Property
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August 06, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Let Chubb Unit Ax $13.8M Appraisal Award
A Florida condo association's insurer waived its ability to challenge an over $13.8 million storm damage appraisal award by only arguing in court that the association's appraiser had a conflict of interest, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday, finding the insurer could've lodged a challenge during the appraisal process itself.
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August 06, 2024
Testing Lab Can't Add Bad Faith Claims In Income Loss Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge found Tuesday that a prior agreement between a medical testing lab and its insurer expressly precluded added allegations that the insurer acted in bad faith while handling the lab's claim for loss of records and business income.
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August 06, 2024
Blank Rome Adds Closed Insurance Boutique's Managing Atty
Blank Rome LLP has brought on an insurance partner from now-shuttered boutique Pasich LLP to join its insurance recovery group, the firm announced Monday.
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August 06, 2024
Farm Stench Insurance Coverage Case Saved By The Bugs
A Georgia couple accusing their poultry-farming neighbors of wafting putrid smells and failing to contain insects birthed upon their property succeeded Tuesday in forcing the farm's insurer to defend the business thanks to the bugs, a Georgia federal judge ruled.
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August 02, 2024
Insurers Seek Quick Win In $2M Injury Coverage Suit
An AmTrust Financial unit and a Hartford unit each told a New York federal court that the other must solely cover a Manhattan property owner in a construction worker's $2 million injury action, disagreeing over whether the owner is an additional insured under the Hartford unit's policy covering a lessee.
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August 02, 2024
Geico Auto Policy Doesn't Cover HPV Claim, 8th Circ. Says
Geico doesn't have to cover a woman's claim that she contracted HPV during sexual encounters in a policyholder's car, the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday, saying the woman's injuries did not arise out of the "use" of the vehicle as required by the auto policy.
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August 01, 2024
4 Top Property Insurance Suits To Keep Watching In 2024
A dispute in Hawaii's top court over defense for climate change claims and a Fifth Circuit suit over insurance for an arbitration award for construction defects are among some of the top cases in the property insurance sphere worth keeping an eye on. Here, Law360 looks at four cases with notable decisions or litigation to come.
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August 01, 2024
Judgment Insurance Market Continues To Solidify, Attys Say
Insurance covering losses from a specific judgment or one that is reversed on appeal has become increasingly popular, attorneys tell Law360, raising questions on the extent courts will mandate disclosure of such policies and whether a critical mass of big-name carriers will wade into the market too.
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August 01, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The D.C. Circuit revived an insurer’s bid to enforce arbitration awards against Argentina, a California federal court freed two AIG insurers from defending McKesson’s opioid suits and an ex-Allied World Insurance executive pled guilty in a $1.5 million fraud case. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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August 01, 2024
Aon Cyber Head Says Recent Attacks Spur Insurer Scrutiny
A spate of recent cyberattacks that have cost companies millions have raised existential questions about how cyberinsurance policies will continue to offset the growing risks. Law360 spoke with Brent Rieth, head of cyber solutions for North America at insurance broker Aon, about the role that brokers play in navigating market volatility.
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August 01, 2024
Insurer Wants Quick Win In NBA Team's Virus Coverage Suit
The Sacramento Kings' insurer said it is entitled to an early win in a coverage dispute over pandemic-related losses that the basketball team and its arena operator incurred, telling a California federal court that the losses don't meet the policy requirement of "physical loss or damage" to property.
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August 01, 2024
Locke Lord Adds Insurance, Privacy Partners In Chicago
Locke Lord LLP announced on Wednesday that two partners formerly of Sidley Austin LLP and Thompson Coburn LLP have joined the firm's insurance and cybersecurity practices out of Chicago.
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August 01, 2024
Growth In Captives Gives Insureds More Control, Experts Say
As commercial policyholders continue to seek solutions addressing cost, coverage and control within the traditional insurance market, a steady uptick in captive insurance may be a viable option offering policyholders more control in their risk management programs, experts say.
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July 31, 2024
Rising Star: Cohen Ziffer's Orrie Levy
Orrie A. Levy of Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna beat insurers' attempts to avoid defending Walmart in opioid lawsuits and secured a rare ruling setting aside a Delaware jury's verdict favoring an AIG unit in an insurance coverage trial, earning him a spot among insurance law attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 30, 2024
Fla. Insurance Co. Accused Of Causing Black Mold Death
A Florida insurance company was accused of wrongfully causing the death of a woman who died from black mold contamination in a state complaint brought by her sole descendant, who alleges the insurer didn't send a promised team to remediate the woman's home after it was damaged by Hurricane Ian.
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July 29, 2024
Judge Ends Coverage Quest, Calls $2.7M Loss 'Foreseeable'
An Arizona federal judge granted a quick win to an insurer over $2.7 million in water damage losses claimed by an Arizona landlord, finding the losses were "foreseeable" and therefore not covered by the all-risk policy.
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July 26, 2024
Ex-Magistrate Judge Picked To Oversee Texas Insurance Fight
A New York federal judge has appointed a former magistrate judge to oversee a dispute between a Texas school district and several insurers who allegedly stiffed the district $17 million in damages following Hurricane Hanna.
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July 26, 2024
Chubb Unit Asks 11th Circ. To Undo $13.8M Appraisal Award
A Chubb unit asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse the approval of a Florida condominium association's $13.8 million appraisal award for hurricane damage sustained in 2017, arguing that a lower court erred in finding that one of the appraisers was partial to the association.
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July 26, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Settles Ex-Paralegal's Sex Harassment Suit
Florida-based insurance law firm Property Litigation Group PLLC has reached a settlement with a former paralegal who alleged she was fired after reporting unwanted sexual advances and case mismanagement by a senior attorney.
