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General Liability

  • May 07, 2025

    Chubb Can't Get Archdiocese's Abuse Coverage Suit Trimmed

    A New York state court refused Wednesday to toss the Archdiocese of New York's claims for bad faith and violations of the state's deceptive trade practices law in a suit seeking coverage from Chubb units for thousands of sexual abuse lawsuits.

  • May 07, 2025

    Mich. Justices Mull 'Straddle Policies' In No-Fault Cases

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether insurance policies that straddle the date no-fault reforms went into effect should be subjected to post-reform increased limits for liability and scheduled medical care reimbursement rates.

  • May 07, 2025

    Boarding School Not Covered In Sex Abuse Suit, Insurer Says

    An insurer for a private boarding school told a Massachusetts federal court it owes no coverage to the school and its former head for a civil lawsuit accusing a former teacher of sexually abusing students, pointing to separate exclusions barring coverage for abuse and known wrongful acts.

  • May 07, 2025

    Liberty Mutual Must Pay $1.3M Crash Verdict, Woman Says

    A woman who won a $1.3 million verdict against a Liberty Mutual insured over a car crash said the insurer is now on the hook for the award, telling a Connecticut federal court the insurer could and should have resolved the suit within policy limits.

  • May 06, 2025

    Insurer Denies Coverage For Amtrak Employee Slip-And-Fall

    An insurer told an Illinois federal court that Amtrak has no coverage for an underlying slip-and-fall injury lawsuit brought by an employee, because it's not an additional insured under its policy and the underlying litigation cannot be covered because of a workers' compensation exclusion, among other reasons.

  • May 05, 2025

    Class Cert. Partially Granted In Auto Insurance Discount Case

    A California federal court partially granted class certification Monday over policyholders' claims that a group of insurers violated the state's rule on good driver discounts.

  • May 02, 2025

    NJ Panel Affirms $2.6M Coverage Payout In Cleanup Case

    A New Jersey appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's decision finding that under Massachusetts law an insurer owed a BASF entity only $2.6 million in coverage for underlying environmental remediation costs after the lower court found a prior, larger coverage calculation it had adopted was "palpably incorrect."

  • May 02, 2025

    NC Farmers Say Fight With Crop Insurer Must Stay In Court

    A suit by six tobacco farmers lodging tort claims against their crop insurer should proceed in state court, they told a North Carolina appeals court, arguing that an arbitration provision in their policy applies only to disputes over a coverage determination.

  • May 01, 2025

    Public Fire Model Could Boost Calif. Insurance Oversight

    Developing a public wildfire model in California could help provide a transparent benchmark for insurance regulators to better understand fire risk and evaluate rates, but experts warn that challenges remain as the federal government eyes cuts to key climate monitors.

  • May 01, 2025

    Insurance Pros Stress Disaster Mitigation In Senate Hearing

    A panel of insurance experts stressed in front of a U.S. Senate committee Thursday the importance of mitigation efforts, such as strengthening building codes and hardening homes, as the experts discussed how prices in the property insurance market have soared because of recent natural disasters across the country.

  • May 01, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Fourth Circuit upheld Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, insurers for the Suquamish Tribe further urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review their tribal jurisdiction dispute and the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a McDonald’s franchisee’s bid for coverage. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • May 01, 2025

    Trucker Chases Down Mich. Appeals Court Win In Injury Suit

    A trucker who was hit in his sleeper cab and then ran after the semi-truck that he believed caused the incident, jumping on its running board till he was thrown, may be entitled to insurance benefits, Michigan appellate judges said, reversing most of a lower court's judgment.

  • May 01, 2025

    Foster Care Insurance Costs Surge Amid Abuse Claims

    Foster care agencies have faced increased costs of general liability insurance and with insurers hesitant to write policies for these entities in certain states, experts point to the need for legislative reform and regulation all while trying to prevent further trauma for children.

  • May 01, 2025

    Bank Says Insurer Owes $1.8M In Vandalism Coverage

    A bank accused a Berkshire unit and its insurance agent of underpaying coverage for property damage from "vandalism and/or theft," saying that while it's received roughly $105,000 in coverage to date, the insurer has yet to pay nearly $1.8 million.

  • May 01, 2025

    Pierson Ferdinand Adds Insurance Group With New Atty

    The rapidly growing firm of Pierson Ferdinand LLP announced Thursday that it tapped a new partner who was previously with Carlton Fields to launch an international insurance regulatory team practice along with another Los Angeles-based attorney.

  • May 01, 2025

    4th Circ. To Mull Towers Watson's Bump-Up Exclusion Appeal

    The Fourth Circuit will have another chance to interpret the language of so-called bump-up exclusions when it hears oral arguments next week in Towers Watson's long-running dispute to secure $54 million in directors and officers coverage for settlements resolving shareholder litigation. Here, Law360 breaks down the case in advance of the May 6 hearing.

