Specialty Lines

  • September 11, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    A New York federal court analyzed policy limits and retentions over abuse claims against the Archdiocese of New York, the First Circuit ordered an insurer to defend a class action over allegedly faulty heating oil, and insurers notified the Fifth Circuit of a potential settlement in their hurricane arbitration appeal.

  • September 11, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Revisit Doctor's Captive Insurance Case

    The Fifth Circuit rejected a Texas doctor's request for the full court to review a panel's July decision that he was not entitled to $1 million in tax deductions linked to his urgent care network's captive insurance company.

  • September 10, 2025

    Liberty Says Subcontractor's Insurer Must Defend Injury Row

    A subcontractor's insurer must defend and indemnify companies insured by a Liberty Mutual unit on a primary basis in a worker's injury lawsuit, the unit argued to a New York federal court.

  • September 10, 2025

    $5.9M Fidelity National Data Breach Settlement Gets Final OK

    A Florida federal court officially signed off on a $5.9 million settlement of a proposed class action against title insurer Fidelity National Financial over a November 2023 data breach that allegedly impacted roughly 1.3 million individuals, noting the court was notified of a settlement just seven months after the litigation commenced. 

  • September 10, 2025

    McCarter & English Atty Admitted Breaches, Insurers Claim

    Two insurance companies have asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge's permission to file a late request for a quick win on two breach of contract claims against McCarter & English LLP and one of its attorneys, saying the lawyer's deposition left no facts in dispute on those specific counts.

  • September 08, 2025

    Court Tosses Benefits Co.'s Atty Fee Claim Against Insurer

    An Illinois federal court on Monday threw out a benefits administration company's counterclaim for attorney fees under a state statute relating to "vexatious and unreasonable" conduct by insurers, finding that the company failed to support its claims that an insurer engaged in such conduct with sufficient facts.

  • September 04, 2025

    Progressive Class Cert. Reversals Point To Claim Individuality

    Progressive Insurance secured another class certification reversal in a lawsuit over certain adjustments the insurer makes when calculating the actual cash value of a totaled vehicle, and one of the carrier's attorneys praised the Fourth Circuit for finding that the issues at hand are individualistic in nature. King & Spalding LLP's Jeffrey Cashdan spoke to Law360 about that victory and two others for the carrier in the circuit courts.

  • September 04, 2025

    Cyber Claims May Hide AI-Related Risks, Insurer Atty Warns

    Insurers long concerned about the risks posed by artificial intelligence tools that their companies and vendors are using may find a limited window into the scope of that threat in the current claims environment. TittmannWeix partner Judith Selby, who represents insurers on cybersecurity risk and tech errors and omissions policies, spoke to Law360 about AI claims. 

  • September 04, 2025

    Life Insurer Accused Of Policy Rescission Scheme

    A life insurer violated Arkansas law by broadly denying policy benefits to residents for reasons causally unrelated to a given policy owner's death, a woman told a federal court, saying the state Legislature expressly prohibited such conduct more than 10 years ago.

  • September 04, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Delaware Supreme Court refused to take up a midcase appeal in Mattel's suit over coverage for unsafe sleeper claims, the Eighth Circuit affirmed an apartment complex's $27 million award against Travelers and the Fifth Circuit heard arguments over a group of domestic insurers' bid to arbitrate hurricane damage claims. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • September 04, 2025

    Chinese Insurers Leading Race To Cover Renewable Energy

    The global renewable insurance market grew from $5.65 billion in 2020 to $8 billion in 2024, with insurers from China underwriting most premiums in recent years, analysis from a campaign group shows.

  • September 03, 2025

    Investment Co. Founder's Life Insurance Award Dropped To $1

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday that a jury did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that historian and investment firm founder Malcolm Wiener suffered $16 million in damages over a canceled life insurance policy, saying Wiener may only recover $1 in nominal damages.

  • September 03, 2025

    Insurer Escapes Duty To Cover Lab's Suit Over COVID Tests

    Continental Casualty Co. is not obligated to cover a Pennsylvania laboratory in an underlying lawsuit brought by a COVID-19 test manufacturer that accuses the lab of neglecting its responsibilities and falsely disparaging its tests, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Friday, finding the claims are barred due to two exclusions within the insurer's policy.

  • September 03, 2025

    Nationwide Unit Needn't Cover Restaurateur In Fraud Disputes

    The former co-manager of a defunct Colorado restaurant venture cannot get coverage for a suit alleging he defrauded a lender and a separate bankruptcy proceeding, a New York federal court ruled, finding a Nationwide unit has no duty to defend him under a policy issued to the entity he partnered with.

