Dentists Can't Avoid Delta Dental MDL

By Bryan Koenig

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation held that dentists pursuing five new lawsuits against Delta Dental and its network cannot avoid the Illinois federal court MDL accusing the insurance giant of anticompetitively carving up markets and driving down reimbursements.

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Chubb Sued By Ex-LA Times CEO Over Palisades Fire Damage

By Rae Ann Varona

Chubb uses a "rotating cast" of biased consultants to downplay property damage and minimize its coverage obligations, alleges businessman and former Los Angeles Times CEO Austin Beutner, who accused Chubb in California state court of ignoring smoke damage to his family's Pacific Palisades home following devastating wildfires in January 2025.

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Travelers Says Silica Exclusions Bar Toxin Suits Coverage

By Danielle Ferguson

The insurer Travelers has urged a California federal court to dismiss a case alleging it improperly denied coverage to a tile and slab distributor for more than 450 personal injury and wrongful death suits, saying the policies bar coverage for injuries related to the underlying toxin exposure allegations.

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Mich. Top Court To Hear If Touching Vehicle Is 'Occupying' It

By Danielle Ferguson

The Michigan Supreme Court will consider whether physical contact with a vehicle is enough to receive uninsured motorist coverage, as it hears an injured driver's plea to overturn a decision denying him coverage because only his hand was touching his truck when he was hit.

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Tesla Defect Sparked Garage Fire, Insurer Says

By Lauraann Wood

Tesla Inc. has been hit with product liability claims in Illinois state court by an insurer looking to recoup the money it paid a policyholder whose Model X was deemed a total loss after an electrical defect caused the vehicle to catch file while charging.

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Insurer Says Coverage Limited For Ole Miss Student's Fall

By Hope Patti

An insurer said its total coverage obligation for a suit over a University of Mississippi student's three-story fall from an apartment complex balcony is capped at $100,000, telling a federal court that the incident arose out of an assault or battery and is subject to a lower policy limit.

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Anthem BCBS Accused Of Failing To Reimburse 7 Hospitals

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is facing claims in Georgia federal court filed by acute care hospitals in six states alleging the insurer failed to cover claims at agreed-upon rates and denied claims for reasons not allowed by their contracts.

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Rental Fintech Co. Says Rival Is Operating Unlawful Scheme

By Hope Patti

A fintech company that provides rent and security deposit insurance products accused a competitor of flouting insurance regulations, paying unlawful kickbacks to clients and misrepresenting the nature and legality of its products, telling a Georgia federal court that it has lost business because of the rival company's practices.

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Conn. Insurer Settles Agent's Free Speech Retaliation Claim

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut insurance agent who alleges he was fired for raising red flags about practices he believed violated state licensing laws has agreed to settle a lawsuit he brought against his former employer, state court records show.

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Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Monopoly Suit Setback, Historic Deal

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court rounded the corner into fall with a setback for residents in an antitrust class action, a historic settlement in "forever chemical" contamination litigation and a raft of new restrictive covenant complaints.

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Brief

Farmers Strike Deal With Insurer To End Crop Loss Dispute

By Hayley Fowler

Two tobacco farmers in North Carolina have settled their suit seeking to recoup the cost of arbitration proceedings and other damages from a crop insurance provider accused of trying to halve their recovery for crop-related losses, federal court records show.

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Brief

CVS Can't Get Second Shot At Tossing Investors' AI Use Suit

By Jessica Corso

A New York federal judge on Tuesday declined to give CVS another opportunity to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of inflating its revenues through the use of artificial intelligence. 

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What Insurers Need To Know About 2 New California Laws

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two measures last week that while addressing distinct issues — catastrophe claims handling and insurers' corrective actions, respectively — reflect similar themes, including insurers' preparation before problems arise, transparency while they are being addressed, and meaningful remediation afterward, says Lucy Wang at Hinshaw.

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Omni Bridgeway Raises $1B For New Litigation Funding

By Ryan Boysen

Litigation funder Omni Bridgeway has raised a new $1 billion fund from mostly repeat investors, with plans to deploy the money broadly across countries and case types while avoiding debt leverage.

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Alito Explains Recusal But Says It Shouldn't Become Practice

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said this week he "reluctantly" recused himself from a dispute that could decide whether state and local government can sue Big Oil in state courts for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions, while suggesting the high court's members shouldn't make a practice of explaining their reasons for stepping away from cases.

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Justices' Docs Should Belong To Public, Gov't Watchdogs Say

By Jack Karp

Nearly two dozen government accountability groups are calling for Congress to enact a law that would make U.S. Supreme Court justices' papers government property that would someday be available to the public.

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Analysis

Uncertainty Surrounds Judge Newman's 11th Circ. Transfer

By Dani Kass

Chief Justice John Roberts' order to transfer the Federal Circuit Judicial Council's disability investigation of a suspended 99-year-old judge to another court offers the neutral evaluation the judge has long been asking for, but attorneys are concerned about the transparency of the proceeding.

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California Federal Judge Jeffrey White To Retire After 24 Years

By Bonnie Eslinger

Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White will retire at the end of the year after nearly a quarter-century on the federal bench in Northern California.

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ABA Accreditor Leader Remembered For Passion And Intellect

By Emma Cueto

After her sudden death while leading the American Bar Association council that handles law school accreditation, Melissa Hart is being remembered as a passionate and fiercely intelligent jurist, mentor and leader who will be missed as the council navigates numerous challenges to its accreditor status.

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