Insurance

  • February 29, 2024

    State Farm Must Face Bad Faith Claims In $3M Crash Row

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday clarified a prior ruling reviving bad faith claims against State Farm for rejecting an offer to settle a car crash injury suit that led to a $3 million verdict, saying the insurer could still have acted in bad faith in handling the settlement offer even if it had no obligation to accept it.

  • February 29, 2024

    Insurance Co. Settles Mass. Worker's Long COVID Suit

    Lincoln Life Assurance has agreed to resolve a suit alleging it wrongly cut off disability payments to a worker who was recovering from over a year of debilitating long-term symptoms caused by COVID-19, according to a Thursday order in Massachusetts federal court.

  • February 29, 2024

    Auto Co. Says $50M Policy Endorsement Covers COVID Loss

    An auto parts manufacturer is seeking $50 million in coverage for its COVID-19 pandemic-related losses in North Carolina federal court, claiming its policy's "unique" communicable disease provision was misrepresented when its insurer denied coverage for losses at its Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina locations.

  • February 29, 2024

    SVB Parent's Counsel Booted From Fraud Coverage Row

    The bankrupt parent company of Silicon Valley Bank cannot use Farella Braun & Martel LLP as counsel in litigation over the parent company's claims that it alone must be covered for a fraud scheme that caused over $73 million in losses, a North Carolina federal court ruled.

  • February 29, 2024

    Colo. House OKs Multistate Online Insurance Tax Filing

    Colorado would require insurance companies to pay certain taxes through a multistate third-party online application approved by the state Division of Insurance under legislation passed by the state House of Representatives.

  • February 29, 2024

    Bankrupt Endo To Pay $465M To Resolve Opioid Claims

    Drugmaker Endo International has agreed to pay as much as $465 million to resolve criminal and civil claims stemming from its sale and marketing of a powerful opioid, and will turn over its assets to a group of secured lenders who will operate the company under a new corporate structure.

  • February 29, 2024

    Insurer Direct Line Rejects £3B Linklaters-Backed Ageas Bid

    British insurer Direct Line has rejected a £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) offer from Ageas, a Belgian-French rival, finding that it was "uncertain, unattractive, and that it significantly undervalued" the group.

  • February 28, 2024

    6th Circ. Rules Copyright Law Is For 'Dull' Stuff, Too

    The top appeals court judge at the Sixth Circuit has issued a precedential opinion insisting that "all manner of works," even stuff that's boring and "run-of-the-mine," can be protected by copyright law, affirming a judgment that stuck a business with more than $1 million in damages and fees for copying the terms and conditions used by a car-dealer loyalty program.

  • February 28, 2024

    Insurer Wins New Trial Due To Paralegal's Surprise Testimony

    An insurer will receive a new trial in its coverage dispute with two homeowners over damage caused by a water supply line failure, a Florida state appeals court ruled, finding the insurer was prejudiced by the trial court allowing a paralegal to testify as a surprise witness.

  • February 28, 2024

    No More Coverage For Aluminum Co.'s $165M Fire Damage

    A South Carolina federal judge on Wednesday snuffed out an aluminum company's $165 million fire damage suit, ruling that its insurers had already paid up to their limits of $10 million for the molten material damage.

  • February 28, 2024

    Insurance Agency Says It Wasn't Told Of Airbnb Shooting Suits

    A Pennsylvania insurance agency accused of concealing that a Pittsburgh Airbnb property was subject to numerous lawsuits over a mass shooting has claimed that the property owner never revealed the problems when shopping for a new policy, so it wasn't the agency's fault when the new insurer canceled coverage.

  • February 28, 2024

    Seattle Convention Center's Virus Losses Not Covered

    A Seattle convention center operator is not owed coverage for pandemic-related business interruption losses, a Washington federal judge ruled, finding that although the governor's emergency pandemic proclamations prohibited access to the convention center, they weren't issued because of physical loss or damage to the property.

  • February 28, 2024

    BASF Says Insurers Owe Coverage For PFAS Suits

    Major chemical manufacturer BASF Corp. told a South Carolina court Wednesday that 23 insurers should cover thousands of lawsuits that alleged a chemical the company produced for firefighting foam caused pollution and injuries.

  • February 28, 2024

    Trump Can't Freeze $465M Penalty But Can Seek Loans

    A New York state appellate judge on Wednesday refused to freeze the $465 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump while he appeals the award, but said the former president could take out loans to cover the cost of the judgment.  

  • February 28, 2024

    3rd Circ. Won't Rehear Pfizer Shareholder Suit Coverage Row

    Pfizer won't get a second shot at arguing its insurer should indemnify it in a settlement stemming from a 2003 shareholder class action, with the Third Circuit on Wednesday declining the pharmaceutical company's request for an en banc rehearing.

  • February 28, 2024

    Plastic-Maker Says Insurers Must Cover Worker Death Suit

    Ohio-based manufacturer Encore Plastics took Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America and American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co. to federal court, claiming both companies are violating their policies by refusing to defend or indemnify it in an underlying suit over one of its workers' death in an industrial accident.

  • February 27, 2024

    La. Comfort Inn Owner Ordered To Arbitrate $2.6M Storm Suit

    A Louisiana federal judge has ordered the owner of a Comfort Inn outside New Orleans to arbitrate a $2.6 million suit against its insurer over coverage for damage from Hurricane Ida, saying its insurance policy compels arbitration.

