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August 21, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. — Saying in part that “the relevant position for the disability analysis under the ‘any occupation’ standard is an executive-level sales management position or a comparable position,” a California federal judge ruled that an insurer wrongly terminated long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a claimant she concluded was disabled due to “cognitive deficits caused by her asymmetric hearing loss.”
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August 21, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a bar insured’s claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and declaratory relief seeking coverage for underlying negligence and premises liability claims, holding that the underlying alleged emotional injuries are not “bodily injuries” to create a potential for coverage under the policy.
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August 21, 2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted a business and management liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment on an assignee’s claims for breach of contract, bad faith and punitive damages in a directors and officers liability coverage dispute over an underlying lawsuit alleging breaches of fiduciary duties, holding that the policy’s Insured v. Insured Exclusion relieved the insurer of its duty to defend and indemnify.
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August 21, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California appellate panel affirmed summary judgment for an insurer, finding that a condominium building owner was not an additional insured under its general contractor’s liability policies and, therefore, was not entitled to coverage for an underlying construction defect suit brought by a condominium unit owner.
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August 21, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Insurers argue that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should affirm a lower court’s order granting their motion for summary judgment against a construction manager, contending that summary judgment was proper because the policy’s course of construction exclusion (COCE) precluded coverage for the construction manager’s liability in an underlying lawsuit.
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August 20, 2026
LOS ANGELES — After a federal judge in California denied its amended renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), an insurer appealed the opinion to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The case against the insurer was brought regarding coverage for damage to an apartment building that occurred when the building was being reroofed, and the insurer failed to persuade the judge that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict awarding the building owner damages.
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August 20, 2026
FRESNO, Calif. — An excess insurer and a general contractor filed a notice of settlement in federal court in California on Aug. 19, notifying the court that they have settled the insurer’s action against the general contractor for reimbursement of funds it paid to settle an underlying construction defect action.
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August 20, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer that was granted summary judgment in its case against a concrete supplier seeking a declaration that it did not have a duty to indemnify the supplier in an underlying action over defective concrete filed a motion to amend or alter the judgment to add prejudgment interest, arguing that it is entitled to interest from the date the insurer made payment toward a settlement of the underlying action on behalf of the concrete supplier.
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August 20, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted an insurer’s unopposed motion for summary judgment on its claims against its paint contractor insured in the insurer’s suit seeking a declaration that it did not have a duty to defend and indemnify the contractor or others in underlying actions stemming from a fire that damaged property in San Francisco.
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August 20, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A captive reinsurer moved to intervene in a California federal court in an insurer’s breach of guaranty action against captive program members, arguing that the insurer’s recently filed motion for summary judgment would require the court to interpret their underlying reinsurance agreement, including how the reinsurer’s annual aggregate liability should be calculated and whether the insurer complied with its contractual good faith obligations.
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August 19, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A group of California homeowners filed a second amended complaint (SAC) in a California state court, narrowing their claims against a collection of insurers to Cartwright Act and unfair competition law (UCL) claims alleging that the insurers conspired to restrict conventional homeowners coverage and force policyholders into the California FAIR Plan, following an order that overruled the insurers’ joint demurrer to those claims but sustained with leave to amend some defendant-specific demurrers.
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August 18, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Pursuant to a joint stipulation in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case in which he had resolved a choice-of-law dispute, a California federal judge dismissed the case with prejudice.
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August 18, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A cosmetic company and its commercial general liability insurer filed a stipulation in a California federal court to dismiss with prejudice the insured’s action seeking coverage for three underlying putative class action lawsuits alleging that the company deceptively sold beauty products by failing to disclose the dangerous risks and side effects of lash enhancement serums’ “key ingredient.”
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August 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES — Granting a motion for $227,348.40 in attorney fees and costs in a long-term disability (LTD) case in which the plaintiff was awarded $31,016.65, a California federal judge said in a minute in-chambers order that he “will not further reduce the recoverable fees based on Plaintiff’s partial success, especially given the intertwining nature of the successful and unsuccessful issues.”
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August 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES — An insured’s breach of contract claim against a homeowners insurer that denied coverage for damages caused by a burglary at the insured’s home can proceed because issues of fact exist as to whether the insured complied with his obligations under the policy, a California federal judge said in partially denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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August 13, 2026
PASADENA, Calif. — Adding an unpublished memorandum disposition to the short list of appellate rulings in disability benefits cases involving long COVID, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that a former underwriter who says he was disabled by cognitive impairments and other symptoms he attributes to long COVID “failed to meet his burden of proof” in seeking long-term disability (LTD) benefits.
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August 12, 2026
STOCKTON, Calif. — An almond farm seeks compensatory damages in a California state court from an insurer, an insurance agency, an insurance agent and an almond-processing company arising from a crop insurance claim that the farm alleges was wrongfully denied because one of the insurers and its agent failed to properly transmit its timely notice of loss, resulting in the claim falling past the “‘end of harvest date’” of its policy.
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August 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES —The Los Angeles Angels’ workers’ compensation and employers liability insurer sued the team’s commercial general liability insurer for equitable subrogation, equitable contribution, equitable indemnification and declaratory relief for the costs it paid in defending two underlying wrongful death and negligence actions arising from the overdose death of a professional baseball player.
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August 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part dismissal to physicians, a hospital and a hospitalist staffing group accused of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) and related California law by participating in a scheme of kickbacks for alleged unnecessary hospital admissions, dismissing most federal and state law claims while allowing retaliation claims against the staffing group and two of its physicians to proceed, finding that the relator adequately alleged causation, protected activity and employer knowledge for the retaliation claims against those defendants.
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August 06, 2026
PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 5 vacated a federal judge’s decision granting an insured’s motion to remand her putative class action against an insurer for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) based on its alleged termination of her late husband’s life insurance policy, writing that in light of recent precedent the judge should have given the insurer an “opportunity to waive” its adequate-remedy-at-law defense before remanding due to lack of equitable jurisdiction.
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July 29, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge dismissed an insured’s counterclaims for breach of contract and bad faith against an insurer and dismissed the insurer’s cross-claim for declaratory judgment against the insured after the parties agreed to settle their dispute over insurance coverage for underlying suits related to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allegedly contained in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that were manufactured and sold by the insured.
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July 28, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO —An insured may state viable declaratory relief claims under excess liability insurance policies even if all of the underlying coverage has not yet been exhausted, the California Supreme Court held on July 27, reversing an appellate court’s ruling in favor of two excess insurers in a private equity management firm insured’s declaratory relief and bad faith lawsuit and remanding the professional liability coverage dispute to the appellate court.
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July 24, 2026
LOS ANGELES — After an insurer and interior designer announced that they had reached a settlement, a federal judge in California issued an order of dismissal in the insurer’s case seeking a declaration that it did not owe the interior designer a defense in an underlying action brought against the designer for negligence alleging that the designer’s improper selection of materials resulted in property damage.
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July 24, 2026
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A general contractor and an insurer filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the contractor’s complaint against the insurer for breach of contract over the insurer’s denial of the contractor’s claims for coverage and a defense in homeowners’ underlying suit against it alleging that their home incurred water intrusion.
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July 23, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. — Following a ruling that left only counterclaims pending in a breach of contract and bad faith suit over residual disability benefits for a neurosurgeon, the parties notified a California federal court that they “are in the process of memorializing” an undisclosed settlement.