General Liability
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May 23, 2025
Mich. Justices To Hear Appeal Over Auto Policy Rescission
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute over whether an appeals court correctly held that a Progressive unit could rescind a woman's auto policy because of misrepresentations in her insurance application after a trial court ruled the insurer had to reform the policy instead.
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May 23, 2025
Atty, Stepdaughter Face $600K Workers' Comp Fraud Charges
The Orange County District Attorney's Office has charged a California attorney and his stepdaughter with conspiring to defraud a police department she was employed at by filing fraudulent workers' compensation payments.
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May 23, 2025
Judge Tells Boat Crash Widow To Replead $66M Insurer Suit
A Florida federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by the widow of the victim of a fatal boat crash seeking to get insurers to pay $66 million judgments but told the widow to replead her claims without the bad faith allegations to streamline discovery in the first stage of the litigation.
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May 23, 2025
Mich. Justices Agree To Hear Insurer's PIP Benefits Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to review a split lower court's finding that an auto insurer must provide personal injury protection, or PIP, benefits to a policyholder's son who was injured in an out-of-state tractor-trailer crash.
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May 23, 2025
Furniture Cos. Say Insurer Owes For $10M Flood Losses
Two metro Detroit furniture stores accuse an insurer of breach of contract after it refused to cover more than $10 million in collective damages caused by flooding from a ruptured city water supply line in a case removed to Michigan federal court.
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May 22, 2025
Affirmative AI Coverage Challenges Specialty Insurance Lines
Boutiques and major insurers alike have recently issued long-anticipated affirmative coverage for artificial intelligence risks, a divisive bet on the increased need for explicit protection and pricing of the technology's specific risks, even as existing policies offer many similar protections.
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May 22, 2025
Virus Coverage Revival Loss Shows Import Of Judicial Finality
A North Carolina federal court's ruling that Golden Corral can't set aside a judgment against its bid for pandemic-related coverage despite recent policyholder success in the state Supreme Court highlighted the importance of judicial finality, while marking the difference between state and federal courts weighing insurance issues.
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May 22, 2025
Mich. Justices To Review Nationwide's Unitary Tax Filing Win
The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Thursday to weigh an appeal by the state's tax agency of a decision that said Nationwide entities could file their taxes as a unitary group to share tax credits among its members.
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May 22, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The U.S. Supreme Court passed on insurer challenges to tribal jurisdiction in COVID-19 coverage cases, a Washington federal court approved Symetra's $32.5 million overcharging settlement, legal malpractice claims outpace inflation and a condo association's timing in serving an insurer helped it avoid removal to Florida federal court.
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May 21, 2025
Zurich Gets Default Win In $4.6M Contractor Coverage Spat
Zurich American Insurance Co. doesn't owe coverage to two subcontractors accused of bungling work on a Georgia natural gas plant, a federal judge has ruled, granting the insurer a default win in its suit seeking to nullify a $4.6 million claim.
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May 21, 2025
Insurer Demands Shipper Pay $480K For Spoiled Crabmeat
An insurer asked a New York federal court on Wednesday to force a Taiwanese shipper to pay over $480,000 for crabmeat that the carrier alleged was spoiled en route from the Philippines to Norfolk, Virginia.
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May 21, 2025
SC Justices Affirm Receivership Order In Asbestos Dispute
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously upheld a trial court's decision to appoint a receiver over a Canadian company's insurance assets as part of discovery sanctions in an asbestos injury lawsuit, despite the company's contention it possesses no property in the state.
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May 20, 2025
Full 11th Circ. Asked To Review Case Of Fla. Lodge Shooting
A Virginia insurer petitioned for a full Eleventh Circuit panel hearing to review a three-judge opinion holding that a jury should decide whether it was in bad faith to not settle a case of a woman who was killed in a Florida lodge shooting, saying the ruling could make insurance more expensive.
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May 19, 2025
Carrier's Kidde-Fenwal Ch. 11 Deal Barred By Purdue, AGs Say
Connecticut and other states Monday objected to Carrier Global Corp.'s proposed $540 million deal releasing it from "forever chemicals" litigation liability through its ownership of bankrupt firefighting foam manufacturer Kidde-Fenwal Inc., saying the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a similar deal in drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP's bankruptcy case.
