Mealey's Insurance Pleadings : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

June 11, 2025
Ferrosilicon Producer Seeks Reconsideration On Discovery Limits In Cleanup Row

PADUCAH, Ky. — A ferrosilicon producer seeks reconsideration of a Kentucky federal magistrate judge’s ruling limiting the scope of the producer’s issued deposition topics, claiming that the court erred in failing to acknowledge a reinsurer as a proper party in the litigation and misinterpreted its role in a reinsurance contract in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.
June 10, 2025
Declaratory Judgment Suit Filed Regarding Insolvent Insurer Litigation

TRENTON, N.J. — Excess and primary insurers filed a declaratory judgment suit in New Jersey federal court, seeking a declaration that there is no coverage in underlying litigation and arbitration proceedings involving a now-insolvent insurer due to certain policy exclusions, including an exclusion related to insolvency and receivership.
June 10, 2025
9th Circuit Sets Argument In Oral Surgeon’s Bid To Revive Disability Benefits Case

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for July 7 in an appeal seeking revival of an oral surgeon’s breach of contract and bad faith suit filed after he unsuccessfully sought disability benefits on the grounds that his comorbid conditions and inability to access recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) made it necessary to close his practice early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 06, 2025
6th Circuit Denies Petition For Rehearing On Duty-To- Defend Building Damage Suit

CINCINNATI — A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 denied an insurer’s petition for rehearing of the panel’s decision that alleged damages to a building caused by a contractor’s work could potentially be covered by the contractor’s commercial general liability and umbrella excess insurance policies.
June 06, 2025
Insurer Says Lower Court Properly Found Policies Include Aggregate Limit

SAN FRANCISCO — A district court did not err in finding that an umbrella liability insurer’s policies include an aggregate limit and cap the insured’s recovery for environmental contamination remediation costs, the insurer tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellee brief.
June 05, 2025
Insurer Appeals Judgment For CGL Insurer In Suit Arising From Hotel Damages

SANTA ANA, Calif. — An insurer that issued an owner controlled consolidated insurance policy to a general contractor hired to construct a Hard Rock Hotel notified a federal court in California on June 4 that it is appealing to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the lower court’s rulings in favor of a subcontractor’s commercial general liability insurer in the CGL insurer’s equitable contribution and equitable indemnification suit arising from construction defect-related damages to the hotel.
June 03, 2025
Insurer Alleges Reinsurer Breached Policy Agreement In Asbestos Settlement Row

NEW YORK — An insurer seeks nearly $2 million in damages in a New York federal court, alleging in ts complaint that its reinsurer breached their policy agreement by refusing to pay its share of a settlement tied to asbestos bodily injury claims brought by a corporation covered under the insurer’s excess liability policies.
June 02, 2025
Insured’s Assignee Asks 8th Circuit To Reconsider Ruling In Storm Damage Dispute

ST. LOUIS — An insured’s assignee asked the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling that affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurer in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit arising from storm damage, asserting that the court did not “substantively address” its contention that the insurer bore liability for the adjustment of the claim.
May 29, 2025
Roofing Contractor Appeals Coverage Ruling For Insurer To 7th Circuit

CHICAGO — A roofing contractor on May 28 notified an Illinois federal court that it is appealing the court’s grant of judgment on the pleadings to its insurer in the insurer’s suit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the contractor in an underlying lawsuit alleging that the insured’s negligent repair work contributed to the collapse of a building façade, killing two people.
May 29, 2025
Jurisdiction, Other Issues Disputed In Case Connected To Vesttoo Collapse

NEW YORK — In letters filed pursuant to a New York federal judge’s individual rule, China Construction Bank Corp. (CCBC) and related entities sued in connection with the collapse of Vesttoo Ltd. outline dismissal arguments and the plaintiffs counter in part that accepting the defendants’ contention that disputes over letters of credit (LOCs) “issued for U.S. reinsurance transactions, sanctioned by U.S. regulators and payable in the U.S must be litigated in China would collapse the entire reinsurance framework.”
May 28, 2025
Winemaker Seeks To Exclude Insurer’s Expert Witness In Dispute Over Defective Wine

SEATTLE — A commercial winemaker moved to exclude the rebuttal testimony and report of an excess commercial general liability insurer’s expert witness in a coverage dispute arising from an underlying faulty vinification lawsuit over allegedly defective wine, arguing in a Washington federal court that the insurer’s expert’s testimony and report are properly excluded under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1).
May 28, 2025
7th Circuit Refuses To Reconsider Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violations

CHICAGO —The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals declined a commercial liability insurer’s invitation to reconsider its opinion that vacated and remanded a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that a food ingredient manufacturer insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
May 28, 2025
Doctor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Alleged Hidden Cameras

