Colo. Justices Say Insolvency Can't Trigger Excess Coverage

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that an umbrella or excess policy issuer isn't liable to drop down and provide first-dollar coverage when a scheduled underlying insurer becomes insolvent, according to the justices' opinion, issued Monday.

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Kraft Heinz Says Insurers Won't Cover Processed Food Suits

By Danielle Ferguson

Chubb units and Liberty Mutual are wrongfully refusing to cover Kraft Heinz's defense costs for several lawsuits blaming the food company's "ultra-processed foods" for consumers' diabetes or fatty liver disease diagnoses, costing the company millions of dollars, Kraft Heinz said in a Pennsylvania state court complaint.

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Insurer Beats Auto Parts Co.'s $50M COVID-19 Coverage Bid

By Hope Patti

A North Carolina federal court permanently tossed an auto parts manufacturer's suit seeking $50 million in coverage for COVID-19 losses, saying the manufacturer failed to show that access to any of its insured facilities was limited due to the actual presence of a communicable disease.

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Fla. Judge Keeps Publix Autism Claims Dispute In Fed. Court

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge has denied a medical services provider's bid to send its lawsuit alleging that Publix Super Markets Inc. underpaid billing claims for children's autism healthcare back to state court, saying their claims are preempted by a federal law regulating employee benefits plans. 

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Mich. Judge Drops State Claims In Dental Practice Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan federal judge said Monday that he is dropping state law claims from a Medicaid fraud suit filed against a group of dental offices, citing a strong potential for jury confusion, and will only consider federal law claims.

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IRS Asks 5th Circ. To Pause Microcaptive Rules Case

By Zak Kostro

The IRS asked the Fifth Circuit to stay briefing in a global tax services provider's bid to revive its challenge to the agency's reporting rules for microcaptive insurance companies pending the resolution of a related case before the appeals court.

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Conn. Officials Fight Blame After Kids Eat THC Candy On Bus

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut school district's leaders and its bus service denied liability for harm allegedly caused to two children who ate THC-laced candy from a backpack that was left on their school bus, telling a state court judge in a remote hearing Monday that they should win the parents' negligence suit.

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Care Facility Not Covered In Elder Abuse Suits, Insurer Says

By Hope Patti

A Hanover Insurance unit told a Pennsylvania federal court that it has no duty to defend or indemnify a memory care facility or its operators and staff members in a number of underlying state court suits alleging the abuse of residents with dementia.

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Brief

Ga. Property Owner, Insurer Wrap Up Roof Coverage Suit

By David Aaro

A commercial property owner and an insurance company told a Georgia federal judge Monday they had ended their legal battle over coverage for a storm-damaged roof.

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Brief

Cigna Wins $1.8M In Fees After Payment Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A Texas federal magistrate judge has awarded Cigna Corp. nearly $1.8 million in legal fees in a case where it was cleared of infringing a card payment patent, just days after he said a shopping mall owner and gift card company were also entitled to fees in the legal battle.

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Latham Hires Haynes Boone Insurance Recovery Partner

By Jack Rodgers

Latham & Watkins LLP has hired a longtime Haynes Boone attorney for its Washington, D.C., office who focuses his practice on representing corporate policyholders in complex, high-stakes insurance coverage disputes, the firm announced Monday.

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Legal Deserts: Millions Across America Struggle To Access Lawyers

Tens of millions of Americans live in towns and counties across the nation with limited or no access to legal services. By one estimate, at least a third of the nation's counties qualify as a "legal desert," having only one or no attorney per 1,000 residents. Roughly 24 million Americans reside in these counties.

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Greenberg Traurig Hit With Action Over Client Data Breach

By Matt Perez

A proposed class of Greenberg Traurig LLP clients said the New York law firm failed to secure their personal data prior to a preventable data breach and delayed notifying clients of the breach for two weeks, in an action filed over the weekend in New York federal court seeking injunctive and other equitable relief to protect client data.

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Tesla Atty Misled Witness Days Before Bias Trial, Judge Hears

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Civil Rights Department asked a California judge for a protective order Monday on the first day of a bench trial over claims Tesla Inc. fostered racism at its Fremont factory, after a witness testified that an in-house Tesla attorney recently called him and misled him into believing he represented the agency.

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New Calif. Law Bars Legal Funders From Influencing Litigation

By Jack Karp

Corporate investors and litigation funders will be barred from influencing litigation strategy in California under a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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Q&A

She Has A Point: Fenwick's Jessica Kaempf

By Theresa Schliep

Jessica Kaempf of Fenwick & West LLP is a pragmatic yet tenacious attorney whose representation of her clients has earned her plaudits from Kathi Vidal of Winston Taylor, who praised Kaempf as part of a Law360 series celebrating women litigators.

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$1.35M Class Deal Reached Over Botched Calif. Bar Exam

By Emily Johnson

Takers of the February 2025 California bar exam that was marred by technical failures have agreed to settle their proposed class action against the proctor for $1.35 million, while the company also agreed to complete quality checks before proctoring future bar examinations, according to a motion seeking preliminary approval in federal court.

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Ex-Prosecutor Escapes Jan. 6 Atty's Defamation Suit

By Jared Foretek

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Monday won judgment on the pleadings in a defamation case brought by attorney Stefan Passantino, who had represented Cassidy Hutchinson, after Passantino alleged Weissmann had defamed him when saying he'd "coached" Hutchinson "to lie" to the January 6th Select Committee.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week dismissed a challenge to Alteryx Inc.'s $4.4 billion take-private sale, resolved a fight over the removal of a security technology company's director and declined to let Empery Digital Inc. immediately appeal a proxy contest ruling.

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