Specialty Lines
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June 06, 2024
Texas AG Takes Aim At Carmakers Selling Drivers' Data
Texas' attorney general has become the latest to turn up the data-privacy heat on connected car manufacturers, revealing Thursday that his office has begun an investigation into how these companies amass and sell drivers' data to third parties, including insurance providers.
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June 06, 2024
Justices' Standing Ruling May Embolden Carriers In Ch. 11
The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that an insurer with a responsibility for its policyholder's Chapter 11 bankruptcy claims can intervene in those bankruptcy proceedings, potentially giving insurers greater leverage in reorganization negotiations and likely causing an influx of insurer objections in bankruptcy court, experts tell Law360.
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June 06, 2024
Insurers' Climate Exposure Poses Risk To US Housing Market
Climate risks to already strained insurance markets could significantly disrupt the U.S. housing market and the broader financial system, according to insurance, banking and housing experts, as well as a growing body of academic research leveraging new risk data.
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June 06, 2024
Insurer Off The Hook For $3.4M Nursing Home Death Verdict
A Berkshire Hathaway unit needn't cover a $3.4 million default judgment entered against its insured in a wrongful death suit, an Illinois federal judge determined, finding that the insured nursing home "did not meet its own reporting and cooperation obligations under the policy."
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June 06, 2024
State Farm Escapes Policyholder's Life Insurance GIPA Suit
An Illinois state court has permanently tossed a State Farm policyholder's privacy claims targeting family medical history questions the insurer asked as part of its life insurance underwriting process, agreeing with its argument that the state's Genetic Information Privacy Act doesn't apply to life insurance.
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June 06, 2024
8th Circ. To Mull If Geico Auto Policy Covers HPV Claim
The Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments Wednesday over whether Geico should cover $5.2 million awarded to a woman claiming she contracted HPV during sexual encounters in a policyholder's car, with the case turning on whether her bodily injury claim must arise from the normal use of an automobile.
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June 06, 2024
Liquor Liability Costs Shake And Stir SC's Hospitality Industry
As the South Carolina General Assembly returned to session Wednesday, grassroots organizations advocating for small businesses gathered at the State House for a press conference urging elected officials to reform legislation burdening restaurants, bars and music venues with increasingly high costs of liability insurance.
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June 06, 2024
Insurance Broker Expert Says AI 'Top Risk' For Policyholders
Companies are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence technologies into their work, raising concerns in the insurance sector about the potential for growing risks and what coverage options are available for that exposure.
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June 06, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed an insurer to intervene in policyholder bankruptcy proceedings, Liberty Mutual requested that a policyholder-judge be removed from a construction accident coverage dispute, and a Markel unit is attempting to skirt a $77.7 million auto accident judgment. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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June 06, 2024
Justices Affirm Taxing Of Estate On Insurance Payout
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday a decision denying a tax refund to the estate of an owner of a building materials company that used a payout from his $3.5 million life insurance policy to purchase his shares in the business.
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June 05, 2024
Aluminum Co. Seeks Reversal Of $10M Coverage Cap
An aluminum supplier is urging the Fourth Circuit to reverse a lower court's ruling capping its damages at $10 million because of a molten material endorsement, arguing that the fire and water damage it sustained is separate and not subject to any sublimit or exclusion.
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June 04, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Agency Denial Of Partnership's Crop Policy
The Federal Crop Insurance Corp. reasonably interpreted a policy that was canceled by an insurer after a farming partnership filed a claim seeking the full $1.9 million limit, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, affirming a decision backing the FCIC's conclusion that the operation didn't qualify for coverage.
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June 04, 2024
Benefits Plan Inks Deal To End Mental Health Coverage Suit
The employee benefits plan at Mountain Area Health Education Center became the last remaining defendant to reach a settlement in a North Carolina district court lawsuit accusing an insurer and others of refusing to cover the cost of a patient's stay at a residential treatment center.
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May 31, 2024
Boat Owner's $1.85M Policy Void In Fire Dispute, Judge Says
A Florida federal court declared a yacht owner's marine insurance policy void from inception, saying the owner, who was seeking coverage for a 2023 boat fire, materially misrepresented the price of the vessel.
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May 31, 2024
GRSM50 Brings On Clausen Miller Insurance Pro In SF
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP, which now goes by the name GRSM50, is expanding its team, announcing Thursday it is bringing on a Clausen Miller PC insurance specialist as a partner in its San Francisco office.
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May 30, 2024
NRA Wins Free Speech High Court Battle But May Lose Its War
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the National Rifle Association to proceed with its lawsuit alleging a former New York state official unlawfully pressured financial institutions to cut ties, but the group may now face greater hurdles to final victory.
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May 30, 2024
Travelers Loses Dismissal Bid In BIPA Coverage Dispute
A New York federal judge declined to trim a software company's lawsuit seeking coverage from a Travelers unit for underlying claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, finding the company's declaratory relief and bad faith claims were not duplicative of a breach of contract claim.
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May 30, 2024
Only $100K Owed For NJ Theater's Virus Losses, Judge Says
A Zurich unit owed a theater only $100,000 for its COVID-19-related losses under its policy's communicable disease coverage provision, a New Jersey federal court ruled, rejecting the theater's arguments that each public health order constituted a separate occurrence and that a "blanket" $1.9 million limit was applicable.
