Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Emerging Insurance Disputes

May 20, 2025
U.S. High Court Refuses To Review Insurers’ Petition In Tribal Jurisdiction Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 19 denied insurers’ petition for a writ of certiorari asking it to determine “whether a tribal court can exercise jurisdiction over nonmembers of the tribe based on off-reservation conduct,” leaving undisturbed a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ opinion that affirmed a federal court’s finding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over a COVID-19 coverage suit involving tribal properties on tribal land.
May 20, 2025
Supreme Court Rejects Insurer’s Challenge To Ruling In Favor Of Tribal Court Judges

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 19 declined an insurer’s invitation to review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that a tribal court has subject matter jurisdiction over it in a dispute over the tribe’s claims for business interruption losses at its casino caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, refusing to review the appeals court’s ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of two tribal court judges on the alternative ground that the insurance policy at issue satisfies Montana v. United States’ consensual-relationship exception.
May 20, 2025
Judge Rules On Cross-Motions For Summary Judgment In Painter Injury Coverage Suit

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify against underlying claims arising from a painter’s injury and denied one of the defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the cross liability exclusion bars coverage for some of the claims.
May 19, 2025
Delaware Court Asked To Dismiss Primary, Excess Insurer From D&O Coverage Dispute

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insured and its primary and excess insurers filed a stipulation asking a Delaware court to dismissed the two insurers from the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers and entity securities liability insurance coverage for an underlying appraisal action, indicating that a settlement has been reached between them.
May 16, 2025
CGL Insurer Fails To Support Piercing Of Corporate Veil Claim, 2nd Circuit Affirms

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 16 affirmed a lower federal court’s finding that a commercial general liability insurer failed to establish facts supporting its quest to pierce a construction company insured’s corporate veil in connection with its breach of contract lawsuit seeking to hold the insured’s owners and officers liable for the alleged $1,247,950.03 in policy premiums, taxes and fees that the insured failed to pay.
May 16, 2025
Professional Liability Insurer’s Defense Withdrawal Was Not Breach Of Contract

PHILADELPHIA — A professional liability insurer did not breach its contract or act in bad faith in withdrawing its defense of an insured in an underlying wrongful death suit because the policy clearly precludes coverage as the underlying claims arose out of the actions of a doctor who is specifically excluded from coverage under the policy, a Pennsylvania federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
May 15, 2025
Special Master Imposes $31,100 In Costs After Attorneys’ AI Briefing Errors

LOS ANGELES — Two firms for plaintiffs in a bad faith insurance suit must pay $26,100 in special master fees and another $5,000 for defense costs after submitting an artificial intelligence-assisted supplemental brief with nine erroneous cites across 10 pages, a special master appointed in a federal court in California said while striking the brief and denying the plaintiffs any requested discovery relief.
May 14, 2025
Majority Rejects Abuse Claimants’ Invitation To Throw Out BSA Reorganization Plan

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority on May 13 dismissed two sets of abuse claimants’ appeals seeking to reverse a lower federal court’s confirmation order that affirmed the Boy Scouts of America’s third modified fifth amended Chapter 11 reorganization plan, which contemplates the creation of a settlement trust to “assume liability for all Abuse Claims,” and the concurring judge said she sees “not only error, but mischief, in the majority's approach.”
May 14, 2025
Justice Rules For Professional Liability Insurer In Legal Malpractice Coverage Suit

BOSTON — A Massachusetts justice granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for an underlying legal malpractice action brought against an attorney and his law firm, finding that the insureds “had a reasonable basis to foresee the malpractice claim prior to the applicable policy period.”
May 14, 2025
California Panel Reverses, Remands Ruling On Insurer’s Fraudulent Concealment Claim

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court panel reversed a lower court’s ruling as to a plaintiff insurer’s fraudulent concealment claim against a defendant insurer in a coverage dispute over underlying claims that their mutual insured manufactured defective air respirators and masks that did not protect against inhaling silica, asbestos and mixed dust, remanding for a new trial on the fraudulent concealment claim.
May 14, 2025
Nonprofit Firm Files Amicus Brief In High Court In Underwriting Association Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nonprofit, public interest law firm the New England Legal Foundation (NELF) filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the state-created Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), which provides coverage to health care providers, including those previously insured by insurers in liquidation, and is seeking review of a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling holding that the JUA did not have constitutional rights to challenge the constitutionality of Pennsylvania laws due to JUA’s nature as a public entity instead of a private one.
May 13, 2025
Michigan Majority Reverses No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Shooting Injury