  • August 29, 2025

    8th Circ.'s 'Erie Guess' Affirms Apt. Co.'s $27M Insurance Win

    A partially split Eighth Circuit panel affirmed an apartment complex's $27 million jury award against Travelers Insurance, holding that an expert's testimony about the presence of carcinogenetic soot is sufficient to support the verdict that a fire on the property caused "direct physical loss of or damage to" unburned sections.

  • August 28, 2025

    Katrina's Insurance Lessons Ever Relevant 20 Years Later

    Hurricane Katrina's landfall in New Orleans 20 years ago was an unprecedented catastrophe that resulted in financial consequences and insurance lessons that are more relevant today than ever, as fossil fuel-induced climate change promises more intense storms, experts say.

  • August 28, 2025

    Rising Facial Recognition Suits May Fuel BIPA Coverage Rows

    Growing public scrutiny and lawsuits around the use of facial recognition technology reveal the insurance risks that companies face under Illinois' biometric data privacy law, contributing to an already hot area of dispute for coverage.

  • August 28, 2025

    Team Says Insurer Owes $5.5M Over MLB Negotiations Deal

    An Oregon baseball team called the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes told a New Hampshire federal court that an insurer for the association behind Minor League Baseball must cover its $5.5 million judgment against MiLB over claims that MiLB snubbed the Volcanoes out of an overarching agreement with the major leagues.

  • August 28, 2025

    Crop Insurance Changes Bring Needed Funding Boost

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency implementation of enhancements to federal crop insurance programs under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a funding boost to programs, but leaves some industry experts hoping there's more legislation to come.

  • August 28, 2025

    Rhodium Founders Defend D&O Coverage Request In Ch. 11

    Founders of cryptocurrency mining firm Rhodium are defending their request for leave to pursue payouts from the company's directors and officers insurance policy, saying an ad hoc group's protests fell flat since any shortfalls in coverage would primarily affect the founders and the outcome would not change based on sufficiency of the coverage.

  • August 28, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Fourth Circuit erased class certification in a lawsuit challenging Progressive's coverage of totaled vehicles, the First Circuit said an insurer had no defense obligations over an eviction scheme alleged at a senior living facility and the Ninth Circuit assessed the "unconscionability" of liability language in an aircraft service agreement. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.

  • August 26, 2025

    Clause Not Unconscionable In Jet Damage Row, 9th Circ. Says

    A "limitation of liability" provision that an aircraft services company used in a "landing card" agreement for arriving aircraft wasn't unconscionable under Nevada law, the Ninth Circuit ruled, siding against an insurer demanding that the company reimburse it for damage to a private jet stored at a Las Vegas airport.

  • August 21, 2025

    AI Tools Spark Debate Over Insurance Policy Interpretation

    An artificial intelligence tool drafts an insurance policy and makes a note of potential inconsistencies in language.

  • August 21, 2025

    Abuse Claim Influx Raises Insurance Woes For Calif. Schools

    Legislation in California eliminated a number of claim prerequisites and the statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault survivors pursing litigation against public entities, but five years later insurance experts are sounding the alarm as to how this legislation has impacted public schools' ability to procure adequate liability coverage at a reasonable cost.

  • August 21, 2025

    Court Refuses To Split IT Co.'s Settlement Coverage Claims

    A Colorado federal court refused Thursday to separate and stay an information technology company's bad faith claims against a Chubb unit and malpractice claim against a law firm in a dispute over coverage for a $3.4 million underlying judgment.

Expert Analysis

  • An Update On Legal Issues In The Drone Market

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    Marialuisa Gallozzi and Alex Slawson at Covington examine recent developments in the legal issues surrounding the growing drone market, including possible First Amendment protections, Fourth Amendment surveillance, and litigation involving criminal and civil penalties, evidentiary pursuits, and insurance.

  • Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling

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    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.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    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.

  • Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    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.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    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.

  • Insurance Likely Kept Swift Out Of The Woods After Vienna

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    Financial losses Taylor Swift incurred from the cancellation of three concerts in Vienna in August will likely be covered by insurance policies, considering how the facts of the situation differ from those of the Foo Fighters' 2015 insurance dispute over event cancellation and terrorism coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    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.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    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.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Antitrust Risks

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    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.

  • Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions

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    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.

  • What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings

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    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.

  • 6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

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    In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.