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May 30, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court revived the National Rifle Association's free speech claims against a former New York state official, a Washington state appeals court ended Quest Diagnostics' bid for COVID-related coverage, and market analyst AM Best reported record investment income for U.S. property and casualty insurers in 2023.
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May 30, 2024
Active Hurricane Season Looms Over Insurance Industry
The Atlantic hurricane season could continue to stress fragile insurance markets, according to forecasts of a particularly active 2024 season, but experts say there are some positive developments for Florida insurers despite years of elevated losses.
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May 30, 2024
Consumer Advocate Unpacks Big Issues Facing Insureds
The use of socioeconomic factors in auto insurance, climate change's impact on the rising cost of homeowners insurance and the hollowing out of insurance policies are some of the most pressing issues consumers face today, says an advocate from the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America.
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May 30, 2024
Insurer Rebukes Bad Faith Claims In $25M Child Abuse Row
An insurer urged a Washington federal court to dismiss bad faith counterclaims brought against it by families who say the insurer failed to provide coverage toward a daycare center's $24.5 million settlement of claims that its former employee sexually molested children.
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May 30, 2024
Insurance Atty Fights For Lone Woman On Death Row In Miss.
Attorney A. Kate Margolis lives a double life: one, in which she fights on behalf of insurance policyholders as counsel at Bradley, and another, spent trying to save convicted murderer Lisa Jo Chamberlin, the only woman on Mississippi's death row.
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May 30, 2024
Bottler Says It's Owed Defense In Wine Contamination Dispute
A wine bottler told a California federal court its insurer must reimburse defense costs it incurred while fighting a now-settled suit seeking to hold the company liable for a $1.2 million wine contamination, arguing the lawsuit didn't specifically allege what the bottler's actions were nor the cause of contamination.
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May 30, 2024
Meet The Attys In Margolis Edelstein Malpractice Fight
Counsel representing Margolis Edelstein and an insurer that has accused the firm of malpractice are gearing up for a July oral argument so the Delaware Supreme Court can decide if the firm can escape the suit.
Expert Analysis
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Navigating High Court's Options In Insurer Choice Of Law
Depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court approaches the question of when insurers may invoke choice-of-law clauses in maritime contracts to dodge state-specific liability, the Great Lakes v. Raiders Retreat Realty decision may mean significant changes not only for admiralty law disputes, but for the insurance industry more broadly, say Lara Cassidy and Adriana Perez at Hunton.
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Practical Tips For Managing Bank D&O Liability Risk
With the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank potentially inspiring regulators to increase scrutiny of management at similar institutions, banking directors and officers should mitigate personal liability risks through keen attention to sound banking practices and regulators' announced priorities, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation
Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Using ChatGPT To Handle Insurance Claims Is A Risky Move
ChatGPT gets some insurance law questions surprisingly wrong, and while it handles broader coverage concepts significantly better, using it to assist with coverage questions will likely lead to erroneous results and could leave insurers liable for bad faith, says Randy Maniloff at White and Williams.
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Del. Ruling Could Affect D&O Claims Beyond SPACs
A Delaware state court recently held in Clover Health v. Berkley Insurance that directors and officers of a post-merger entity were insured persons under a special-purpose acquisition company's D&O policy, a ruling that could have potential ramifications for future D&O claims in Delaware outside of SPAC deals, say Geoffrey Fehling and Janine Hanrahan at Hunton.
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A Missing Issue In 'Blank Space' Insurance Ruling
As Norwegian Hull Club v. North Star heads to trial in Florida federal court, the most interesting part of the court opinion denying summary judgment is the argument it doesn't address — contra proferentem, which could have been used to resolve the case's blank space ambiguity in the policyholder's favor, say Jeffrey Mikoni and Scott Greenspan at Pillsbury.
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High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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The Wide Oversight Implications Of Del. McDonald's Ruling
The Delaware Chancery Court's recent ruling that a McDonald's officer had oversight obligations on par with directors has wide-reaching implications for Delaware corporate law, including precedent for the court to hear sexual harassment claims, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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How Courts Are Clarifying D&O Policies' Bump-Up Provisions
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Komatsu Mining v. Columbia Casualty provides long-awaited appellate guidance on the inadequate consideration provision in directors and officers insurance — and the Fourth Circuit may provide more in its forthcoming ruling in Towers Watson v. National Union Fire Insurance, says Andrew Paliotta at Cozen O’Connor.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage
Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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Wis. High Court Ruling May Open Door To Coverage Exception
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dostal v. Strand finding that an insurer had to defend a civil action following the defendant's criminal conviction on the same facts nonetheless may suggest an exception to the complaint test for determining an insurance company's defense obligation, say David Hollander and Clementine Uwabera at Stafford Rosenbaum.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability
The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.
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Anticipating Tech Market Volatility With R&W Policies
Technology executives, investors and their advisers should understand how representations and warranties insurance works ahead of a potential rise in claims activity and as deal makers focus on maximizing existing deals' value amid economic uncertainty, says Eric Larson at Morris Manning.