Specialty Lines
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April 03, 2025
Insurance Pros Size Up Major Industry Risks At NYC Forum
The influence of litigation financing, artificial intelligence and climate change on insurance law were among key topics this week as insurance experts discussed the biggest risks in the property and casualty space. Here, Law360 breaks down highlights of remarks by attorneys and industry experts at the Practising Law Institute in New York.
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April 02, 2025
Insurer Says $9M OpenText Merger Settlement Not Covered
An insurer said it is not obligated to contribute to a $9 million settlement in a shareholder class action stemming from Covisint's 2017 merger with software company OpenText, telling a Michigan federal court that the settlement does not constitute a covered loss.
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April 02, 2025
Potbelly Says Insurer Must Cover Wage Transparency Suit
Sandwich chain owner Potbelly Inc. told a Washington state court that its insurer wrongly refused to cover it in a proposed underlying class action alleging the business violated Washington's wage transparency law by failing to disclose pay and benefit information to job applicants.
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April 02, 2025
Insurer Gets Education Co.'s $2.2M Theft Coverage Bid Tossed
A Maryland federal court tossed an education management company's suit seeking excess coverage for over $2.2 million in employee embezzlement losses, saying the company failed to show its loss occurred during the relevant policy period.
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April 01, 2025
Insurer Can't Escape Aerospace Co.'s $3.3M Claim Denial Suit
An insurer for an aerospace products manufacturer can't escape claims that it wrongfully denied coverage of an approximately $3.3 million loss from fund mismanagement after years of delay, an Oregon federal court ruled.
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April 01, 2025
Hartford Unit Freed From Ill. Agency's $4M Wire Fraud Suit
An Illinois agency that administers the estates of financially distressed insurers can't get coverage from a Hartford unit for a computer system breach that the agency said caused roughly $4 million in outstanding losses, a federal court ruled, finding its claims fall outside an "electronic mail initiated fraud" coverage provision.
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April 01, 2025
Chamber, Trade Groups Back Insurer's Class Cert. Review Bid
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major insurance industry groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Ninth Circuit decision allowing a class action to proceed against State Farm over its use of "negotiation adjustments" to calculate payouts for totaled vehicles.
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April 01, 2025
Homeowners Premiums Rose 24% In 3 Years, Report Says
Average homeowners insurance premiums in the United States rose by 24% from 2021 to 2024, a national crisis that is putting pressure on Americans with mortgage burdens, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Consumer Federation of America.
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March 31, 2025
Trucking Co. Says Insurers Owe Coverage For BIPA Suit
A trucking company's insurers owe coverage for underlying litigation brought by a former employee who said the company violated his biometric privacy rights by using a hand-scanning timekeeping system that stored his protected personal data, the company told an Illinois federal court.
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March 31, 2025
Insurer Can Limit Rates But Not Counsel In Utility Litigation
A Swiss Re unit can limit the rates it pays to defend utility company Aqua's successor entity in litigation over alleged lead contamination in a Chicago suburb's water supply, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled, adding that the insurer cannot make Aqua change its counsel.
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March 31, 2025
Progressive Says Motorcycles Aren't 'Autos' For Crash Claims
Progressive asked a North Carolina federal court to declare it does not owe bodily injury coverage to a woman who was hurt while riding as a passenger on a motorcycle that went off the road, arguing in its new complaint that the motorcycle is not an "auto" for "auto accident" coverage.
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March 28, 2025
AIG Unit Wins No-Defense Ruling For NY Ghost Gun Suits
An AIG unit has no duty to defend a Washington-state-based firearms retailer in three underlying lawsuits accusing the retailer of knowingly selling unfinished components that could be used to assemble what are commonly known as ghost guns, a New York federal court ruled, finding the complaints do not allege accidental conduct.
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March 28, 2025
LA Zoo Org. Not Covered In City Contract Row, Insurer Says
An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify the Los Angeles Zoo's nonprofit arm in a contractual dispute brought by the city, the carrier told a California federal court, saying claims arising out of a breach of contract or related to the association's professional services are excluded.
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March 28, 2025
Insurer Denied Early Win In $6.1M Cargo Loss Coverage Suit
A New York federal judge said there was too much controversy to hand an early win to a stone company in its case seeking coverage of a more than $6.1 million loss over marble destroyed by a snail infestation.
