NJ Justices Bar PI Damages For 'Collectible' Future Med Bills

By Gianna Ferrarin

New Jersey's highest court unanimously ruled that the state's no-fault insurance scheme for victims of automobile accidents bars claimants from asking a jury to award future medical expenses if those projected costs fall within their personal injury coverage limits.

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Conn. Diocese Settles Abuse Defense Suit Against Travelers

By Danielle Ferguson

The bankrupt Norwich Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp. has reached a settlement with its insurer in a Connecticut state court lawsuit alleging the insurer improperly bailed on defense coverage for a sexual abuse case just days before the start of a trial.

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Colo. Jury Asked To Award I-70 Project Contractor $32.5M

By Rachel Konieczny

A New York engineering and design firm that contracted to reconstruct a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70 in Denver asked a Colorado state jury to award it $32.5 million for breaches it says a subcontractor made during the project's course.

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Insurer Needn't Cover Real Estate Co.'s $330K Arbitration Bill

By Hope Patti

An insurer is not on the hook for more than $330,000 in defense costs that a commercial real estate company and its manager incurred in arbitration with investors, a Washington federal court ruled Thursday, saying the company failed to show that the costs arose from covered fiduciary duty claims.

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Insurer Owes No Coverage For Mall Pollution, Fla. Judge Says

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge ruled an insurance company doesn't have to provide coverage to the owner of a California shopping center contaminated with dry cleaner chemicals, finding that benefits were properly denied under site development and pollution exclusions in the policy issued by the insurer. 

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Brief

New PBGC Amicus Program Offers Input On Important Cases

By Grace Elletson

Litigants involved in benefits cases that involve novel or significant pension-related issues can now ask the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to lodge briefs shedding light on their disputes, the PBGC announced Thursday.

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Insurance Co. Says Fraudster Can't Arbitrate $524M Claim

By Joyce Hanson

An insurance company has urged a Puerto Rico federal court to throw out pro se litigation filed by disgraced insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, who wants to arbitrate claims related to a $524 million judgment as he awaits sentencing later this month on a massive fraud conviction.

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Insurer Beats Calif. Health Group's Discovery Costs Suit

By Danielle Ferguson

A California federal judge said Wednesday that an insurer did not have to reimburse the state's largest private health foundation for roughly $400,000 in discovery costs it incurred during an executive's now-settled wrongful termination suit, finding the foundation failed to get the insurer's consent before running up the bill.  

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Harvard Pilgrim Sued Over 'Ghost' Mental Health Network

By Julie Manganis

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and its parent company have lured subscribers with a "ghost network" of mental health providers who are frequently out of network, don't accept the insurance or are not taking new patients, according to a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts state court.

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Insurer 'Arbitrarily' Cut NC Farmers' Coverage, Court Told

By Gianna Ferrarin

A crop insurance provider owes two farmers for the cost of arbitration proceedings and other damages they suffered after the insurer tried to halve their recovery for a tobacco crop-related loss, according to a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court.

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Safeguarding RWI Coverage As Materiality Focus Persists

As first-quarter broker claims reports reveal that materiality disputes remain a key driver of representations and warranties insurance claims, the scarce case law in this area indicates that including a materiality scrape provision in an RWI policy may aid policyholders with recovery, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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AI Data Center Boom May Spur Wave Of Toxic Tort Suits

Nascent litigation matters against data center operators, set against limited government regulation and a growing body of public health research, suggests we may be on the cusp of an era of mass toxic tort claims, with a liability framework firmly rooted in precedent from other industries, says Benjamin Heller at RFZ Law.

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Series

Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

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Womble Bond Atty's 'Draconian' Penalty Gives 4th Circ. Pause

By Hayley Fowler

A Fourth Circuit panel seemed to struggle Thursday with what one judge described as a "draconian" contempt order against a Womble Bond Dickinson partner, with the panel nudging counsel for both sides toward a simpler solution that wouldn't force the court's involvement.

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Ex-Jackson Walker Atty Seeks Breakup With Romance Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A former Jackson Walker LLP partner said Thursday that she should be dropped from a suit accusing her, a former Texas bankruptcy judge she had a secret relationship with and multiple law firms of fomenting "mass corruption" in Houston's bankruptcy court.

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SEC Fines Ex-BigLaw Atty For Insider Trades On Apollo Deal

By Hailey Konnath

A former Buchalter PC shareholder has agreed to pay $71,625 to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations he purchased stock ahead of Apollo Global Management's $1.5 billion acquisition of Bridge Investment, which the commission said he was representing in an unrelated matter at the time.

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Comey Retains NC Criminal Defense Pro For 2nd Indictment

By Rachel Rippetoe

Former FBI Director James Comey has added a North Carolina white collar defense pro to his legal team fighting an indictment by the Trump administration over a social media post last year that prosecutors characterized as a threat of violence against the president, according to a court filing on Thursday.

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Judiciary Panel Punts AI Rules, Mulls Judges' Survey Results

By Jeff Overley

Buckle up: Efforts to modernize evidentiary rules amid artificial intelligence fears are getting bumpy, as judiciary advisers Thursday agreed to dramatically delay action while digesting an AI survey of nearly 1,000 judges and organizing a symposium of litigators and tech pros.

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Toss Of Ex-Shkreli Atty's Deal May Be Error, 2nd Circ. Hints

By Pete Brush

A Second Circuit judge hinted Thursday that a trial judge may have erred in rejecting a retirement-fund garnishment deal that would have protected Martin Shkreli's convicted former lawyer from a potential $1 million "punitive tax event."

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Analysis

How Litigation Funding Disclosure Could Affect ITC Cases

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. International Trade Commission's proposed rule to require disclosure of litigation funding in intellectual property cases could bring more transparency to disputes and promote settlements, but it could also discourage some suits if it's not carefully tailored, attorneys say.

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NC Judge Tosses Atty's Suit Against State Bar Panel Member

By Andrea Keckley

A North Carolina federal judge dismissed a suspended attorney's lawsuit against a State Bar Disciplinary Hearing Commission member he accused of bias and due process violations, finding Thursday that the defendant is entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity.

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Analysis

Why Compliance Is Getting Complicated In Latin America

By Phillip Bantz

White collar compliance is getting trickier for companies that do business in Latin America, according to experts, who say they are seeing big shifts in the region connected to cartel crackdowns and efforts to strengthen corporate regulations, including relatively recent pushes for voluntary self-disclosure.

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