insurer Atty Warns

    Insurers long concerned about the risks posed by artificial intelligence tools that their companies and vendors are using may find a limited window into the scope of that threat in the current claims environment. TittmannWeix partner Judith Selby, who represents insurers on cybersecurity risk and tech errors and omissions policies, spoke to Law360 about AI claims. 

  • September 04, 2025

    Life Insurer Accused Of Policy Rescission Scheme

    A life insurer violated Arkansas law by broadly denying policy benefits to residents for reasons causally unrelated to a given policy owner's death, a woman told a federal court, saying the state Legislature expressly prohibited such conduct more than 10 years ago.

  • September 04, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Delaware Supreme Court refused to take up a midcase appeal in Mattel's suit over coverage for unsafe sleeper claims, the Eighth Circuit affirmed an apartment complex's $27 million award against Travelers and the Fifth Circuit heard arguments over a group of domestic insurers' bid to arbitrate hurricane damage claims. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • September 04, 2025

    Chinese Insurers Leading Race To Cover Renewable Energy

    The global renewable insurance market grew from $5.65 billion in 2020 to $8 billion in 2024, with insurers from China underwriting most premiums in recent years, analysis from a campaign group shows.

  • September 03, 2025

    Investment Co. Founder's Life Insurance Award Dropped To $1

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday that a jury did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that historian and investment firm founder Malcolm Wiener suffered $16 million in damages over a canceled life insurance policy, saying Wiener may only recover $1 in nominal damages.

  • September 03, 2025

    Insurer Escapes Duty To Cover Lab's Suit Over COVID Tests

    Continental Casualty Co. is not obligated to cover a Pennsylvania laboratory in an underlying lawsuit brought by a COVID-19 test manufacturer that accuses the lab of neglecting its responsibilities and falsely disparaging its tests, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Friday, finding the claims are barred due to two exclusions within the insurer's policy.

  • September 03, 2025

    Nationwide Unit Needn't Cover Restaurateur In Fraud Disputes

    The former co-manager of a defunct Colorado restaurant venture cannot get coverage for a suit alleging he defrauded a lender and a separate bankruptcy proceeding, a New York federal court ruled, finding a Nationwide unit has no duty to defend him under a policy issued to the entity he partnered with.

  • August 29, 2025

    8th Circ.'s 'Erie Guess' Affirms Apt. Co.'s $27M Insurance Win

    A partially split Eighth Circuit panel affirmed an apartment complex's $27 million jury award against Travelers Insurance, holding that an expert's testimony about the presence of carcinogenetic soot is sufficient to support the verdict that a fire on the property caused "direct physical loss of or damage to" unburned sections.

  • August 28, 2025

    Katrina's Insurance Lessons Ever Relevant 20 Years Later

    Hurricane Katrina's landfall in New Orleans 20 years ago was an unprecedented catastrophe that resulted in financial consequences and insurance lessons that are more relevant today than ever, as fossil fuel-induced climate change promises more intense storms, experts say.

  • August 28, 2025

    Rising Facial Recognition Suits May Fuel BIPA Coverage Rows

    Growing public scrutiny and lawsuits around the use of facial recognition technology reveal the insurance risks that companies face under Illinois' biometric data privacy law, contributing to an already hot area of dispute for coverage.

Expert Analysis

  • 7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight

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    Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Insurance Considerations For Cos. That May Face Strikes

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    The recent surge in major work stoppages in the U.S. highlights the growing importance of strike preparedness for businesses, which includes understanding strike insurance coverage options, say Chris D’Amour and Brooke Duncan at Adams and Reese.

  • Challenges Of Insuring An NIL Collective

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    Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty examines the emergence of name, image and likeness collectives for student-athletes, the current litigation landscape that has created a favorable environment for these organizations, and considerations for director and officer insurers looking to underwrite NIL collectives.

  • An Update On Legal Issues In The Drone Market

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    Marialuisa Gallozzi and Alex Slawson at Covington examine recent developments in the legal issues surrounding the growing drone market, including possible First Amendment protections, Fourth Amendment surveillance, and litigation involving criminal and civil penalties, evidentiary pursuits, and insurance.

  • Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling

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    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.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    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.

  • Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    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.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    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.

  • Insurance Likely Kept Swift Out Of The Woods After Vienna

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    Financial losses Taylor Swift incurred from the cancellation of three concerts in Vienna in August will likely be covered by insurance policies, considering how the facts of the situation differ from those of the Foo Fighters' 2015 insurance dispute over event cancellation and terrorism coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    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.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    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.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks

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    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.

  • Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions

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    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.