  • February 27, 2024

    Insurer Gets BIPA Coverage Win After Ill. Appeals Court Ruling

    An Illinois federal judge granted a win to an insurer in a coverage dispute with a condiment company over biometric privacy litigation, changing course Tuesday in response to a state appeals decision concerning an identical policy exclusion.

  • February 27, 2024

    Egg Co. Not Covered For Avian Flu Losses, Minn. Judge Says

    A Markel unit does not owe coverage to an egg supplier for losses it sustained due to an avian flu outbreak in 2022, a Minnesota federal judge ruled Tuesday, finding that a communicable disease exclusion in a site pollution and environmental policy precluded coverage.

  • February 27, 2024

    Company Escapes Coverage Row Over Lethal Ammonia Leak

    A contractor's affiliate whose employee died in an ammonia leak at a North Carolina cold storage facility needn't face claims stemming from the accident, the North Carolina Business Court said in a lawsuit originally brought against three insurers and others over coverage for the leak.

  • February 27, 2024

    Fla. Judge Says Yacht Suit Doesn't Support Punitive Damages

    A Florida federal judge has recommended that punitive damages sought in a bad faith lawsuit against Travelers over failing to properly investigate a damaged yacht claim should be tossed, saying that the allegations don't support the higher standard needed to show malicious behavior or reckless disregard by the insurance company.

  • February 27, 2024

    Insurer Misled Lockheed On Contamination Suit, Court Told

    Lockheed Martin has told a Maryland federal court that its insurer "lured" it into believing for months that it would defend the company against claims that Lockheed's release of various toxic substances contaminated property and injured individuals near its Orlando, Florida, weapons manufacturing facility.

  • February 27, 2024

    Wolverine Can't Get Sanctions Win In PFAS Coverage Fight

    An insurer repeatedly withheld relevant documents from shoewear company Wolverine in a coverage dispute over PFAS chemical injury suits, but the behavior was not egregious and did not cause enough damage to Wolverine's case to merit sanctions, a Michigan special master said Monday.

  • February 27, 2024

    3rd Circ. Won't Reconsider Coverage Ruling For Deli Stabbing

    The Third Circuit declined to review its decision that an insurer for a Philadelphia deli does not owe coverage for a $900,000 settlement reached with a man stabbed on the premises.

  • February 26, 2024

    Atty's Letter Is Not A Claim For Damages, Del. Justices Rule

    An attorney's presuit letter claiming that Syngenta's herbicide Paraquat caused his clients' Parkinson's disease does not constitute a "claim for damages" under the company's insurance policies with a pair of Zurich units, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • Insurance Coverage For ChatGPT Legal Fiasco: A Hypothetical

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    William Passannante at Anderson Kill draws on the recent case of an attorney sanctioned by the Southern District of New York for submitting a ChatGPT-authored brief to discuss what the insurance coverage for the attorney's hypothetical claim might look like.

  • Insurance Implications Of High Court Affirmative Action Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina will likely result in more litigation related to hiring practices, with implications for insurance coverage, meaning policyholders must remain wary of exclusions and other potential roadblocks, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Legal Considerations For Calif. Rental Vehicle Data Collection

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    The legal implications under California’s Rental Passenger Vehicle Transactions Law must be thoroughly understood and navigated carefully, and rental companies operating in the state should consider some key factors before installing tracking devices in their vehicles, says Hannah Ji-Otto at Baker Donelson.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

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    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.

  • Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled

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    In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.

  • What The ESG Divide Means For Insurers And Beyond

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    The debate around ESG is becoming increasingly polarized, with some states passing legislation that prohibits the use of ESG factors and others advancing affirmative legislation, highlighting the importance for insurers and other companies to understand this complex legal landscape, say Scott Seaman and Bessie Daschbach at Hinshaw.

  • Consider Self-Help To Trigger Additional-Insured Status

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    A New Jersey federal court recently affirmed that owners and contractors can use self-help by filing third-party claims for indemnification against subcontractors, triggering coverage from a subcontractor's insurance by asserting that an employee's injuries resulted from the subcontractor's fault or the employee's own negligence, say Allen Wolff and Ethan Middlebrooks at Anderson Kill.

  • 5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World

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    As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.

  • Top 5 Privacy Cases To Watch, From Chatbots To Geolocation

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    Litigation related to privacy law violations has been on the rise recently, and while some judges have pushed back on the novel theories set forth by plaintiffs, new privacy cases are launched almost every day, including notable ones on topics ranging from chatbots to geolocation, say Sushila Chanana and Rodolfo Rivera Aquino at Farella Braun.

  • Opinion

    Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.

  • Cos. Must Prepare For More ESG Scrutiny From All Sides

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    As businesses face challenges to their environmental, social and governance efforts and statements — both from those who find them inadequate, and from those who think they go too far — it is more important than ever to proceed with care in implementing and disclosing ESG initiatives, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback

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    Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

  • Texas Bankruptcy Ruling May Create Uncertainty For Sureties

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    A Texas federal court’s recent ruling in Markel Insurance v. Origin Bancorp casts uncertainty on the utility of commonly used contractual trust language, and highlights that sureties should not be put to the task of negotiating intercreditor agreements to protect their rights, says Lisa Tancredi at Womble Bond.

  • Why 7th Circ.'s BIPA Insurance Analysis Is Significant

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    The Seventh Circuit's ruling in Citizens v. Wynndalco is the first appellate opinion on one of the three major exclusions raised by insurers faced with a duty to defend alleged violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act and could foreshadow future BIPA opinions favoring policyholders, say John Vishneski and Adrienne Kitchen at Reed Smith.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

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