More Insurance Coverage
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January 30, 2025
SEC Eyes Pretrial Win On $57M Fraud After Lindberg Plea Deal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked a North Carolina federal judge to give it a pretrial win on its fraud claims against convicted former insurance mogul Greg Lindberg and his investment adviser firm, arguing multiple convictions in parallel criminal cases against Lindberg and others are a "straightforward" indicator of his liability.
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January 29, 2025
Lab Co-Owner Gets 9 Years For $369M COVID Testing Scheme
The co-owner of a California medical laboratory was sentenced to nine years in prison after being accused of conspiring to defraud Medicare and private insurers out of $369 million by submitting claims for medically unnecessary tests during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.
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January 29, 2025
Lloyd's Can't Yet Arbitrate $5M Settlement Coverage Dispute
A New Jersey federal court rejected a bid Wednesday from certain Lloyd's of London underwriters to arbitrate a man's demand that they cover a $5 million settlement he won against a police department they insured, though it stopped short of saying whether the parties must actually go to arbitration.
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January 29, 2025
Ex-Allied World Executive Gets Prison, Must Repay $1.2M
A former executive and claims handler at Allied World Insurance Co. will serve 20 months in prison and must repay $1.2 million he admitted to scamming from the company for phony construction work and kickbacks from vendors, federal prosecutors in Connecticut announced Tuesday.
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January 29, 2025
Workers Needed To Initiate Arbitration, Calif. Panel Says
A group of workers needed to initiate arbitration in their proposed class action claiming an insurance company misclassified them as exempt employees after a trial court sent their claims out of court, a California state appellate panel ruled, flipping the lower court's decision reviving the suit.
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January 27, 2025
Anadarko Prevails In La. Kickback Defense Coverage Suit
An environmental remediation company should defend and indemnify Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a decade-old Louisiana kickback lawsuit, a Texas federal court judge has ruled.
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January 27, 2025
Allstate Beats Plan Participants' $70M Poor-Performance Suit
An Illinois federal judge handed Allstate a pretrial win Monday over retirement plan participants' claim that the insurer cost them nearly $70 million by holding on to poor-performing funds, saying the plaintiffs' "apples and oranges" comparisons will not sway a jury in their favor.
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January 24, 2025
Wells Fargo Gets Another Win In Lifetrade Investor Suit
A New York federal judge determined that investors of Lifetrade Fund BV cannot prove Wells Fargo aided or abetted an alleged massive fraud orchestrated by Lifetrade's managers, saying the investors presented only contradictory information regarding the value of the Lifetrade portfolio.
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January 24, 2025
Grier Wright Tapped For Insurance Mogul's $2B Liquidation
Bankruptcy attorney Joseph Grier of Grier Wright Martinez PA will serve as special master to identify, receive, track and distribute billions of dollars that will go toward restitution to victims defrauded by convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, a North Carolina federal judge ruled.
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January 21, 2025
4th Circ. Won't Undo Doctor's Conviction For Reusing Devices
A former North Carolina ear, nose and throat doctor staring down 25 years in prison for healthcare fraud lost an appeal Tuesday seeking to overturn her conviction, with the Fourth Circuit finding that the lower court did not commit any reversible error that would favor a shot at redemption.
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January 21, 2025
Lyft Driver Says Carjacking Suit Should've Settled Sooner
A Lyft driver accused his insurer of violating Washington's Insurance Fair Conduct Act over his bid for uninsured motorist benefits following a carjacking, saying the insurer forced him to go to arbitration and win an over $1.1 million award rather than accept his earlier $1 million policy limit demands.
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January 17, 2025
Insurers Needn't Cover Plastic-Maker For Worker Death Suit
Travelers and Zurich insurers don't owe indemnification to Ohio-based manufacturer Encore Plastics for a suit over a worker's death, a federal court ruled Friday, saying a "direct intent" exclusion applies to the underlying claims arising under an Ohio statute that authorizes employer liability for intentional torts.
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January 15, 2025
Crash Claimant Can't Appeal After Payout, NJ Justices Say
A plaintiff in an automobile personal injury case who accepts full payment of a final judgment and executes a warrant to satisfy it may not appeal a ruling barring evidence of future medical expenses unless they state their intent to appeal before accepting the payment, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
Symetra Life Policyholders Seek $32.5M Settlement Approval
A proposed class of Symetra policyholders asked a Washington federal court to preliminarily approve a $32.5 million deal to resolve a suit alleging that the insurer overcharged them for life insurance, saying the 11-state settlement would cover the owners of 43,000 policies.
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January 15, 2025
Chubb Unit Seeks Exit From Bar's $105M Drunken Driving Suit
A Chubb unit said it no longer owes coverage to a bar appealing a $105 million judgment related to a drunken patron's car crash, telling a Texas federal court the bar violated the terms of the policy by refusing to cooperate with the insurer's defense.
