General Liability

  • April 23, 2025

    Meta MDL Judge Doubts Insurers' Bid To Kick Fight To Del.

    A California federal judge presiding over sprawling social media personal injury multidistrict litigation doubted on Wednesday insurers' arguments their multimillion-dollar coverage fight with Meta belongs in Delaware state court, questioning how moving the case would preserve judicial resources, while observing that Hartford's pre-litigation conduct may have been in bad faith.

  • April 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Asked To Modify Ruling In LA Port Co. Coverage Row

    A Los Angeles port operator's insurer asked a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit to rethink part of its decision ordering a jury trial on the amount of defense costs the operator incurred while litigating pollution claims brought by the city, arguing they improperly relied on a depublished decision.

  • April 23, 2025

    Insurer Says No Coverage For $7.8M Tornado Damage Suit

    The insurer for a construction inspection company claimed it owed no coverage for a suit alleging the company overlooked deficiencies that contributed to a $7.8 million tornado loss, telling a New Jersey federal court the policyholder had no coverage for professional services gone wrong.

  • April 23, 2025

    No Coverage For Shopping Mall In Shooting Suit, Insurer Says

    Scottsdale Insurance Co. has told a Florida federal court that the owner of part of a shopping plaza isn't owed coverage for a $1 million personal injury lawsuit brought by a man who was shot in the parking lot of the shopping center, arguing that the incident didn't occur on the covered premises.

  • April 22, 2025

    Insurer Skirts Bad Faith Claim In $60M Liposuction Death Row

    The professional liability insurer for a Georgia cosmetic surgery provider didn't act in bad faith in handling a liposuction patient death claim that eventually led to a $60 million judgment, a Utah federal court ruled, rejecting arguments that the insurer breached its duties.

  • April 22, 2025

    Insurer Urges 11th Circ. To Nix Law Firm Malpractice Coverage

    An insurance company has urged the Eleventh Circuit to revive its lawsuit seeking a ruling that it does not have to defend Georgia law firm Fellows LaBriola LLC in a malpractice case because of a misappropriation exclusion included in the firm's policy.

  • April 22, 2025

    Insurer Gets $16M Coverage Suit Stayed For NY Court Appeal

    A New York federal court paused an insurer's dispute over coverage for a $16 million default judgment entered against its insureds in a wrongful death suit due to an ongoing appeal concerning the vacatur of that judgment.

  • April 21, 2025

    Colo. Justices Say Insurer Can't Escape 'Economic Loss' Rule

    Colorado Supreme Court justices on Monday said an insurer can't escape an economic loss rule that precludes parties from bringing tort claims over a breach of duty arising from a contract, holding that the rule has no exception for willful and wanton conduct and tossing the insurer's negligence claim over a restaurant fire.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Nix Appraiser's Petition Seeking Arbitral Immunity

    An insurance appraiser failed Monday to get the U.S. Supreme Court to define what "arbitration" actually means under the Federal Arbitration Act, seeking immunity after a Colorado state jury found he fraudulently inflated a $1.6 million appraisal award against a Travelers unit that was ultimately vacated.

  • April 21, 2025

    Calif. Homeowners Say Insurers Colluded To Limit Coverage

    California property owners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires accused over 300 insurers of conspiring to eliminate competition in the marketplace, forcing consumers to instead obtain fire insurance from the state's insurer of last resort, according to two lawsuits filed in state court.

  • April 21, 2025

    Insurers Clash Over Coverage In Racetrack Injury Suit

    Acuity Insurance LLC wants a Pennsylvania federal court to join two other insurers to its defense of a client accused of designing inadequate safety barriers at a Lancaster County raceway, claiming the other companies had wrongly declined coverage for subsidiaries of the insured.

  • April 18, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Fla. Lodge's Bad Faith Claim Over Shooting

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday reversed a $3.3 million judgment against a Florida lodge over a shooting that resulted in a woman's death, finding in a split ruling a jury should decide the bad faith issue of whether its insurer should've offered to settle based on the premises' liability.

  • April 18, 2025

    No Coverage For $1M Mechanical Bull Injury Suit, Insurer Says

    An insurer said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a party equipment rental company in an underlying suit over injuries a child suffered while riding a mechanical bull at an event, telling a Texas federal court Friday that a mechanical bull exclusion in the company's policy bars coverage.

  • April 18, 2025

    Insurer Says Smoke Shop Not Covered In Nitrous Oxide Suit

    An insurer for a smoke shop told a Florida federal court it owes no coverage for a proposed class action accusing various shops of selling nitrous oxide products for recreational drug use, pointing to an exclusion barring coverage for injury arising out of "psychotropic substances."

  • April 18, 2025

    Ill. Justices To Weigh Scope Of Standard Pollution Exclusions

    The Illinois Supreme Court will consider whether pollution exclusions in standard-form commercial general liability policies apply to industrial emissions allowed under a regulatory permit, the court said Thursday, agreeing to take up a question certified by the Seventh Circuit.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost

    Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.

  • April 17, 2025

    Liberty Mutual Says Other Insurer Owes $500K For Crane Row

    A Liberty Mutual unit said it is owed over $500,000 for defending a contractor in underlying litigation over a crane incident, telling a New York federal court that the contractor qualifies as an additional insured under a subcontractor's commercial general liability policy.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    Auto insurers can't shake feds' "forced coverage" claims, the Suquamish Tribe asks the U.S. Supreme Court not to weigh in on its COVID-19 coverage case, saying its court has jurisdiction, IBM wants coverage for $900 million in environmental expenses and Consumer Watchdog sues California's insurance chief over proposed post-wildfire insurance surcharges.

  • April 17, 2025

    Coach USA Insurer Seeks Coverage Clarification In Ch. 7 Case

    An insurer for bus operator Coach USA Inc. asked a Delaware bankruptcy court to find that it does not owe commercial auto liability coverage for certain claims arising out of Coach's operations that are insured by its captive insurer.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurer Owes No Coverage For Fatal Facade Collapse

    An insurer has no duty to defend a roofing contractor in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that two individuals died from the collapse of a building facade, an Illinois federal court ruled, finding a prior works exclusion applicable.

  • April 17, 2025

    General Aviation Insurance Stays Steady Through Turbulence

    The general aviation and airline insurance industry remains steady despite supply-chain concerns and a rise in accident rates. Here, Philip Stafford, a senior partner in Gallagher's aerospace division, shares his thoughts on the current state of this sector with Law360.

  • April 17, 2025

    Insurance Regulators Urged To Address Climate Change Risks

    Insurance regulators must strengthen their understanding of the threats posed by climate change and better consider how those risks will shape the stability of the sector, a group of international regulators said in a report.

  • April 16, 2025

    IBM Sues Insurers Over $900M In Environmental Expenses

    IBM has taken several of its excess commercial general liability insurers to New York federal court, arguing that following IBM's coverage settlements with underlying insurers, they are now on the hook for over $900 million in environmental remediation expenses incurred under policies issued between 1961 and 1970.

  • April 16, 2025

    Texas Oil Cos. Seek Pass-Through Pollution Claims Coverage

    Oil and gas companies told a Texas federal court on Wednesday that their insurer must pay to defend them against pass-through claims in connection with underlying pollution lawsuits thanks to a purchase and sale agreement they entered into with another company.

  • April 16, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Late Settlement Notice Means No Coverage

    A healthcare company was rightfully denied coverage for a settlement over the erroneous approval of a Florida Medicaid recipient's out-of-state treatment, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, finding the company breached its policy when it failed to inform its insurer of the agreement in advance.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Do's And Don'ts For Trial Lawyers Using Generative AI

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    Trial attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools should review a few key reminders, from the likelihood that prompts are discoverable to the rapid evolution of court rules, to safeguard against embarrassing missteps, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • NC COVID Ruling May Have Greater Coverage Implications

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    While the North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 comes too late for most insureds to benefit, it should nonetheless have coverage implications far beyond COVID-19 claims, say attorneys at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 5 Argument Techniques For Policyholder Advocates

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    Winning insurance coverage disputes often comes down to who has articulated the more compelling interpretation of the relevant policy language, which is why the best policyholder advocates come back to certain tried and true argument approaches, says Greg Van Houten at Haynes Boone.

  • Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses

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    In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Confirms Insurer Standing Requirements

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    A New York bankruptcy court's recent decision in the Syracuse Diocese's Chapter 11 case indicates that insurers have misread the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum and that federal standing requirements remain unaltered, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape

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    Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.

  • Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario

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    Parties are generally required to meet and confer to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing a related motion, but courts should dispense with this conferencing requirement when a party fails to specify a time by which it will complete its production, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law.

  • Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025

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    As insurance industry participants look to plan for the year, regulatory changes, climate-related challenges, the ongoing effects of social inflation and the potential for significant mergers and acquisitions will be among the key items for insurer boards and management to have on their radar, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Public View Of CEO's Killing Means For Corporate Trials

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    Given the proliferation of anti-corporate sentiments following recent charges against Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, attorneys who represent corporate clients and executives will need to adapt their trial strategy to account for juror anger, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.

  • Insurance Considerations For LA Wildfire Recovery

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    Businesses and homeowners affected by the destructive Southern California wildfires must act swiftly and strategically to navigate the complexities of the insurance recovery process, including by identifying all applicable policies, documenting damage thoroughly and keeping abreast of relevant state law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Artfully Conceding Liability Can Offer Defendants 3 Benefits

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    In the rare case that a company makes the strategic decision to admit liability, it’s important to do so clearly and consistently in order to benefit from the various forms of armor that come from an honest acknowledgment, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • What Insurers Should Know About AI Use In Litigation

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    As the use of artificial intelligence in litigation evolves, insurers should note standing court orders, instances of judges utilizing AI to determine policy definitions and the application of evidentiary standards to expert evidence that incorporates AI, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.