General Liability
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August 20, 2025
Driver Can Sue Progressive After PIP Claim Rights Restored
A Michigan appellate court panel ruled on Tuesday that an injured driver can proceed with her personal injury protection claims against Progressive, relying on a recent state Supreme Court decision that found those who transfer legal claims to third parties can pursue the claims if they are later transferred back.Â
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August 19, 2025
Manufacturing Cos. Score $23M Win In Lengthy Asbestos Suit
Two manufacturing companies involved in a long-running dispute over coverage for asbestos bodily injury claims have won $23 million from an Allianz unit for damages and interest, with a New York trial court finding the manufacturers properly determined claim liabilities.Â
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August 19, 2025
Insurers Avoid Coverage For Alleged $8.5M Judgment Scheme
Two insurers owed no coverage to companies facing abuse of process claims, a Minnesota federal court ruled in two separate cases decided on the same issues, finding that commercial general liability policies' coverage for malicious prosecution did not apply.
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August 18, 2025
Insurers Avoid Defending Ericsson In Terrorist Payment Suits
Units of Travelers and Chubb have no duty to defend Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson Inc. over claims it paid protection money to foreign terrorist organizations so its projects and other business interests wouldn't be attacked, a Texas federal court ruled Monday.
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August 18, 2025
Del. Justices Reject CVS Bid For Opioid Claim Insurance
CVS Corp. lost its bid on Monday for Delaware Supreme Court reversal of a lower court ruling rejecting the healthcare giant's argument that insurers should cover government, hospital and third-party payer claims for economic losses related to the company's opioid dispensing practices.
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August 15, 2025
Technology Co. Says Zurich Must Defend Shareholder Suit
A technology company behind a brain fitness app told a Delaware federal court Friday that a Zurich unit must defend it in an underlying shareholder suit accusing the company and its directors of misappropriating funds, misleading investors and violating corporate obligations.
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August 15, 2025
Smoke Shop Tells Panel It's Owed Defense Over Fatal Crash
A North Carolina smoke shop urged a state appeals court to find that its insurer must defend it in a lawsuit alleging that an individual who consumed nitrous oxide products from the shop caused a fatal auto collision, noting it has already disputed underlying allegations of negligence.
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August 15, 2025
Excess Insurer Blames Primary For Costly Auto Collision Deal
An excess insurer told a California federal court that the primary insurer of a construction company failed to reach a lesser settlement amount in a suit alleging the company's owner was responsible for a car collision.
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August 15, 2025
Insurer Says Towing Co. Not Covered In Car Hood Injury Suit
Prime Property and Casualty Insurance Inc. is suing a towing company in Florida federal court, saying it has no obligation to continue defending it in an injury suit stemming from injuries to a woman after one of the company's drivers helped jumpstart her car.
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August 14, 2025
Ruling May Increase Reinsurers' Caution In Insureds' Dealings​​​​​​​
A Texas federal judge's ruling that a chemical manufacturer can continue to pursue litigation against a reinsurer in connection with the manufacturer's roughly $100 million business interruption claim offered a well-reasoned analysis as to when a policyholder has standing to bring a direct action against a reinsurer, experts said.
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August 14, 2025
State Farm Found Liable For Bad Faith In Moped Death Suit
A Florida federal judge has found State Farm liable for bad faith following a jury trial in a lawsuit involving the DUI-related death of a moped driver, whose family accused the insurer of failing to timely settle their claim against the estate of the driver accused of causing the fatal crash.Â
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August 14, 2025
Fla. Citizens Ruling Highlights Late Property Claim Risks
A recent Florida appellate court ruling affirming that the state's last-resort insurer properly denied a late-filed claim for hurricane damage wasn't surprising given legislative changes in recent years, but highlighted the import of filing timely claims, experts say.
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August 14, 2025
Dental Clinic Privacy Breach Claims Not Covered, Insurer Says
A dental practice's insurer told an Illinois federal court it should owe no coverage in an underlying proposed class action accusing the practice of transmitting patients'Â sensitive personal information to Alphabet Inc. via the business's online scheduling platform, arguing an exclusion concerning "personal information"Â applies.
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August 14, 2025
Insurance Key To Mitigating Mortgage Risks From Flooding
The increase of flooding in areas outside mandatory flood insurance purchase zones is contributing to mortgage risks for underinsured homeowners following disasters, underscoring a need to find ways to ensure more people have flood coverage, experts say.
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August 14, 2025
Truck Insurer Wants Out Of AWOL Client's Crash Suit Defense
A commercial auto insurance company asked a Georgia federal judge to declare it has no duty to defend a trucking company in a hit-and-run suit, telling the court it's been "ethically obligated to withdraw" its attorneys from defending the company in the underlying case.
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August 14, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
Defense cost payments by 3M can't satisfy the self-insured retention of its subsidiary's insurance policies, a subcontractor's insurer must indemnify a property owner in a pending injury suit, an excess insurer owes $2 million for a car crash, and a gym chain may have coverage for losses stemming from COVID-19 shutdown orders. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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August 14, 2025
Poetry In Motions: Wallace Stevens Wedded Art, Insurance
Wallace Stevens was an acclaimed modernist poet, but his parallel career as an insurance attorney isn't as widely discussed, according to attorney Daniel J. Kornstein, who has studied Stevens' life. To mark the 70th anniversary of Stevens' death, Law360 spoke with Kornstein about what insurance law may have meant to the poet.
