Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

  • November 03, 2026

    Medical Practice, Owner, Entities Answer Amended Complaint Alleging FCA Violations

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A medical practice, its physician-owner and affiliated entities filed their answer and defenses to a third amended complaint in a False Claims Act (FCA) suit filed by the government against them, denying allegations that they engaged in Medicare fraud by billing for false claims related to visits with nursing home and assisted living facility residents.

  • November 03, 2026

    Insurer Seeks Leave To File Amended Motion In Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Dispute

    EL PASO, Texas — Following a Texas federal judge’s order striking a commercial general liability insurer’s amended motion for summary judgment in a carbon monoxide poisoning coverage suit, the insurer filed a motion for leave to file an amended motion for summary judgment, arguing that the court should allow the amended motion because it corrects only an attachment error and would not cause prejudice to the insureds or underlying plaintiff.

  • November 03, 2026

    Parties Debate Duty To Defend, Indemnify In Contaminated Water Dispute

    LANSING, Mich. — Insurers involved in a coverage dispute stemming from lead-contaminated water supplied by an insured city in their reply in support of a motion for partial summary judgment continue to deny that they have a duty to defend or indemnify their insured for a $25 million consent settlement reached by the city and underlying plaintiffs, maintaining that the policies’ lead and pollution exclusions apply as a bar to coverage.

  • November 03, 2026

    Insured Says Insurer Conceded Defense Could Be Triggered For Contamination Suit

    SEATTLE — An insured maintains that its motion for partial summary judgment in an environmental contamination coverage dispute pending in Washington federal court should be granted because the insurer does not dispute that the underlying suit for which the insured seeks coverage is “conceivably covered” under the excess policy.

  • November 02, 2026

    Prompted By Insurer’s Notice, Judge Dismisses Coverage Suit Over Titan Implosion

    SEATTLE — One day after an insurer filed a notice to dismiss its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured in an underlying negligence and wrongful death lawsuit arising from the implosion of the commercial submersible Titan on June 18, 2023, that killed five people, a Washington federal judge dismissed the action without prejudice.

  • October 30, 2026

    Pension Funds Sue Insurance, Reinsurance Company Over Concealed Casualty Risks

    NEW YORK — Two pension funds filed a securities class action against a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance company and four executives in New York federal court, alleging that they misled investors about the adequacy of the company’s casualty loss reserves, concealed risks associated with its underwriting practices and overstated earnings, resulting in investor and shareholder losses.

  • October 30, 2026

    Insured Homeowner Appeals Venue Transfer Order In Coverage Dispute With FIGA

    MIAMI — A homeowner insured by a now-insolvent insurer filed a notice of appeal in a Florida state appellate court, appealing a lower court’s order transferring venue from the Miami-Dade County 11th Judicial Circuit Court to the Broward County 17th Judicial Circuit Court in a breach of contract dispute with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA).

  • October 29, 2026

    Tax Firm Challenges Evidentiary Basis For IRS Microcaptive Disclosure Rule

    NEW ORLEANS — A tax consulting firm challenging the Internal Revenue Service’s final microcaptive insurance disclosure rule urged the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Oct. 28 appellant’s brief to reverse a Texas federal judge’s ruling upholding the rule’s transaction-of-interest designation, arguing that the agency failed to support its determination that microcaptive arrangements have a potential for tax avoidance with sufficient facts or data and exceeded its statutory authority under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

  • October 29, 2026

    IRS Asks 5th Circuit To Reinstate Microcaptive Listed-Transaction Rule

    NEW ORLEANS — The IRS and Treasury Department urged the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold reporting requirements for certain microcaptive insurance arrangements and reinstate a stricter designation vacated by a Texas federal judge, arguing that the agency reasonably identified characteristics associated with tax avoidance and was not required to prove that most covered transactions were abusive.

  • October 28, 2026

    Couple Appeals Judgment Imposing Joint Liability In Prudential LTC Fraud Suit

    ORLANDO, Fla. — After a Florida federal judge granted a motion to amend a $1,930,129 judgment as applied to one defendant in favor of Prudential Insurance Company of America to clarify that a couple is jointly and severally liable in a suit alleging that they fraudulently received benefits under their long-term care (LTC) insurance policies, the couple filed an amended notice appealing that judgment.

  • October 28, 2026

    Insurers Ask Arkansas Court To Rehear Coverage Suit Arising From Opioid Epidemic

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Primary and excess insurers petitioned for an Arkansas appellate court to rehear its ruling affirming partial summary judgment in favor of Walmart Inc. in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that the insurers have a duty to defend thousands of underlying actions alleging that it contributed to the opioid crisis by selling and dispensing opioid medications.

  • October 27, 2026

    Insured Appeals Ruling In Insurers’ Favor In Ghost Guns Coverage Dispute

    NEW YORK — An insured on Oct. 26 filed a notice appealing a New York federal judge’s ruling that granted insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment in a declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for underlying claims that the insured violated federal, state and local laws when it deliberately sold and shipped ghost gun parts and kits to New York.

  • October 27, 2026

    Excess Insurer Maintains No Duty To Defend Owed In Underlying Contamination Suit

    SEATTLE — An insured’s motion for partial summary judgment in an environmental contamination coverage dispute should be denied because the insured is attempting to avoid the preclusive effect of a 2016 order issued by a state court in a similar suit involving many of the same parties and finding that the excess insurer does not have a duty to defend, the excess insurer tells a Washington federal court in its response to the insured’s motion.

