Hyundai Motor America has asked a California federal judge to wipe out State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co.'s claims ahead of a bellwether trial next month seeking to hold the automaker liable for allegedly selling theft-prone vehicles that heightened the risk of insurance claims.
Law360
Insurance
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Hyundai Eyes Exit In Insurer Car-Theft Bellwether Trial

By Linda Chiem

Hyundai Motor America has asked a California federal judge to wipe out State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co.'s claims ahead of a bellwether trial next month seeking to hold the automaker liable for allegedly selling theft-prone vehicles that heightened the risk of insurance claims.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Insurer Says Coverage Barred For Alleged Nitrous Oxide Sales

By Gianna Ferrarin

Admiral Insurance Co. has no duty to defend or indemnify a group of smoke shops from claims they illegally sold nitrous oxide canisters to individuals, allegedly resulting in several fatal car accidents, the insurer told a Michigan federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

No Early Win For HOA In Storm Coverage Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Denver-area homeowners association hasn't shown conclusively that losses during a 2018 hailstorm were incurred during its policy period or that its insurer failed to investigate the complex's claim, a Colorado federal judge ruled while denying the association an early win in its lawsuit over denied coverage.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LITIGATION

Law Firm, Insurer Say Cos. Must Pay For Crane Crash Losses

By Hope Patti

Florida law firm Johnson Pope and its insurer have sued a group of companies involved in the construction of a 46-story luxury condominium tower in St. Petersburg, telling a state court they are entitled to recover losses they incurred after a crane fell and damaged the firm's office space.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Water Damage Fight Belongs In Kansas, Travelers Says

By Hope Patti

A coverage dispute over water damage that a Kansas-based senior living community sustained when a sprinkler burst is in the wrong state, a Travelers unit told a Colorado federal court, seeking to toss the Colorado statutory and common-law bad faith claims and transfer the dispute to Kansas.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DEALS

Symetra Inks $44.4M Deal With AME Church Employees

By Kellie Mejdrich

Symetra Life Insurance Co. will pay $44.4 million to end multidistrict litigation from a class of African Methodist Episcopal Church workers who alleged that mismanagement of their annuity retirement plan allowed a rogue employee to embezzle $90 million, according to filings in Tennessee federal court.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

Opinion

State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lockdown To Ledger: COVID Rulings Inform Crypto Coverage

As cryptocurrencies move deeper into mainstream financial markets, courts tasked with determining whether traditional insurance policies respond to digital asset losses have been evaluating coverage through the analytical framework of COVID-19 business interruption litigation, with one key recurring theme, say attorneys at Kennedys.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Securities Litigation Risks Materialized In The 1st Quarter

The securities litigation landscape in 2026's first quarter was defined by higher filing frequency and increased litigation exposure with rising average settlement values, meaning issuers should maximize data-driven legal defenses early to disqualify alleged fraud-revealing stock drops, say Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

The 2026 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

How is your work-life balance? Are you content with your compensation and opportunities for advancement at work? Take the 2026 Law360 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey and share your thoughts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Grassley Says Cruz And Lee Top His List If Alito Retires

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Tuesday that if U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito were to retire then he would recommend the president nominate either Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ginsburg Hack Conviction Upheld For Man Who Blamed Cat

By Craig Clough

The Fourth Circuit affirmed Tuesday a former hospital transplant coordinator's conviction for illegally accessing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's healthcare records, upholding a ruling that the defendant was not improperly coerced when he told FBI agents a coworker or his cat may have been responsible.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Panel Backs Legal Finance Project, Subpoena Rules

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary advisers agreed Tuesday to develop transparency obligations for litigation funders despite "vehement" views in the defense and plaintiffs bars, while also advancing controversial subpoena rules involving remote testimony and process servers.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

IBM's FCA Deal Creates Unease Over DEI Enforcement Scope

By Madeline Lyskawa

IBM's agreement to pay the Trump administration $17 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act with policies aimed at increasing the diversity of its workforce continues to raise more questions than answers about what the administration views as illegal diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mintz Can't Halt Texas Malpractice Suit For Fee Fight In Mass.