NEW YORK — A doctor insured filed a notice of appeal asking the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a lower federal court’s dismissal of her breach of contract lawsuit seeking business interruption and umbrella coverage for her losses arising from discovery of hidden cameras at her dermatology office.
May 27, 2025
Environmental Risk Insurer Sues Agent, Alleges Contract Breach, Tortious Conduct

NEW YORK — A U.K.-based global specialist insurance company alleges in a New York federal court that its agent unlawfully shared confidential business information that led to its U.S. small business environmental book being shopped for reinsurance coverage by another insurance company, bringing claims for breach of contract and tortious conduct against the agent and stating that it lost millions of dollars and nearly all policy renewals.
May 27, 2025
Contempt Motion Draws Opposition In Fraud Suit Over Security Loans

NEW YORK — Urging a New York federal court to deny a contempt motion in litigation over fraud and racketeering allegations that involve the parent company of Bermuda reinsurer 777 Re Ltd., parties who are the focus of that motion are arguing in part that the movants “made no attempt to block the transactions — because neither violates” a preliminary injunction (PI) order.
May 23, 2025
Insureds Say Carrier Acted In Bad Faith By Denying $19M Beryllium Release Claim

BOSTON — An insurer’s denial of an insured’s claim for more than $19 million in business interruption losses sustained as the result of a release of beryllium in the wake of three named storms constitutes a breach of contract and bad faith, the insureds say in a complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court.
May 23, 2025
13 Potential Buyers Interested In Life Insurer’s Business, Rehabilitator Says

WATERBURY, Conn. — The rehabilitator of PHL Variable Insurance Co. and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities told a Connecticut state court in a second accounting and status report that 13 entities have been identified as potential buyers for portions of the insurer’s business.
May 23, 2025
Insurer Disputes Coverage For Suit Arising From Super Bowl Parade Shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A commercial general liability insurer filed a first amended complaint in a Missouri federal court seeking a declaration that it has no duty to provide coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging The Greater Kansas City Sports Commission did not implement adequate security measures to protect the thousands of attendees at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, asserting that the policy’s assault and battery exclusion bars coverage.
May 22, 2025
Tax Firm Claims Standing, Opposes IRS Dismissal Motion In Microcaptive Rule Suit

DALLAS — In response to the Internal Revenue Service’s motion to dismiss its challenge to a final rule requiring reports for certain microcaptive insurance arrangements, a tax consulting firm told a Texas federal court that it has standing because it is directly regulated and faces injury from the rule’s new reporting requirements; the tax firm further argues that dismissal is premature without review of the administrative record and that the issue should be resolved through summary judgment.
May 21, 2025
Insured’s Assignee Brings Bad Faith Suit Seeking To Recover $3.2M Consent Judgment

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A horse stable owner insured’s assignee sued an insurer for bad faith in a Florida federal court, seeking to recover an underlying $3.2 million consent judgment arising from the settlement of an underlying fraud lawsuit.
May 21, 2025
5th Case Added To Consolidated Litigation Over Fronting Deal Agreements, Commissions

FORT WORTH, Texas — A fifth case has been added to consolidated litigation between reinsurers and National Transportation Associates Inc. (NTA) that centers on the reinsurers’ claims of inflated provisional commissions and breach of various agreements, with the latest allegations involving a dispute over whether contractual mandates issued by California and other states render the commission structure unenforceable.
May 21, 2025
Majority’s Opinion Rewrites Bad Faith Law In Florida, Insurer Argues To 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insurer filed a petition seeking rehearing of an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority’s reversal of a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in its favor in an insured’s lawsuit alleging that it acted in bad faith when it failed to make a settlement offer in an estate’s allegations of negligent security against the insured, contending that the “majority’s opinion rewrites Florida bad faith law.”
May 21, 2025
Clinic Insured, Assignee Appeal Ruling In Favor Of Professional Liability Insurer

SALT LAKE CITY — A clinic insured and its assignee filed a notice indicating they are appealing a Utah federal judge’s ruling that granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the remaining bad faith claim in a coverage dispute arising from a medical malpractice lawsuit.
May 20, 2025
Contractor Urges 6th Circuit To Deny Rehearing On Duty-To-Defend Rulings

CINCINNATI —A contractor urged a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel not to grant its insurers’ petition for rehearing of the panel’s decision that alleged damages to a preexisting building caused by the contractor’s work could potentially be covered by the contractor’s commercial general liability and umbrella excess insurance policies, arguing that the insurers’ reasoning for seeking a rehearing is without merit.
May 20, 2025
Fighting Fees, NFL Plan Urges 5th Circuit To Say Disability Claimant Had No Success

NEW ORLEANS — In its appellant brief urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs, the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan called the award “an unprecedented expansion of the availability of attorney’s fees to ERISA litigants who do not succeed on any legal claim and obtain no judicial relief.”