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January 13, 2025
Blue Cross Can't Skirt NC Hospital's Defamation Claims
A local hospital can pursue some of its defamation claims against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in a suit alleging the health insurer wrongly denied millions of dollars in reimbursements and falsely accused the facility of fraud, a federal judge ruled Monday.
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January 13, 2025
Investment Firm Seeks Coverage For Hertz Buyback Suits
An investment adviser said its insurers must provide coverage for underlying actions related to the adviser's involvement in car rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc.'s stock buybacks, telling a Delaware state court that its primary carrier improperly denied coverage.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Farming Partnership's Crop Policy Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a Ninth Circuit decision backing the Federal Crop Insurance Corp.'s conclusion that a farming partnership seeking to recover its $1.9 million policy limit didn't qualify for coverage.
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January 10, 2025
Infosys Files Antitrust Counterclaims In Trade Secrets Suit
Healthcare payments software company Infosys has hit back with antitrust counterclaims against Cognizant TriZetto Software Group's Texas federal court suit accusing Infosys of abusing its system access to develop competing services.
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January 10, 2025
9th Circ. Affirms Hearing Aid Co.'s Win Over Investor Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday handed a win to Eargo Inc. and affirmed the dismissal of a securities class action against the hearing aid company, which alleged that the company and its top brass acted with intent to commit insurance billing fraud.
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January 08, 2025
Citizens Financial Group GC Jumps To Corebridge Financial
Citizens Financial Group Inc.'s general counsel is preparing a move to financial services company Corebridge Financial Inc. as its new general counsel next month.
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January 06, 2025
Pa. Panel Permits Stacked UIM Benefits Within Same Policy
A woman severely injured in a motorcycle accident is entitled to underinsured motorist coverage under the same policy that directly covered the motorcycle, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled, finding that because she held a separate policy providing underinsured benefits, stacking was permitted under the former policy.
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January 03, 2025
Victims Say Crypto Isn't Money, Safeco Must Cover Hack
A Washington couple is accusing Safeco Insurance Co. of illegally refusing coverage for $600,000 in cryptocurrency stolen by hackers, saying in a complaint removed to Seattle federal court on Thursday that the tokens should be classified as personal property, not money, which has a $250 loss limit on the pair's homeowners' policy.
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January 01, 2025
2025 Michigan Cases To Watch
Attorneys predict the new five-justice Democratic majority on the Michigan Supreme Court this year could put teeth into a once-strong consumer protection statute, continue to tweak the state's premises liability law and could take on a federally posed question of the constitutionality of medical malpractice caps.
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December 17, 2024
Express Scripts, OptumRx Can't Ditch LA County Opioid Suit
A California judge ruled Tuesday that Los Angeles County can keep pursuing a lawsuit claiming pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and OptumRx colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid epidemic, though the county must rework its complaint to specify how regulators were allegedly deceived.
Expert Analysis
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Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind
As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.
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How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence
As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw
Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.
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Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist
Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Recent Cases Highlight Latest AI-Related Civil Litigation Risks
Ongoing lawsuits in federal district courts reveal potential risks that companies using artificial intelligence may face from civil litigants, including health insurance coverage cases involving contractual and equitable claims, and myriad cases concerning securities disclosure claims, say attorneys at Katten.
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We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment
As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class actions appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses three federal appellate court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving antitrust allegations against coupon processing services, consumer fraud and class action settlements.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From SEC To BigLaw
As I adjusted to the multifaceted workflow of a BigLaw firm after leaving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, working side by side with new colleagues on complex matters proved the fastest way to build a deep rapport and demonstrate my value, says Jennifer Lee at Jenner & Block.
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Making The Case For Rest In The Legal Profession
For too long, a culture of overwork has plagued the legal profession, but research shows that attorneys need rest to perform optimally and sustainably, so legal organizations and individuals must implement strategies that allow for restoration, says Marissa Alert at MDA Wellness, Carol Ross-Burnett at CRB Global, and Denise Robinson at The Still Center.
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4 Ways Women Attorneys Can Build A Legal Legacy
This Women’s History Month, women attorneys should consider what small, day-to-day actions they can take to help leave a lasting impact for future generations, even if it means mentoring one person or taking 10 minutes to make a plan, says Jackie Prester, a former shareholder at Baker Donelson.
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A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.
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6th Circ. Ruling Paves Path Out Of Loper Bright 'Twilight Zone'
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling created a twilight zone between express statutory delegations that trigger agency deference and implicit ones that do not, but the Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Moctezuma-Reyes v. Garland crafted a two-part test for resolving cases within this gray area, say attorneys at Wiley.
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7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.