Property
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February 02, 2024
Holiday Inn Owner, Insurers Settle Suit Over $11M Ida Award
A New Orleans Holiday Inn owner asked a Louisiana federal court to permanently dismiss its suit against three insurers over an $11.4 million arbitration award and related bad faith claims after the parties reached a settlement in January.
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February 01, 2024
Fla. Justices Affirm Appraisal Ruling In $8M Irma Damage Row
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a decision to send an insurer's $8 million Hurricane Irma damage dispute with a condominium association to appraisal, holding Thursday that trial courts do have discretion in determining the order in which coverage and amount-of-loss issues are resolved.
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February 01, 2024
Liberty Owes $600K In Lost Shoe Coverage, Co. Tells Court
Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. owes $600,000 to Indiana-based store chain Shoe Sensation for three lost semitruck shipments that the insurer improperly treated as one loss, the chain told a federal court Thursday.
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February 01, 2024
Tenn. Resident Says State Farm Marketing Calls Violated TCPA
State Farm used a third-party company to make automated telemarketing calls without prior consent, violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court.
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February 01, 2024
Insurer Settles $1.7M Suit Over School's Tornado Damage
A Nashville private school agreed to permanently end its $1.7 million unpaid tornado damage suit against Cincinnati Insurance Co. and the school's former agent, according to an order in Tennessee federal court.
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February 01, 2024
Insurer Wants Out Of $1M Construction Defect Coverage Suit
An insurer told a Florida federal court that it shouldn't have to cover builders in underlying litigation accusing them of causing more than $1 million in damage via defective construction on a beachfront vacation home.
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January 31, 2024
Policyholders Can Film Insurers At Exams, Calif. Panel Says
Californians have a right to film their insurers' representatives during coverage examinations, a state appeals court ruled, rejecting Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.'s arguments that the California Insurance Code allowed policyholders to only record themselves on video.
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January 31, 2024
$17.5M Hail Claim Mostly Not Covered, Insurer Says
A storage company's insurer told a Texas federal court that much of the nearly $17.5 million in hail damage the company said it suffered wasn't actually caused by hail, adding that it refused to allow a construction consultant to inspect its property "despite multiple requests."
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January 31, 2024
Lab Says $7M Stolen Data Is Property And Should Be Covered
A national medical testing lab told a Pennsylvania federal court that patient treatment records and at least $7 million of billing data allegedly hijacked by its software contractor was property and should therefore be covered by its insurer.
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January 31, 2024
Fla. Restaurants Say Ian Deductible Was $400K Too High
A Florida restaurant owner told a federal court Wednesday that its insurer charged too high of a deductible for coverage for damages from Hurricane Ian, alleging that the insurer needs to pay it back more than $400,000 of the $1 million paid to account for the correct deductible amount.
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January 31, 2024
No Fee Win For Condos After Midcase Appeal, 11th Circ. Told
The Eleventh Circuit should not grant attorney fees to two Florida condominium associations that persuaded the court to reject Empire Indemnity Insurance's bid to avoid appraisal, the insurer told the court, arguing their victory over the insurer's appeal doesn't entitle them to recover those costs.
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January 31, 2024
Liberty Mutual Units Must Help Cover Warehouse, Court Told
The insurer for a furniture retailer told a California federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to a warehouse owner in underlying bodily injury litigation, saying it was relieved of its defense duties by a lease termination agreement.
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January 30, 2024
Insurer Ordered To Pay Casino $55K In Attorney Fees
An insurer must pay a Las Vegas casino and resort more than $55,000 in attorney fees after a Nevada federal judge sanctioned the carrier in September, ruling that the insurer failed to produce relevant portions of its claims manual during a COVID-19 coverage dispute.
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January 30, 2024
Tenn. Judge Hands Insurer Win In Collapse Coverage Trial
A North Carolina-based insurance company isn't obligated to cover over $1 million in claimed damages and lost rental income connected to the restoration of a century-old building in Chattanooga, a Tennessee federal judge found in a trial ruling Tuesday.
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January 30, 2024
Pipeline Builder Says Insurer Owes Defense In Explosion Suit
A pipeline construction company told a Texas federal court Tuesday that a subcontractor's insurer must defend the company in a personal injury suit stemming from a nitrogen gas explosion, asserting that it qualifies as an additional insured.
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January 30, 2024
Colo. Pizzeria Says Insurer Owes More Fire Coverage
A Colorado pizzeria that was damaged by a fire in 2021 told a Colorado federal court its insurer still owes coverage for business losses and other expenses, arguing that the insurer is in part to blame for the restaurant being unable to complete its restorations required by its policy.
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January 30, 2024
Fennemore Craig Growing In Calif. With Sullivan Hill Merger
In its latest West Coast expansion, Fennemore Craig PC announced Tuesday it is widening its footprint in San Diego through a merger with Sullivan Hill, with the latter's experts in insurance, construction, commercial bankruptcy and employment law joining Fennemore's existing four-attorney team in the city.
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January 29, 2024
Insurer's Counterclaim Tossed From $7M Elevator Verdict Row
An insurer has no grounds to pursue a counterclaim against excess insurer Great American Insurance Co. in a dispute with an elevator maintenance company over a $7.3 million negligence verdict, a Florida federal judge ruled Monday.
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January 29, 2024
Increase In Trafficking Reveals Hospitality Coverage Concerns
As human trafficking continues to increase and travel returns to prepandemic levels, hospitality industry policyholders may see more direct trafficking exclusions and increased education requirements as the insurance industry works to address this growing risk, experts said.
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January 29, 2024
Pollution Exclusion Applies In Oil Well Row, Underwriters Say
Underwriters for a now-defunct oil services company told a Texas federal court they should not pay a $10.6 million underlying judgment to two companies over drainage losses to their oil wells, because the defunct company's policy excluded pollution and waste claims.
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January 29, 2024
Escrow Agent Not Covered For Fraud Suits, Court Told
An escrow agent no longer has coverage for four underlying suits accusing it of unlawfully withholding funds or distributing them to third parties who had no valid claim to the money, an insurer told a Florida federal court, saying its theft coverage extension endorsement has been exhausted.
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January 29, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Escapes Contractor's Malpractice Suit
A Florida federal judge has agreed to toss a storm damage contractor's more than $1 million lawsuit centering on an acrimonious breakup with its former law firm, but allowed the contractor a chance at refiling its legal malpractice claims.
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January 26, 2024
Nelson Mullins' Rates Spark Coverage Spat Over Builder's Suit
An insurance policy battle between an exterior building product manufacturer and its insurer over who should pay for a law firm's services in a separate lawsuit spilled into Ohio federal court this week after the insurer removed the company's case from state court to the federal arena.
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January 26, 2024
School Says Security Insurer Failed To Cover Stabbing Row
A security company's insurer failed to provide coverage to a school for behavioral problems in an underlying suit alleging a student was stabbed and bullied in the gym due to the school's negligence and tolerance of violence, according to a suit removed to D.C. federal court.
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January 26, 2024
Auto Biz Says Insurer Can't Escape $500K Damage Claims
A vehicle lift installer urged a Minnesota federal court to preserve its counterclaims in a coverage dispute over nearly $500,000 in claims stemming from fire damage and a tipped container, arguing that its insurer constructively denied most of the claim by repeating investigations and denying payments for over a year.
Expert Analysis
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Defense Counsel Must Alter Tactics To Fight Outsize Verdicts
If defense counsel continue to use the same strategies they’ve always relied on without recognizing plaintiffs attorneys’ new playbook, so-called nuclear verdicts, such as the recent $730 million jury verdict in a wrongful death case in Texas, will continue to proliferate, says Robert Tyson at Tyson & Mendes.
