Fla. Court Allows Chubb's Salvage Claim On Stolen Planes

By Mark Payne

Chubb European Group SE can move forward with a counterclaim against an aircraft leasing company that alleges the insurer can claim 23 Boeing and Airbus aircraft stolen by Russia at the start of the Ukraine war as salvaged, a Florida state court ruled.

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4th Circ. Allows Insurer To Seek Arbitration In Foam Case

By Caroline Simson

The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday overturned an order barring Illinois Union Insurance Co. from seeking to arbitrate in London a dispute within multidistrict litigation over alleged contamination from firefighting foam for failing to obtain consent from co-lead counsel.

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Analysis

A Look At Four States' Tort Reform Legislation Fights

By Y. Peter Kang

There are currently four states debating whether to install business-friendly tort reform legislation or medical malpractice guardrails. The issues include a potentially brutal showdown in California over auto collision litigation and efforts in Florida to expand wrongful death liability for healthcare providers.

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OpenAI Practices Law Without A License, Insurer Alleges

By Lauren Berg

OpenAI is practicing law without a license, according to an insurer's lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court that alleges artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT provided faulty legal advice to a woman seeking disability benefits that led to a breached settlement and a flurry of frivolous court filings.

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Overhauled IRS Microcaptive Rules Pass Muster With Judge

By Anna Scott Farrell

Revamped rules requiring taxpayers to disclose certain microcaptive insurance arrangements to the Internal Revenue Service do not violate the Administrative Procedure Act, a Tennessee federal judge found Thursday, saying multiple U.S. Tax Court decisions show the arrangements can be used to avoid taxes.

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BCBS Can't Nix NC Plan Member From Cancer Treatment Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A North Carolina federal judge ruled a Blue Cross Blue Shield unit must face proposed class action claims over its administration of a state employee health plan from a participant alleging it arbitrarily characterized a proton beam cancer radiation treatment as experimental to deny coverage.

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Insurer Seeks Win In $6.3M Coverage Row With Pot Tester

By Mike Curley

James River Insurance Co. is asking a Mississippi federal court to grant it a win in its suit to deny coverage of a $6.3 million default judgment against a cannabis testing company, saying the company breached its policy by not cooperating with the insurer.

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Insurance Pool Says No Extra Coverage For City's Hail Claim

By Hope Patti

A municipal self-insurance pool has filed suit in Colorado state court seeking a finding that it owes no additional coverage beyond the nearly $1 million it already paid for hail damage claimed by a Yuma County city, saying the city is seeking benefits for excluded cosmetic damage and wear and tear.

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Roundup

ERISA Recap: 6 Developments To Remember From Feb.

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Second Circuit refused to boot a former Luxottica worker's proposed class claims into solo arbitration, a Texas federal judge declined to snuff out a tobacco fee suit against 7-Eleven and a healthcare company inked a $43 million deal to wrap a case over how it handled 401(k) plan forfeitures. Here's a look back at six noteworthy moves in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases from last month.

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Calif. Case Could Lead To A Redefined Pollution Exclusion

In recently agreeing to hear Montrose Chemical v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court will decide whether a court should consider extrinsic evidence offered by a party to prove its interpretation of the insurance policy language, opening the door to a different definition of "sudden" in insurance policies' pollution exclusions, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Series

Volunteering With Scouts Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an assistant scoutmaster for my son’s troop reaffirmed several skills and principles crucial to lawyering — from the importance of disconnecting to the value of morality, says Michael Warren at McManis Faulkner.

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Analysis

UK Law Sector's Private Equity Boom Offers Lessons For US

By Ryan Boysen

Private equity money is pouring into the U.K. legal sector, fueling a wave of consolidation in consumer-facing practices and offering a glimpse of what it could look like if outside investment in the U.S. legal industry takes off.

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Criminal Contempt Of DOJ Attys Unlikely For Violating Orders

By Jack Karp

Federal judges have been floating the possibility of holding government attorneys in criminal contempt of court for violating immigration-related court orders, a potentially shocking move that scholars say is unlikely and probably less effective than civil contempt orders.

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Lindsey Halligan Faces Fla. Bar Investigation, Watchdog Says

By Lauren Berg

The Florida Bar is investigating Lindsey Halligan, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who pursued controversial indictments against President Donald Trump's political opponents, according to a letter the Campaign for Accountability made public Thursday.

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Troutman And Former Atty Push To Limit Scope Of Bias Trial

By Jake Maher

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP and a former associate suing the firm for racial discrimination and retaliation this week fought over the role that charged language and calculations of financial damages should play in an upcoming trial.

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Atty's Scheduling Error Dooms Appeal In AT&T Forfeiture Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An AT&T worker can't ask the Ninth Circuit to review the dismissal of his proposed class action claiming the telecommunications company misused forfeited 401(k) funds, with a California federal judge saying his attorney's busy schedule was "one of the least compelling excuses" for filing a late appeal.

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Ex-Judge In Wis. Says ICE Prosecution Theory Has No Limits

By Britain Eakin

A former Wisconsin judge has said the government's case against her for obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no limiting principle and wrongly turned her authority to manage her courtroom into a federal felony for impeding ICE.

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Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana Judicial Nominees Advance

By Courtney Bublé

Four judicial nominees advanced out of committee Thursday along party lines, which included two for Texas.

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