By Elliot Weld

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday declined Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC's request to halt a former client's legal malpractice case against the firm in Texas federal court while the two fight over a $2 million "success fee" the law firm claims it is owed.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Circ. Halts Boasberg's 'Unnecessary' Alien Enemies Probe

By Britain Eakin

A split D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday halted for the second time U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's criminal contempt probe of Trump administration officials for willfully violating his order barring removals of Venezuelans under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Dem Threatens Bondi Contempt Over Epstein Files

By Courtney Bublé

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is looking to hold former Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt if she does not appear before the committee to discuss the U.S. Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein files.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Grassley Hits 100 Judge Confirmations As 2 Clear Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the 100th district judge under Sen. Chuck Grassley's leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Investors Want Sanctions For Fake Citations In LGBCoin Suit

By Carolina Bolado

Investors in the "Let's Go Brandon" meme token urged a Florida federal judge Monday to issue "case-terminating sanctions" against the man behind the coin, saying he and his counsel have lied in discovery, disobeyed court orders and submitted fake legal citations in at least eight filings.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Federal Judges Weigh Audio Access For Civil Jury Trials

By Dorothy Atkins

California Northern District federal judges are seeking public comment on modifying local court rules to allow jurists to audio stream civil jury trials in the district, which regularly presides over high-stakes courtroom fights involving tech giants such as Google, Meta, OpenAI and Apple.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IOLTA Group Owed Notice Of Settlements, Mass. Justices Say

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court said Tuesday that a committee overseeing lawyers' trust accounts should have been given a chance to request potential leftover funds prior to a judge's approval of a class action settlement, but saw no reason to unwind the deal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Promo that reads Law360 Pulse 2026 AI Survey Promo that reads Law360 Pulse Live From ABA Techshow. Unlock  insights and essential highlights from industry leaders. Watch Now

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Anderson Kill

Baker Donelson

Baron & Budd

Berger Kahn

Blank Rome

Blue LLP

Burnham & Gorokhov

Callahan & Blaine

Carlton Fields

Casey Lundregan

Cherry Johnson Siegmund James

Collins Einhorn

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Di Pietro Partners

FeganScott

Foley Hoag

Foran Glennon

Groom Law Group

Grotefeld Hoffmann

Hagens Berman

Holland & Knight

Humphrey Farrington

Jenner & Block

Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP

Kantor & Kantor

Keller Rohrback

Kennedys Law LLP

Koutoulas Law

Lanier Law Firm

Lee Segui

Lieff Cabraser

Merchant & Gould

Merlin Law Group

Metaxas Brown

Mintz Levin

Ogborn Mihm

Quinn Emanuel

Robinson Bradshaw

Scheef & Stone

Scott&Scott

Shepherd & Shepherd

Spencer Fane

Steptoe LLP

Stranch Jennings

Stutman Law

Wheeler Trigg

Wright & Schulte

Zelle LLP

Zigler Law Group

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AARP Inc.

Admiral Insurance Co.

American Civil Liberties Union

Amicus

Apple Inc.

Barron's

Coinbase Global Inc.

Enterprise Holdings Inc.

Epic Games Inc.

FedEx Corp.

George Washington University

Google LLC

Hyundai Motor Co.

International Business Machines Corp.

Lawyers for Civil Justice

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Lincoln Property Co.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

New York University

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Oracle Corp.

RELX PLC

SAR LLC

Spectrum Management Holding Co.

Spectrum Retirement Communities LLC

State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co.

State Bar of California

Suffolk Construction Co.

Symetra Life Insurance Co.

The Florida Bar

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Travelers Cos. Inc.

The UPS Store

TikTok Inc.

Twitter Inc.

Utah State Bar Association

Wild Bill's Tobacco

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Franklin County, Ohio

Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission

Illinois Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

Judicial Conference of the United States

Los Angeles Superior Court

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado