Insurance

  • March 26, 2024

    Geico Alleges $5.6M Billing Scam Targeted NY Insurance Cos.

    The insurance giant Geico has sued a New Jersey man and three medical imaging companies in New York federal court, accusing them of a $5.6 million scheme to submit fraudulent bills for unnecessary or otherwise useless tests on auto accident victims.

  • March 26, 2024

    UK Marine Insurer Investigating Baltimore Bridge Crash

    Britannia, a British marine insurer, confirmed Tuesday that it is working with authorities in Baltimore after a container ship destroyed the city's landmark Francis Scott Key Bridge in a collision that experts say is likely to cost the insurance sector billions of dollars in claims.

  • March 25, 2024

    NC Justices Undo Stacking Auto Insurance Coverage

    The North Carolina Supreme Court has overruled 30 years of intermediate appellate court adherence to "stacking" underinsured motorist policies, ruling the plain language of a state law only allows that type of coverage to be combined among policies on a vehicle involved with a collision.

  • March 25, 2024

    Colo. Justices Say Insurer's Vintage Car Exclusion Holds Up

    Colorado's justices on Monday ruled that specialty insurance policies for vintage cars can limit uninsured motorist coverage when they work "in tandem" with a policy for a regular-use vehicle, with the court finding that antique car policies warrant "different treatment."

  • March 25, 2024

    Berkshire Hathaway Unit's Patent Must Undergo 3 PGRs

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has instituted three post-grant reviews challenging a single Columbia Insurance Co. fire wall hanger patent, following petitions from Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc.

  • March 25, 2024

    Geico Beats COVID-19 Auto Rebate Class Action On 2nd Try

    A California federal judge has granted Geico's bid for victory in a certified class action alleging the insurance company owed additional refunds to drivers who overpaid their auto insurance premiums during COVID-19 shutdowns, saying the company's rebate program was adequate and did not violate the state's insurance code.

  • March 25, 2024

    Tesla, Travelers Settle Wrongful Death Coverage Dispute

    Tesla and a Travelers unit reached an agreement in the parties' dispute over coverage of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a construction worker at a company factory in Austin, shortly after a Texas federal judge declined to strike three of the insurers' defenses.

  • March 25, 2024

    NC High Court Vacates Workers' Comp For Weight Loss Surgery

    A divided North Carolina Supreme Court has adopted a test for determining when someone is entitled to workers' compensation for treatment related to their workplace injury and, in doing so, reversed a ruling finding a preschool must pay for an employee's weight loss surgery.

  • March 25, 2024

    No Coverage for Pa. ATV Accident, Insurer Says

    Truck Insurance Exchange has told a Pennsylvania state court it should owe no coverage to a policyholder facing a personal injury suit over an all-terrain vehicle accident, saying the policyholder's insurance agent "intentionally" failed to disclose the accident before Truck issued the policy.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ex-Root Exec Gets 51 Months In Prison For $10.2M Theft

    The former chief marketing officer for Columbus, Ohio-based car insurer Root Inc. has been sentenced to 51 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for embezzling more than $10.2 million from his employer and spending it on plastic surgery, a yacht, a plane, and other personal expenses.

  • March 25, 2024

    Divided NC High Court Backs Insurer's Mailer Coverage Win

    A deadlocked North Carolina Supreme Court has left undisturbed a lower court's ruling that an insurer needn't cover a law firm accused of violating the Driver's Privacy Protection Act by using personal information to market legal services to crash victims.

  • March 25, 2024

    Trump Gets Late Reprieve After Failing To Post $465M Bond

    A New York appellate panel said Monday that Donald Trump can pause enforcement of the state attorney general's $465 million civil fraud judgment by posting just $175 million while he appeals, after the former president complained that he was unable to secure a bond for the entire amount.

  • March 22, 2024

    Insurer Urges 9th Circ. To Reverse LA Port Co.'s Defense Win

    United National Insurance Co. urged the Ninth Circuit on Friday to reverse a ruling that the insurer was obligated to defend a Los Angeles port company against pollution claims brought by the city, saying the lower court erroneously failed to enforce the policy's qualified pollution exclusion.

  • March 22, 2024

    Kaiser's Ozempic Coverage Denial Is Discriminatory, Suit Says

    Two Kaiser plans' refusal to cover new prescription weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is "without any medical or scientific basis," a Washington state resident told a state court, alleging disability discrimination.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ind. Factory Adds To Historic $112M Bad Faith Coverage Win

    A flooded factory building that was awarded $112 million in a historic bad faith win added to its victory Friday when an Indiana federal court denied its insurers' requests for a new trial and granted the factory more than $7 million in costs and interest.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ex-Ga. Insurance Head Cops To Healthcare Kickback Scheme

    Former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine pled guilty Friday to working with an Atlanta-area doctor to run a multimillion-dollar medical testing kickback scheme just weeks before he was set to face trial in federal court.