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BigLaw Must Nix All-Or-Nothing Work Model To Retain Talent
Record numbers of workers quitting in the “Great Resignation,” paired with the growing success of nontraditional and freelance legal services, show that BigLaw’s management committees must reconsider rigid billable hour expectations and be open to part-time and noncontinuous work arrangements, says Hui Chen at Hui Chen Ethics.
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11th Circ. Ruling Highlights Trend Of Stricter Insurer Valuation
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in favor of the insurer in Metal Products v. Ohio Security Insurance is a jarring reminder that both Florida insurance companies and courts are increasingly viewing policy valuation provisions with stricter scrutiny, say Gina Lozier and Christopher Choquette at Berger Singerman.
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The Flaws In The Traditional Approach To Hiring A Law Firm
Trevor Faure at Smarter Law Solutions and Gregory Richter at Major Lindsey offer an inside look at Teva Pharmaceuticals' recent overhaul of its law firm relationships through anonymous grading, and discuss how the company’s surprising findings on the correlation between quality and cost reveal shortcomings in traditional business development.
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Federal Courts Are Right Venue For COVID Insurance Cases
Two recent Law360 guest articles positing that state, not federal, courts should be deciding COVID-19 insurance coverage disputes incorrectly assume that these cases contain novel insurance law issues, say attorneys at Dentons.
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Keys To Keeping Law Firm Talent Amid The Great Resignation
With employees leaving their jobs at an unprecedented pace during the "Great Resignation," law firm leaders looking to retain associates and professional staff need to operate with emotional intelligence, talk about failures openly and take the time to offer frequent feedback, says Dorianna Phillips at Lane Powell.
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How AI Can Transform Crisis Management In Litigation
Attorneys should understand how to use rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technology to help clients prepare for potential catastrophic events and the inevitable litigation arising from them, from predicting crises before they occur to testing legal theories once they arise, say Stratton Horres at Wilson Elser and David Steiger.
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Litigation Complicates Surprise Medical Bill Law Compliance
Health care providers working on compliance with a recently effective law intended to curb surprise medical bills should prioritize provisions of the statute that are not being challenged by a group of ongoing lawsuits, and prepare to take advantage of potential provider-friendly court rulings regarding components in question, say Brenna Jenny and Jaime Jones at Sidley.
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How NJ Bad Faith Auto Insurance Bill Compares To Pa.'s
The recently enacted New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act, is in some ways narrower and in other ways broader than Pennsylvania's notoriously strict bad faith statute and leaves open many fundamental questions, which took Pennsylvania decades of litigation to resolve, say Kristin Jones and Brian Callaway at Troutman Pepper.
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The Rising Demand For Commercial Litigators In 2022
Amid broken supply chains, pandemic-induced bankruptcies and a rise in regulation by litigation, strong commercial litigators — strategists who are adept in trying a range of tortious and contractual disputes — are becoming a must-have for many law firms, making this year an opportune moment to make the career switch, say Michael Ascher and Kimberly Donlon at Major Lindsey.
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Reach Of Ohio Ransomware Ruling Limited To Policy At Hand
While an Ohio appellate court's recent decision allowing the insured's ransomware attack claim to proceed in EMOI Services v. Owners Insurance may seem significant for insurance jurisprudence, it should not have implications beyond policies specifically insuring damage to software, says Jane Warring at Zelle.
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To Retain Talent, GCs Should Prioritize Mission Statements
With greater legal demands and an increasing number of workers resigning during the pandemic, general counsel should take steps to articulate their teams' values in departmental mission statements, which will help them better prioritize corporate values and attract and retain talent, says Catherine Kemnitz at Axiom.
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Flawed NY Insurance Law Needs Amendments
The New York Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, recently signed by the governor, imposes a multitude of problematic disclosure obligations on defendant-insureds, which the Legislature should — and likely will — seriously consider modifying or eliminating, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.