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March 27, 2025
P&C Insurers Return To Profits Amid Economic Uncertainty
Property and casualty insurers collected record-setting profits in 2024, but macroeconomic conditions and other factors threaten to stymie their growth, says a broker and author of a recent report. Here, Law360 speaks to Vince Gaffigan about what drove growth, the looming risks ranging from inflation to catastrophic weather events, and what brokers and insureds should do to ready themselves against an array of uncertainties.
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March 27, 2025
PNC's $106M Coverage Loss Cautionary Tale For Acquisitions
A recent Third Circuit ruling rejecting PNC Bank's more than $100 million coverage bid for an underlying judgment against a subsidiary highlights a small but potentially impactful provision precluding coverage for wrongful acts that occur prior to an acquisition.
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March 27, 2025
Amid New Political Reality, NAIC Says No Fed Insurance Office
State insurance regulators made a significant push to limit perceived federal intrusion into their authority last week when their primary deliberative body called for the abolition of a U.S. Treasury office tasked with identifying and reporting on risks to the industry.
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March 27, 2025
Insurer Can't Escape Auto Co.'s $50M COVID Coverage Suit
An insurer can't escape an auto parts manufacturer's suit seeking $50 million in coverage for COVID-19-related losses, a North Carolina federal court ruled, saying the manufacturer sufficiently alleged that its losses are covered under the policy's communicable disease endorsement.
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March 27, 2025
Coverage Row Over OpenText Merger Now Moot, Judge Says
A Michigan federal court tossed on Thursday an insurer's lawsuit seeking a declaration that it had no duty to indemnify a shareholder class action stemming from Covisint's 2017 merger with software company OpenText, finding the dispute is now moot because the insurer's coverage limit has already been exhausted.
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March 27, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
An insurer will pay nearly $1 million to resolve claims it failed to protect drivers' data, Michigan's top court will take up two car insurance appeals, the Fifth Circuit was asked to set precedent with an assault coverage ruling and PNC Bank NA can't get coverage for a more than $106 million judgment. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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March 27, 2025
NC Biz Court Limits Testimony In Smithfield Coverage Trial
A North Carolina business court judge refused to exclude expert witnesses from either side of an insurance coverage dispute between Smithfield Foods Inc. and a Chubb subsidiary, but did limit their testimony for the firms' upcoming April trial on how much the insurer owes for breaching its duty to defend.
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March 27, 2025
$6.3M Default Against Cannabis Co. Not Covered, Insurer Says
An insurer said it doesn't owe coverage for a $6.3 million default judgment entered against a medical cannabis testing company related to its fraudulent operations, telling a Mississippi federal court that the company failed to provide notice of various developments in an underlying government investigation and the subsequent lawsuit.
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March 26, 2025
Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.
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March 26, 2025
Illinois Supreme Court Denies Co.'s BIPA Coverage Appeal
The Illinois Supreme Court left intact an intermediate appellate panel's decision relieving two Liberty Mutual units of covering a home decor company in its underlying dispute with employees who said its timekeeping practices are in violation of the state's biometric data privacy law.
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March 25, 2025
Baltimore Bridge Collapse: One Year Later
Federal accident investigators' recent determination that Maryland could've done more to protect Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge from a devastating collapse may complicate the sprawling legal battle over liability and damages in the year since a cargo ship struck the bridge and crippled a major East Coast transportation hub.
Expert Analysis
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A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape
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.
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Best Practices To Optimize Cybersecurity Insurance
As cyberthreats continue to evolve, the risks associated with third-party vendor breaches are an increasing concern, so businesses must not only reevaluate their internal cybersecurity insurance, but also take proactive steps to evaluate and manage the risks posed by their third-party relationships, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario
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.
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Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025
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.
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What Public View Of CEO's Killing Means For Corporate Trials
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.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: Nov. And Dec. Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving takings clause violations, breach of contract with banks, life insurance policies, employment and automobile defects.
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Artfully Conceding Liability Can Offer Defendants 3 Benefits
In the rare case that a company makes the strategic decision to admit liability, it’s important to do so clearly and consistently in order to benefit from the various forms of armor that come from an honest acknowledgment, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025
Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
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Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win
Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
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6 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2025
This year is likely to bring with it some thorny and expensive cyber challenges, including increased ransomware activity, more data breach class actions and continued efforts to define business interruption loss calculations, say attorneys at Wiley.
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How Trial Attys Can Wield Amended Federal Evidence Rules
Trial lawyers should assess recent amendments to four Federal Rules of Evidence and a newly enacted rule on illustrative aids to determine how to best use the rules to enhance pretrial discovery and trial strategy, says Stewart Edelstein, former litigation chair at Cohen & Wolf.
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Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.
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1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress
In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.