DETROIT — A majority of the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s grant of summary disposition in favor of a homeowners insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit arising from a shooting injury, holding that the lower court erred in determining that the underlying injury does not amount to an occurrence to trigger coverage under the policy.
May 13, 2025
Evenflo Seeks Rehearing Of 6th Circuit’s Ruling In Product Liability Coverage Suit

CINCINNATI — The same day the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a joint motion to redact portions of an April 25 opinion in a coverage dispute over product liability settlements, the insured filed a petition for rehearing under seal challenging the lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.
May 13, 2025
Insurer Appeals Dismissal Of Subrogation Claims In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insurer filed a notice indicating it is appealing a Delaware judge’s grant of an application service provider’s motion to dismiss with prejudice its amended complaint, challenging the judge’s finding that it failed to properly assert subrogation claims seeking recovery from the provider for the amount paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack.
May 13, 2025
Bad Faith, Breach Of Contract Claims Permitted Against Excess Insurers, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — An insured seeking coverage for the seizure of its crude oil tanker by Iranian military forces is permitted to amend and supplement a counterclaim against its excess insurers to assert claims for breach of contract and bad faith because good cause for the amendment exists based on the excess insurers’ belated production of discovery documents, a California federal judge said in granting the insured’s motion to amend and supplement its counterclaim.
May 13, 2025
Judge: Reinsurance Info Is Relevant In Cyberattack Coverage Lawsuit

BALTIMORE — A media company that sued excess insurers it alleges owe millions in connection with an October 2021 cyberattack has obtained a mixed ruling on discovery disputes, with a Maryland federal magistrate judge concluding in part that “reinsurance policies, as well as related documents and communications, are relevant to [the plaintiff’s] bad faith claim and should be produced.”
May 12, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Suit Prompted By SEC Investigation

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 9 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of an insurer in an insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its underlying expenses arising from a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, finding the insured failed to produce evidence that the SEC's investigation and the insured’s ensuing litigation costs “grew out of, flowed from, or bore any causal relationship to the SEC's notice of its intent to depose” one of the insured’s directors.
May 12, 2025
Pennsylvania Court Affirms No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Coronavirus

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of commercial property insurers in a coverage dispute arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that the insured failed to establish that it incurred “direct physical loss or damage to any of its properties” to trigger coverage.
May 09, 2025
Employers Liability Exclusion Bars Coverage For Contractor, N.C. Panel Affirms

RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appeals panel held that a general liability insurance policy’s employers liability exclusion precludes coverage for an estate’s underlying lawsuit brought against a contractor insured, affirming a lower court’s rulings in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit arising from a fatal fall.
May 09, 2025
No Coverage Owed Under Charterer Legal Liability Policy, Majority Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a charterer legal liability insurer in a coverage dispute arising from a deckhand’s injury, finding that the policy was not triggered because the insured is liable for causing injuries to the seaman by breaching its duties as the owner of a natural gas extraction platform and not for breach of its duties as a charterer.
May 09, 2025
Justice Refuses To Dismiss Archdiocese’s Claims In Sexual Abuse Coverage Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York justice denied general and excess liability insurers’ motion to dismiss the Archdiocese of New York’s claims for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violations of New York General Business Law Section 348 in a coverage dispute arising from close to 1,700 underlying sexual abuse lawsuits, rejecting the insurers’ contention that the breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim.
May 08, 2025
Texas Panel Affirms Rulings In Insurer’s Favor In Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

TYLER, Texas — A Texas appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying wrongful death action, further affirming the lower court’s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss the insurer’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.
May 07, 2025
3rd Circuit Denies Bank’s Petition For Rehearing In Coverage Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 6 denied a bank’s petition seeking rehearing of the panel’s earlier holding that a management liability insurance policy’s “Changes in Exposure” provision unambiguously bars coverage for an underlying breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit, standing by its affirmation of a lower court’s judgment in favor of insurers in the bank’s lawsuit seeking coverage after it became liable for an underlying judgment for the wrongful acts of an acquired company.
May 06, 2025
Panel: Intentional Acts, Criminal Acts Exclusions Bar Coverage For Shooting Death

ATHENS, Ohio — An Ohio appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of a homeowners insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings after it intervened in a wrongful death lawsuit, finding that the policy’s intentional acts and criminal acts exclusions barred coverage.
May 06, 2025
10th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Excess Insurer In $40M Coverage Dispute

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an excess liability insurer in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing $40 million in coverage for underlying claims arising from its hospital insured’s inadequate surgical-sterilization procedures, concluding that the insurance policy’s definition of “medical incident” unambiguously applies to the injuries of one person and that the insurer does not owe coverage for multiple patients’ claims grouped together.