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July 26, 2024
Insurers See Losses Amid Migration To Severe Weather States
Population migration into parts of the U.S. with more severe weather is one factor driving the worst U.S. homeowner's insurance underwriting results since at least 2000, according to a report on the insurance industry from AM Best.
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July 25, 2024
SC Justices Reject Insurer's Bid To Avoid Asbestos Coverage
An insurer for a now-defunct thermal insulation installer can't invoke an exclusion for bodily injury stemming from completed operations to avoid settlement coverage of an underlying "take-home" asbestos injury claim, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled, further clarifying when an insurer can use an insured's untimely notice to bar coverage.
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July 25, 2024
CrowdStrike Outage May Leave Policyholders Few Options
Policyholders whose operations were disrupted by global outages caused by an issue with cybersecurity company CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.'s software may have few options to recover despite the chaos for air travel, government operations and financial institutions.
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July 25, 2024
Retailer Urges NC Justices To Revive COVID Coverage Row
A clothing company told North Carolina's highest court that the state's appeals court erred in dismissing its lawsuit attempting to recover COVID-19-related losses from its insurer, arguing that the lower court disregarded the omission of a virus exclusion from the policy, which "concede[d] that a virus can cause 'damage.'"
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July 25, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Massachusetts’ top court sided with a hospital owner in a storm damage coverage dispute, the California Supreme Court revived a suit over State Farm’s claims-handling practices and the Ninth Circuit affirmed an insurer’s COVID-19 coverage win. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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July 25, 2024
Climate Risks Heighten Inequities In Insurance Crisis
Climate risks are contributing to higher homeowners insurance prices and a crisis of uninsured households, particularly among low-income homeowners and people of color, experts say, with some saying "transformative" change is needed to solve the problem.
Expert Analysis
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Insurers, Prepare For Large Exposures From PFAS Claims
With thousands of lawsuits concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances pending across the country, several large settlements already reached, and both regulators and the plaintiffs bar increasingly focusing on PFAS, it is becoming clear that these "forever chemicals" present major exposures to insurers and their policyholders, say Scott Seaman and Jennifer Arnold at Hinshaw.
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Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling
The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.
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What To Know About Duty To Settle Insurance Claims In Texas
Laura Grabouski of Holden Litigation examines the parameters of Texas insurers' duty to settle liability claims within the limits of the primary policy, as knowledge of the requirements — and the potential exposure from insureds, judgment creditors or excess creditors — can pay dividends in the era of nuclear verdicts.
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NY's Take On Premises Insurance Policies: What's In A Name?
A New York appellate court's recent decision in Wesco Insurance v. Fulmont Mutual Insurance — requiring insurance coverage for a property owner not named on the policy — strengthens a state case law trend creating a practical exception in premises liability cases to normally strict requirements for coverage, says Craig Rokuson at Traub Lieberman.
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Ga. Mirror-Image Rule Makes Settlements Fraught For Insurers
The Georgia Court of Appeals' recent decision in Pierce v. Banks shows how strictly Georgia courts will enforce the rule that an insurer's response to a settlement demand must be a mirror image of the demand — and is a reminder that parties must exercise caution when accepting such a demand, says Seth Friedman at Lewis Brisbois.
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What's In The NAIC's Draft AI Bulletin
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has released a draft bulletin on insurers' use of artificial intelligence systems, intended as a template for regulators to guide insurers to employ AI consistently with market conduct, corporate governance and unfair and deceptive trade practice laws, say Paige Waters and Stephanie O'Neill Macro at Locke Lord.
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Insurance Ruling Shows Notice Letters Need Close Review
A Texas appeals court's recent disapproval of an insured’s presuit notice letter to Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance — which refused to quantify an alleged injury — should prompt courts to probe deeper when considering whether such a letter gives the insurer the information needed to resolve the claim or make a settlement offer, say Jennifer Martin and Timothy Delabar at Wilson Elser.
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Groundbreaking Nev. Law May Alter Insurance Landscape
The Nevada Legislature recently passed a law prohibiting insurers from issuing liability policies with eroding limits provisions that has the potential to create massive shifts in the marketplace — and specifically in areas like professional liability, cyber, and directors and officers insurance, says Will Bennett at Saxe Doernberger.
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What The ESG Divide Means For Insurers And Beyond
The debate around ESG is becoming increasingly polarized, with some states passing legislation that prohibits the use of ESG factors and others advancing affirmative legislation, highlighting the importance for insurers and other companies to understand this complex legal landscape, say Scott Seaman and Bessie Daschbach at Hinshaw.
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2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Correctly Applied English Law
Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article's argument, the Second Circuit correctly applied English law when it decided in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas that concurrent reinsurance certificates required the reinsurer to cover loss in accordance with the law of the policy's governing jurisdiction, say Peter Chaffetz and Andrew Poplinger at Chaffetz Lindsey.
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Hospitality Biz Must Prep For Seaweed Damage Coverage
With the Great Atlantic Sargassum Seaweed Belt, a 10-million-ton mass of brown seaweed, potentially about to approach the coasts of the U.S. Southeast, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, affected policyholders should consider whether their losses are covered by their property insurance policies, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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ALI, Bar Groups Need More Defense Engagement For Balance
The American Law Institute and state bar committees have a special role in the development of the law — but if they do not do a better job of including attorneys from the defense bar, they will come to be viewed as special interest advocacy groups, says Mark Behrens at Shook Hardy.
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2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Misconstrues English Law
The Second Circuit's finding in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas Insurance, that London-based reinsurer Equitas owed coverage for losses outside the policy period, stems from that court's misinterpretation of English law on reinsurance policy construction, says Christopher Foster at Holman Fenwick.