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May 29, 2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals court panel affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an excess errors and omissions insurer in Zoom Video Communications Inc.’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for the more than $6.6 million it paid to resolve a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation and the $85 million that it paid to settle civil lawsuits challenging its data security practices, holding that the FTC’s civil investigative demand (CID) was not a claim to trigger coverage under the policy.
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May 28, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted an employment practices liability insurer’s motion to dismiss a construction company insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying action seeking redress of false claims and alleging prevailing wage law violations, holding that the underlying claims are not employment claims brought by or on behalf of employees to trigger coverage under the policy.
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May 28, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a joint motion to dismiss a petition for a writ of certiorari in putative class action litigation arising from an insurer’s data breach in which hackers gained access to nearly 3 million driver’s license numbers after the parties reached a settlement resolving the underlying dispute, leaving in place a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that two named plaintiffs had Article III standing to seek damages based on the dark web posting of their driver’s license numbers.
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May 28, 2026
DALLAS — One day after an insured and its cyber insurer filed a joint motion to dismiss, a federal judge in Texas dismissed the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its more than $1.2 million in losses arising from a malware attack.
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May 27, 2026
SEATTLE — The owner and operator of several Potbelly Sandwich Shop restaurants filed a notice indicating that it is appealing a Washington federal court’s grant of an employment practices liability insurer’s motion to dismiss its breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying putative class alleging that it violated the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act.
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May 26, 2026
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 22 dismissed a commercial general liability insurer’s appeal of a lower federal court’s declaration that it has a duty to defend a hotel operator insured against an underlying sex trafficking lawsuit, holding that the appeals court lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
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May 26, 2026
CHRISTIANSTED, Virgin Islands — A federal chief judge in the Virgin Islands denied an insurer’s motion seeking reconsideration of a ruling that granted an insured’s motion to remand its lawsuit against the insurer and insurance agents arising from its property damage caused by Hurricane Maria, standing by his finding that although the insurer established that an arbitration agreement “falls under” the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, it contractually waived its right to remove the lawsuit to the federal court under the Federal Arbitration Act.
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May 22, 2026
PORTLAND, Maine— The Supreme Court Judicial Court of Maine affirmed a lower court’s judgment dismissing a timber trespass lawsuit in which a homeowners insurer intervened, rejecting the insureds’ argument that the lawsuit should not have been dismissed so they could establish a claim of wrongful use of civil process against the plaintiff.
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May 21, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari challenging the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ remand of a lawsuit seeking to recover subcontractors’ financial losses after a contractor and its surety allegedly did not pay them for work related to rebuilding projects in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands following Hurricane Maria, leaving undisturbed the appeals court’s instruction for the lower court to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
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May 20, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion to dismiss Guess? Inc.’s lawsuit seeking coverage under foreign insurance policies for five underlying actions, holding that contrary to the insurer’s argument, two of the three underlying suits are ripe for adjudication.
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May 20, 2026
SPOKANE, Wash. — After previously ruling that an insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify in an underlying negligence lawsuit brought against the parents of a minor who was driving a golf cart that struck and injured a pedestrian, a Washington federal judge entered final judgment in favor of the insurer.
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May 19, 2026
MIAMI — A Florida federal judge granted summary judgment for insurers in their suit against the insured owner of a yacht seeking to void a marine policy for material misrepresentations in the policy application and breach of a survey-compliance warranty, finding that because the insured breached the warranty and made misrepresentations regarding his criminal convictions, the insurers are entitled to a declaration that the policy is void from inception and provides no coverage arising from an incident in which the vessel ran aground.
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May 19, 2026
NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey on May 18 granted a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for default judgment against its construction company insured in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence and wrongful death lawsuit arising from the death of a subcontractor’s employee, concluding that the insurer has alleged a legitimate declaratory judgment cause of action and the default judgment factors strongly favor granting the insurer’s motion.
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May 19, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that there is not complete diversity of citizenship between parties in a lawsuit seeking a declaration that a professional and general liability insurer has a duty to defend its nonemergency medical transport company insured against an underlying negligence action, vacating a lower federal court’s dismissal of the lawsuit and remanding for the trial court to consider first whether the parties should be realigned.
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May 18, 2026
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois determined that an underlying class action alleging that an embryo storage lab insured engaged in false and deceptive advertising and failed to fully disclose the accuracy of preimplantation genetic testing does not trigger medical professional liability or commercial general liability coverage, granting the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify.
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May 15, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge held that commercial general liability insurers have no duty to defend and indemnify against underlying lawsuits seeking to hold grocery store chain Albertsons liable for damages arising from the opioid epidemic, granting the insurers’ motion for summary judgment and denying Albertsons’ partial motion for summary judgment after concluding that there is no coverage owed under settled Delaware law.
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May 15, 2026
SEATTLE — The operators of three Denny’s franchises and their executive officer and director sued their primary and excess commercial general liability insurers in a Washington federal court for breach of contract, bad faith, declaratory relief and violations of Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act and Consumer Protection Act, alleging that they had to fund the defense and $425,000 resolution of an underlying wage-and-hour class action after the insurers walked away from the mediation.
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May 15, 2026
LOS ANGELES — A cosmetic company insured and its commercial general liability insurer told a California federal court that they have reached a conditional settlement of the insured’s action seeking coverage for three underlying putative class action lawsuits alleging that the company deceptively sold beauty products by failing to disclose the dangerous risks and side effects of lash enhancement serums’ “key ingredient.”
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May 14, 2026
CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals panel held that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s Construction Operations Exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit brought by a contractor that suffered injuries at a house the insured was renovating, further finding that the insured’s bad faith claim also fails because there is a bona fide coverage dispute.
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May 13, 2026
ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals panel on May 12 reversed a lower court’s dismissal of an assignee’s lawsuit alleging that an insurance broker failed to obtain a general liability insurance policy that did not bar coverage for liability arising out of bodily injury that was caused by assault, battery or the use of firearms, holding that the lower court erred in ruling that the claims were not assignable.
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May 13, 2026
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a professional liability insurer in its lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend and indemnify a $586,682.52 consent judgment brought against its broker insured in an underlying lawsuit.
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May 13, 2026
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a professional liability insurer in its lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend and indemnify a $586,682.52 consent judgment brought against its broker insured in an underlying lawsuit.
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May 12, 2026
TRENTON, N.J. — A majority of the New Jersey Supreme Court on May 11 held that a directors and officers liability insurance policy’s capacity exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit brought against a pharmaceutical company insured and that the insurer had the right to refuse to contribute to the settlement of the underlying case.
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May 11, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana granted plaintiffs’ consent motions to dismiss a professional liability insurer and one attorney from their lawsuit alleging that attorneys committed legal malpractice and breach of contract by setting “up a scheme in an attempt to quickly settle thousands” of cases for damage caused by hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and/or Ida and “collect an exorbitant fee” that they would all share.
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May 08, 2026
ST. LOUIS — One day after the parties, citing a settlement, filed a joint motion to dismiss an appeal filed by the operators of a group home challenging a Minnesota federal court’s holding that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend them against an underlying negligence lawsuit and that they are not entitled to attorney fees, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals entered judgment dismissing the appeal.