  • October 27, 2026

    U.S. Steel Corp. Seeks More Than $42M For Environmental Remediation Costs

    PITTSBURGH — An insured filed suit in Pennsylvania state court against a number of its excess insurers, seeking a declaration that the insurers owe more than $42 million for investigation and remediation costs incurred by the insured for releases of contaminants from one of its former steel facilities.

  • October 23, 2026

    Apartment Owner, Manager Appeal No-Coverage Ruling For $17M Negligence Verdict

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An apartment owner insured and the apartment’s property manager filed notices indicating they are appealing a Florida federal judge’s summary judgment ruling that a commercial excess liability insurance policy’s fire exclusion relieves the insurer of its duty to defend against an underlying negligence lawsuit, as well as its duty to indemnify a $17 million jury verdict reached in the underlying action.

  • October 22, 2026

    High Court Dismisses Hurricane Insurance Petition After Parties Resolve Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a petition for a writ of certiorari pertaining to the arbitrability under Louisiana law of a claim made by the owner of a hotel in Louisiana for hurricane damages and bad faith against its domestic insurer after the parties filed a joint stipulation informing the court that the matter was “resolved by the parties,” leaving two other petitions for certiorari on the same topic pending.

  • October 22, 2026

    Contractor Seeks Rehearing Of Grant Of Mandamus In Roof Coverage Dispute

    SAN ANTONIO — A contractor is seeking panel rehearing and en banc reconsideration of a Texas appellate panel’s conditional grant of mandamus relief to its subcontractor’s insurer, arguing that the panel wrongly applied the no-direct-action rule because its allegations present a direct coverage dispute between the insurer and the contractor as an additional insured.

  • October 22, 2026

    Builder Seeks Briefing On ‘Occurrence’ Issue Raised In Supplemental Memorandum

    NEW ORLEANS — A builder filed a motion for leave to file supplemental briefing in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a lower court judge’s supplemental memorandum providing further explanation regarding why he granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer in the builder’s suit seeking indemnification for an arbitration award for damages caused by defects in a home built by the builder brought up an issue not previously briefed — whether, as the judge put it, the arbitration proceeding was an “occurrence.”

  • October 22, 2026

    D&O Insurers Ask 4th Circuit To Reverse Denial Of Prejudgment Interest

    RICHMOND, Va. — Directors and officers liability insurers argue that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a lower court’s denial of their request for prejudgment interest after it previously ruled in their favor in their lawsuit challenging coverage for underlying securities investigations, shareholder demand letters and a securities class action against Under Armour Inc., arguing that they are entitled to prejudgment interest as a matter of right pursuant to Maryland law.

  • October 21, 2026

    Insurer Seeks $4.7M From Guarantors Over Unpaid Reinsurance Obligations

    HOUSTON — An insurer filed suit in a Texas federal court against two insurance program partners, alleging that they breached a guaranty and indemnity agreement by failing to pay $4.7 million in collateral owed by a nonparty captive insurance cell under a quota share reinsurance agreement.

  • October 21, 2026

    6th Circuit Sets Argument Date In Appeal Of Upheld IRS Final Rule

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a notice scheduling oral argument for Dec. 17 in a case in which a captive insurance manager asserts that a Tennessee federal judge erred in upholding an IRS final rule governing small captive insurance arrangements because the rule treats legitimate captives as abusive or potentially abusive tax-avoidance transactions without a sufficient abuse finding.

  • October 21, 2026

    Insurer Moves For Voluntary Dismissal Of Professional Liability Coverage Dispute

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A lawyers professional liability insurer moved for voluntary dismissal without prejudice of its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying legal malpractice claim brought against its attorney insured.

  • October 20, 2026

    Appeal Of Order Denying FIGA Attorney Fee Bid In Water Coverage Row Dismissed

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate court clerk filed an order noting that the court recognizes a voluntary dismissal of the appeal by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which had previously appealed a lower court order denying FIGA’s motion for entitlement to attorney fees in a dispute with a condominium association over FIGA’s alleged failure to cover water damage.

  • October 20, 2026

    Albertsons Seeks Remand Of Opioid Coverage Suits For Full Choice-Of-Law Analysis

    DOVER, Del. — Albertsons and its affiliated grocery store chains filed a reply brief in support of its appeal seeking Delaware Supreme Court review of a lower court’s holding that commercial general liability insurers have no duty to defend and indemnify it against underlying lawsuits seeking to hold it liable for damages arising from the opioid epidemic, seeking reversal and remand to allow the lower court to conduct a full choice-of-analysis to determine whether the California or Idaho law would have applied the same insurance law principles as Delaware.

  • October 20, 2026

    Potbelly: Court Erred In Dismissing Employment Practices Liability Coverage Suit

    SEATTLE — The owner and operator of several Potbelly Sandwich Shop restaurants appealed a Washington federal court’s dismissal of its breach of contract lawsuit seeking employment practices liability coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that it violated the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, arguing to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the lower court erred by failing to apply the “liberal-construction principles” that govern coverage disputes under Washington law and misapplied Washington law when it analyzed the insurance policy and underlying allegations.