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May 19, 2025
Insurer Says It Won't Cover Super Bowl Parade Shooting Suit
An insurer for a Kansas City, Missouri, sports nonprofit told a federal court it should owe no coverage for a lawsuit claiming a man was shot in the leg during a parade the group hosted after the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
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May 19, 2025
Liberty Mutual Unit Can't Dodge Spoiled Wine Coverage Suit
A Liberty Mutual unit can't escape a vineyard's suit seeking indemnification for a settlement reached with another winery over 320,000 damaged cases of wine, a Washington federal court ruled Monday, saying none of the exclusions cited by the insurer clearly apply.
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May 16, 2025
Mich. Court Orders Redo Of Motorist's Insurance Award
A judge erroneously factored in a semi-paralyzed man's future care in allotting him the bulk of an insurance payout, a Michigan state appeals court said, partially reversing the decision at the request of two healthcare providers that had competing claims.
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May 15, 2025
Attys Weigh Breadth Of 10th Circ. Pollution Row Interpretation
A Tenth Circuit ruling that a New Mexico property owner wasn't owed a defense for underlying contamination litigation because of separate, unambiguous absolute pollution exclusions in its policies was no surprise, policyholder attorneys said, but a broad reading of the exclusions still gives them pause.
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May 15, 2025
Insurers' Win In Arbitration Treaty Ruling Narrows Circuit SplitÂ
A recent Second Circuit ruling in favor of international insurers seeking to arbitrate hurricane damage claims helped further close a significant circuit court split on the interpretation of a key international arbitration treaty, according to expert attorneys.
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May 15, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The California Department of Insurance approved State Farm's request for an emergency rate increase, the Delaware Supreme Court heard arguments concerning coverage for 3M's defense costs payments in multidistrict litigation, and a U.S. Senate committee questioned Allstate and State Farm on their claims-handling procedures for natural disasters. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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May 15, 2025
Securities Atty Talks Carrier IPOs In Uncertain Market
A selective thawing in the market could provide an opening to go public for insurance companies that aren't as directly affected by tariffs as companies in other industries, as demonstrated by two initial public offerings last week. Here, Law360 takes a look with Matthew L. Fry, a Haynes Boone partner who advised on one of the IPOs, that of American Integrity Insurance.
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May 14, 2025
Why Boy Scout Releases Were OK Despite Failing Purdue Test
The Third Circuit's rejection of challenges to third-party releases in the Boy Scouts of America's Chapter 11 plan may appear at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court's Purdue decision last year, but the panel said the already enacted plan can't be undone even if it couldn't pass muster today, experts told Law360.
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May 14, 2025
3M Payment Satisfied Policy Requirements, Del. Justices Told
An attorney for 3M and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies argued that the parent company's payment of defense costs in multidistrict litigation over combat earplugs satisfied the self-insured retention of the subsidiary's insurance policies, telling the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday the insurers "got exactly what they bargained for."
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May 13, 2025
State Farm's Emergency Rate Hike Request Approved In Calif.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Tuesday that he had adopted a judge's recommendation to approve State Farm General Insurance Co.'s request for an emergency rate increase for property insurance in the state, following January wildfires that have already cost California insurers $12.1 billion.
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May 13, 2025
Builder Says Zurich Owes $2.6M For Bronx School Damage
A contractor said a Zurich unit owes it at least $2.6 million for costs incurred after a construction site collapse at a Bronx school, telling a New York federal court the insurer failed to timely adjust its claim and wrongfully refused to pay out any funds for the loss.
Expert Analysis
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What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling
Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight
Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling
In Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance, the Hawaii Supreme Court became the first state court to classify greenhouse gasses as pollutants barred from insurance coverage, a ruling likely to be afforded great weight by courts across the country, say Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman at Hinshaw & Culbertson.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.
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Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code
As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.
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3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim
The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks
With all the regulatory activity surrounding antitrust and unfair competition claims, as highlighted by last month's D.C. federal court decision that Google is a monopolist, businesses must not only ensure compliance, but also understand their potential insurance coverage when such claims arise, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.
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Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes
As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.
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Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions
Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.