-
May 29, 2026
NEW YORK — A Florida businessman sued by a reinsurer over an allegedly breached $34.4 million limited guaranty tied to a defaulted credit facility has filed a fraudulent inducement counterclaim in New York federal court, asserting that he executed the guaranty and participated in the loan transaction in reliance on collateral-related representations that were false and made with the knowledge and participation of affiliates involved in the transaction.
-
May 28, 2026
HOUSTON — An insurer seeking reconsideration of a Texas federal judge’s denial of a summary judgment motion on a counterclaim in a years-long motor collision coverage dispute contends that the judge “put the cart before the horse” and did not have all of the proper evidence available when finding that the insurer did not prove that the statute of limitations had run.
-
May 28, 2026
LOS ANGELES — California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara argues in an opposition brief filed in a California state court that a consumer research and advocacy organization’s petition to invalidate regulatory bulletins authorizing California FAIR Plan assessment cost pass-throughs should be denied because the bulletins only explain the prior-approval process for temporary supplemental fees and do not conflict with the FAIR Plan proportional-sharing requirement because that provision governs only the FAIR Plan’s internal affairs rather than member insurers’ relationships with policyholders.
-
May 27, 2026
CHICAGO — An insurer and its parent corporation sued a Chinese bank and two affiliates in an Illinois federal court, alleging that the bank refused to honor nine Vesttoo Ltd.-related standby letters of credit with a combined face value of nearly $10 million that were required to collateralize reinsurance obligations, leaving the insurer with impaired surplus, regulatory restrictions and unreimbursed claims.
-
May 27, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In supplemental briefing in a crop insurance agency’s suit over reduced agent commissions and policy transfer allegations, the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) argues that it is immune from the agency’s declaratory judgment claims because the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA) does not waive sovereign immunity for challenges to FCIC’s regulatory conduct, while the agency maintains that the FCIA’s sue-and-be-sued clause permits declaratory relief concerning FCIC’s alleged duties under the statute and a standard reinsurance agreement.
-
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.
-
May 26, 2026
BATON ROUGE, La. — An insurer urges a Louisiana federal court to deny its insureds’ motion to dismiss, arguing that a determination on the insurer’s duty to indemnify the insureds in underlying mercury bodily injury suits stemming from the decommissioning of a chemical plant would not be premature because no coverage is afforded under the policies.
-
May 22, 2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A subcontractor moved in Florida federal court to dismiss a negligence claim a general contractor brought against it in a third-party complaint regarding damage from roofing repairs the subcontractor performed; the third-party complaint is part of a claims dispute suit the general contractor filed against its commercial general liability insurer over coverage for the roof damage.
-
May 22, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A general contractor’s insurer urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court’s judgment in favor of a subcontractor’s insurer, arguing that because the general contractor is an additional insured under the subcontractor’s policy, the subcontractor’s insurer had a duty to defend the contractor in an underlying suit against the contractor for damages allegedly caused by the subcontractor’s work.
-
May 22, 2026
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument for June 26 in a dispute over long-term disability (LTD) benefits that involves interpretation of the term “work,” whether passive income counts as earnings and what constitutes sufficient proof of disability; in the challenged ruling, a federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer, sustaining its objections to a report and recommendation in favor of the claimant and adopting only the parts it didn’t object to.
-
May 22, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A construction manager says that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a lower court judge’s order granting its insurers’ motion for summary judgment, arguing that the judge misinterpreted the meaning of the phrase “during the course of construction” in its policy’s course of construction exclusion (COCE) when the judge concluded that the insurers owed no duty to defend the construction manager in an underlying case regarding issues with the laying of concrete flooring.
-
May 22, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A subcontractor asked a federal judge in Louisiana to enforce a settlement agreement between the subcontractor and the insurer that sued it as subrogee for a general contractor for damages the insurer alleged were caused by the subcontractor’s faulty workmanship; the subcontractor said the parties could not agree on certain provisions of the $499,000 settlement.
-
May 21, 2026
NEW YORK — Urging the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm denial of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for a corporate finance attorney who claimed that she became unable to do her job after her vehicle was rear-ended at a traffic light, the LTD insurer argued that the trial court’s ruling was correct and noted that the judge said he would have reached the same result even under the de novo review that the claimant contends was required.
-
May 21, 2026
ORLANDO, Fla. — A general contractor argues that allegations in an underlying action over work done on an apartment building potentially give rise to coverage under policies issued by a commercial general liability insurer to the apartment building owner, urging a federal court in Florida to deny the insurer’s renewed motion for summary judgment.
-
May 21, 2026
BOISE, Idaho — After reaching a settlement in February following a judge’s dismissal of bad faith counterclaims filed by a construction company and seller of property, the parties to a coverage dispute over fire damage that occurred after a construction worker discarded oil-soaked rags filed a stipulation of dismissal in Idaho federal court.
-
May 21, 2026
NEW YORK — Briefing before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has concluded in a disability benefits appeal centered on a residual disability provision, with the appellees arguing in their answering brief that the trial court correctly concluded that the provision was not ambiguous and permitted termination of the benefits at age 65, and the beneficiary contending in his reply brief that the parties’ “competing interpretations demonstrate that the Provision is susceptible to more than one reasonable meaning, which is sufficient to establish ambiguity under New York law.”
-
May 21, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — In a reply brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, homeowners argue that an insurer in its appellee brief repeats a lower court’s structural error: “no indemnity, therefore no other claims”; the homeowners say that once a developer tendered its complaint, which triggered the duty to defend, the insurer was required to perform claim-handling obligations.
-
May 21, 2026
SARASOTA, Fla. — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) moved to strike homeowners’ claim for attorney fees in Florida state court in their breach of contract dispute with FIGA over its alleged failure to cover damage caused by Hurricane Ian, asserting in part that attorney fees are not a covered claim for which FIGA must make payment.
-
May 20, 2026
PADUCAH, Ky. — A reinsurer and a ferrosilicon producer filed summary judgment motions in a Kentucky federal court in a pollution cleanup cost coverage dispute, with the reinsurer seeking dismissal of all claims against it on the basis that it is only an indemnity reinsurer with no contractual duties to the producer and the producer seeking rulings that its insurer and the reinsurer must cover more than $4.6 million in disputed claim costs, plus future regulatory compliance costs, under a pollution legal liability policy.
-
May 20, 2026
MIAMI — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) filed a notice of appeal in a Florida appellate court of a lower court order denying its motion for entitlement to attorney fees in a dispute with a condominium association over FIGA’s alleged failure to cover water damage.
-
May 19, 2026
LOS ANGELES — An insured filed a motion to stay its silica coverage suit pending in California federal court until the underlying silica bodily injury suits are resolved, noting that a stay would prevent the insured from having to litigate on two fronts.
-
May 19, 2026
SEATTLE — An insurer says an insured’s suit seeking coverage for environmental contamination at a gas station formerly operated by the insured should be stayed until a trial court issues a ruling on a motion to confirm the intended scope of relief because the state trial court’s ruling can help guide the disposition of the insured’s federal court suit.
-
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.
-
May 15, 2026
CLEVELAND — A reinsurer seeks a declaration in an Ohio federal court that it has no obligation under facultative reinsurance certificates to reimburse an insurer for a $31 million guaranty settlement paid in an environmental coverage dispute over remediation costs at a Kentucky aerospace manufacturing site.
-
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.”