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August 13, 2025
2nd Circ. Affirms Indemnity Ruling In Still-Pending Injury Row
A New York federal court didn't err in declaring that a subcontractor's insurer had a duty to indemnify a property owner in a worker's construction injury lawsuit that is still pending, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday, even though the underlying court later found the original indemnity agreement invalid.
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August 13, 2025
No Coverage For Senior Center In Sex Abuse Suit, Court Told
A senior care facility isn't owed coverage for an underlying lawsuit accusing a facility chaplain of sexually assaulting a patient, the facility's insurer said, arguing coverage is precluded due to a molestation exclusion and because the allegations don't pertain to a medical incident.
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August 13, 2025
Insurer Owes Defense In Hotel Trafficking Suits, Court Told
Red Roof Inn told an Ohio federal court Wednesday that a Liberty Mutual unit must defend it in 11 lawsuits alleging it violated the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by financially benefitting from human trafficking, arguing the claims fall outside separate exclusions for intended and criminal acts.
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August 13, 2025
Atty Leaves Montana Firm For Tucker Arensberg In Pittsburgh
A move across the country to new surroundings at Tucker Arensberg PC's Pittsburgh office has given a seasoned attorney the opportunity to expand the scope of his litigation practice into new areas.
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August 12, 2025
Split Del. Justices Back Insurers In 3M Earplug Coverage Fight
A split Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's finding that defense costs paid by 3M in underlying multidistrict litigation over the company's combat earplugs could not satisfy the self-insured retention of subsidiary Aearo Technologies' insurance policies.
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August 12, 2025
Insurer Pushes 11th Circ. To Avoid Malpractice Coverage
An insurance company has told the Eleventh Circuit it should not have to foot the bill to defend its client against a federal malpractice suit in Atlanta, arguing its policy contains a carveout for claims involving "conversion, improper comingling, or misappropriation," and asking the appellate court to review an earlier dismissal de novo.
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August 12, 2025
Travelers Units Freed From Builder's Asbestos Injury Dispute
A Travelers subsidiary has no obligation to defend a construction company against a suit seeking indemnification for asbestos-related injury claims, a South Carolina federal court ruled, finding that the suit does not seek damages but rather a declaration of contractual right.
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August 11, 2025
4th Circ. Affirms $2M Insurer Car Crash Payout, Plus Interest
An excess insurer for a construction company must pay a woman and her two children its full $2 million limit after they suffered severe injuries in a head-on collision, the Fourth Circuit ruled, further finding the insurer must also pay both pre- and post-judgment interest.
Expert Analysis
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Strategies To Help Witnesses Manage Deposition Anxiety
During and leading up to deposition, witnesses may experience anxiety stemming from numerous sources and manifesting in a variety of ways, but attorneys can help them mitigate their stress using a few key methods, say consultants at Courtroom Sciences.
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5 Insurance Types For Mitigating Tariff-Related Trade Losses
The potential for significant trade-related losses as a result of increased tariffs may cause companies to consider which of their insurance policies, including marine, builders risk, trade credit, and directors and officers, could provide coverage to alleviate the financial impact, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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Home Depot Ruling Tolls Death Knell For 'Silent Cyber'
The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling that Home Depot's insurers did not have to cover costs from a data breach hammered one more nail in the coffin of silent cyber, where coverage is sought under standard property or commercial general liability policies that were not intended to insure cyberattack claims, say attorneys at Zelle.
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Texas Case Shows Why Juries Are Well-Suited To COVID Suits
The original jury verdict in Baylor College of Medicine v. Lloyd's, currently on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court after being overturned by an appellate panel, illustrates why COVID-19 business interruption claims with their case-specific facts need to be decided by juries, not by judges using a one-size-fits-all approach, says Jeremy Lawrence at Farella Braun.
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Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling
While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.
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In-House Expert Testimony Is Tricky, But Worth Considering
Litigation counsel often reject the notion of designating in-house personnel to provide expert opinion testimony at trial, but dismissing them outright can result in a significant missed opportunity, say David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law and Martin Pitha at Lillis Pitha.
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Tracking Changes To AI Evidence Under Federal Rules
As the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close, important changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom are on the horizon, including how to handle evidence that is a product of machine learning, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law
The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.
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What To Know About NAIC's Risk-Based Capital Task Force
Attorneys at Debevoise outline key details of the Risk-Based Capital Model Governance Task Force, which was recently launched by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, including the task force's objectives, and potential implications for insurers and their investment strategies.
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How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case
Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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AG Watch: Texas Is Entering New Privacy Enforcement Era
The state of Texas' recent suit against Allstate is the culmination of a long-standing commitment to vigorously enforcing privacy laws in the state, and while still in the early stages, it offers several important insights for companies and privacy practitioners, says Paul Singer at Kelley Drye.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing
As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Managing Anti-Corporate Juror Views Revealed By CEO Killing
After the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson laid bare deep-seated anti-corporate sentiments among the public, companies in numerous industries will have to navigate the influence of related juror biases on litigation dynamics, say Jorge Monroy and Keith Pounds at IMS Legal Strategies.