  • March 22, 2024

    5th Circ. Asked For Do-Over In Hurricane Coverage Feud

    The owners of a New Orleans apartment complex urged the Fifth Circuit to rethink ordering them to arbitrate Hurricane Ida damage claims under New York law, arguing New York's choice-of-law clause would ordinarily be unenforceable under Louisiana law if it weren't couched within the arbitration provision.

  • March 22, 2024

    Colo. Mandates Multistate Online Insurance Tax Filing

    Insurance companies in Colorado will be required to pay certain taxes through multistate third-party web-based application under legislation that Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed into law Friday.

  • March 22, 2024

    Congress Spares Employee Benefits From $400M DOL Cut

    A commitment from Congress to keep funding level for the U.S. Department of Labor's sub-agency that oversees employee benefits despite a $400 million agency-wide cut was one of the highlights for benefits attorneys in a new fiscal year 2024 spending deal. Here are three takeaways from attorneys on the funding agreement.

  • March 22, 2024

    5th Circ. Revives Coverage Row Over SXSW Ticket Refunds

    Texas music festival South by Southwest's insurer must cover its defense in a class action by ticket holders who didn't receive refunds after the city of Austin canceled the March 2020 event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fifth Circuit said, reviving the dispute.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ex-Drug Rep Won't Serve More Time After 1st Circ. Victory

    The second sentencing of a former Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. salesman did not add a day in prison to the roughly seven months he served before the First Circuit wiped away his initial conviction on charges he schemed to fraudulently sell the company's cholesterol treatment.

  • March 22, 2024

    Fox Rothschild Hires Lewis Brisbois Insurance Vet In Seattle

    Fox Rothschild LLP has hired an insurance litigator in Seattle who focuses her practice on a range of commercial and liability disputes and joins the firm after working for a decade at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, the firm has announced.

  • March 21, 2024

    Cigna Slams Suit's Claims Of Algorithm-Led Coverage Denials

    Insurance giant Cigna Group wants a Connecticut federal court to toss a proposed class action alleging that an algorithm unlawfully rejected hundreds of thousands of claims en masse and without a proper review, arguing the suit is based on a "misleading" news article and shows a misunderstanding of the health insurer's claim denial process.

  • March 21, 2024

    Calif. Panel Revives Diner's COVID Sanitization Coverage Bid

    A California state appeals court revived a diner's bid for property insurance coverage of COVID-19 losses after it determined the restaurant credibly alleged direct physical losses and that the policy's language covering losses attributable to a virus applied to COVID-19 sanitization efforts.

  • March 21, 2024

    VA May Have Acted In Bad Faith On $30M Debt Collection Deal

    The U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals refused to toss a $29.6 million appeal accusing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of hampering a contractor's efforts to collect funds from outside insurers, saying the VA may have acted in bad faith.

Expert Analysis

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • How Calif. Video Recording Ruling May Affect Insured Exams

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    A recent California appellate decision, Myasnyankin v. Nationwide, allowing policyholders to video record all parties to an insurance examination under oath, has changed the rules of the road for EUOs and potentially opened Pandora's box for future disputes, say John Edson and Preston Bennett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Insurance Industry Asbestos Reserve Estimates Are Unreliable

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    Insurance regulators rely on industry self-reporting in approving insurance company reorganizations, but AM Best data reveals that actuarial and audit estimates have been setting perniciously low levels of loss reserves for asbestos liabilities and thus should be treated with deep skepticism, says Jonathan Terrell at KCIC.

  • Insurance Implications Of Trump's NY Civil Fraud Verdict

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    A New York state trial court’s $450 million judgment against former President Donald Trump and affiliated entities for valuation fraud offers several important lessons for companies seeking to obtain directors and officers insurance, including the consequences of fraudulent misrepresentations and critical areas of underwriting risk, says Kevin LaCroix at RT ProExec.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Understanding Insurance Is Key To Limiting Antitrust Liability

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    As regulators signal their intent to continue last year's aggressive campaign of corporate antitrust litigation, businesses must make active management of their liability insurance policies, along with a firm knowledge of the limits of their coverage, central to their strategies for limiting the enormous financial risks of enforcement, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy

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    In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.

  • Texas Insurance Ruling Could Restore Finality To Appraisal

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    The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. Safeco, determining that full payment of an appraisal award precludes recovery of attorney fees, indicates a potential return to an era in which timely payment undoubtedly disposes of all possible policyholder claims, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling

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    A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • 5 Tips For Policyholders Arbitrating R&W Insurance Claims

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    With more representations and warranties insurance disputes being arbitrated, policyholder counsel should note issues that are unique to RWI claims, including those of privilege, priority and preserving subrogation, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone. 

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

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