  • April 30, 2025

    Nationwide Says Claim For 'Fat Freezing' Injury Isn't Covered

    Nationwide has filed suit asking an Illinois federal court to declare that it has no duty to cover a suburban Chicago gym in a 3-year-old "fat freezing" injury case headed to trial in June, saying the underlying injury doesn't trigger the facility's policy.

  • April 30, 2025

    Schools Say Norfolk Southern Ducked Postderailment Pledge

    The school district for East Palestine, Ohio, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Norfolk Southern, claiming the railroad hasn't made good on its promises to help the district recover after a fiery derailment shook the town in 2023.

  • April 30, 2025

    NY Diocese, Lloyd's Of London End Sex Abuse Coverage Suit

    Lloyd's of London underwriters and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre agreed to end a dispute over the payment of defense expenses related to sexual abuse claims against the diocese, according to a New York federal court filing entered Wednesday, months after the Catholic organization confirmed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Insurer Denies Extra $5M For Event Co.'s Injury Dispute

    An insurer for a motocross event organizer doesn't owe an additional $5 million in coverage on top of the $1 million it already paid to settle a suit over a child's injury at an amateur national motocross championship event, the carrier told an Ohio federal court.

  • April 28, 2025

    Geico's Failure To Settle Caused $2.8M Judgment, Suit Says

    A court-appointed receiver for an at-fault driver has told a North Carolina federal court that Geico should be on the hook for a more than $2.8 million consent judgment against the driver stemming from an August 2020 crash, saying the insurer failed to settle underlying injury claims for the driver's $100,000 limit.

  • April 28, 2025

    8th Circ. Told Insurer Must Keep Defending Fatal Crash Suit

    A logistics company facing wrongful death claims told the Eighth Circuit its insurer must pay to defend it because it was insured under a trucking company's policy and there was no agreement that a $1 million payment by the insurer absolved the insurer of its duties.

  • April 28, 2025

    Insurance Agency Says Carrier Can't End Car Policy Program

    An insurance agency that provides specialized policies for car rental companies asked a Pennsylvania federal court to halt an insurer's plan to abruptly cancel a program through which the agency writes the policies, saying the proposed termination would cause "major disruptions" to rental companies and their customers nationwide.

  • April 28, 2025

    Petrol Co. Says Carriers Must Defend Benzene Injury Suit

    A petroleum services company told a New York state court that three of its marine insurers have failed to cover any defense costs incurred in a benzene injury lawsuit, even after it said the lead insurer agreed to defend it under a reservation of rights.

  • April 25, 2025

    $1.1M Hail Coverage Suit Against Travelers Is Time-Barred

    An Oklahoma property owner cannot get revised coverage from two Travelers units for more than $1.1 million in claimed hail damage repairs, an Oklahoma federal court ruled, finding that after Travelers paid roughly $100,000 in coverage, the property owner filed its coverage action too late. 

Expert Analysis

  • Appealing An Interlocutory Order On Insurer Duty To Defend

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    A recent First Circuit decision on a motion regarding an insurer's duty to defend underlying litigation highlights how policyholders may be able to pursue immediate appeals of interlocutory orders, especially in light of other circuit courts' stances on this issue, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Tools For Witness Control That Go Beyond Leading Questions

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    Though leading questions can be efficient and effective for constraining a witness’s testimony, this strategy isn’t appropriate for every trial and pretrial scenario, so techniques like headlining and looping can be deployed during direct examination, depositions and even witness interviews, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • 4 Do's And Don'ts For Trial Lawyers Using Generative AI

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    Trial attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools should review a few key reminders, from the likelihood that prompts are discoverable to the rapid evolution of court rules, to safeguard against embarrassing missteps, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • NC COVID Ruling May Have Greater Coverage Implications

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    While the North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 comes too late for most insureds to benefit, it should nonetheless have coverage implications far beyond COVID-19 claims, say attorneys at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 5 Argument Techniques For Policyholder Advocates

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    Winning insurance coverage disputes often comes down to who has articulated the more compelling interpretation of the relevant policy language, which is why the best policyholder advocates come back to certain tried and true argument approaches, says Greg Van Houten at Haynes Boone.

  • Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses

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    In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Confirms Insurer Standing Requirements

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    A New York bankruptcy court's recent decision in the Syracuse Diocese's Chapter 11 case indicates that insurers have misread the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum and that federal standing requirements remain unaltered, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape

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    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.

  • Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario

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    Parties are generally required to meet and confer to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing a related motion, but courts should dispense with this conferencing requirement when a party fails to specify a time by which it will complete its production, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law.

  • Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025

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    As insurance industry participants look to plan for the year, regulatory changes, climate-related challenges, the ongoing effects of social inflation and the potential for significant mergers and acquisitions will be among the key items for insurer boards and management to have on their radar, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Public View Of CEO's Killing Means For Corporate Trials

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    Given the proliferation of anti-corporate sentiments following recent charges against Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, attorneys who represent corporate clients and executives will need to adapt their trial strategy to account for juror anger, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.