The question before the Southern District of New York was whether, under English law, certain facultative reinsurance policies obligated a reinsurer to indemnify its cedent for a $20 million settlement. The finding was...more
Finding that a California trial court’s statement of decision was not a judgment or appealable order, the California Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, having no jurisdiction or authority to review it....more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (HHS) operates the reinsurance and risk-adjustments program for Colorado, including the application of the “netting rule” — a method...more
On remand from the Second Circuit, the Northern District of New York was asked to determine whether Utica Mutual Insurance Co. (the cedent) had a defense obligation under its umbrella policies. If it did, then Utica would be...more
The defendant, Preferred Contractors Insurance Company Risk Retention Group LLC (PCIC), is a risk retention group charted in Montana and doing business in New York. PCIC issued a CGL policy naming defendant Nadkos Inc. as an...more
McDonnel Group LLC obtained a builder’s risk policy for a construction project on a property located in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the insured was denied coverage, it filed suit seeking damages for breach of contract and...more
After a ten-day bench trial involving ten fact witnesses and five expert witnesses, the Northern District of New York found that certain facultative certificates did not implicitly contain follow-the-settlements or...more
An insured sought coverage under its commercial property insurance policy for property damage incurred after construction work was performed in an adjoining building. ...more
The California Court of Appeals rejected defendants’ appeal seeking to enforce an arbitration provision in a reinsurance participation agreement (“RPA”)....more
Experts are often used to address issues of causation and scope of damages in insurance coverage matters. It is well established, however, that an expert must be qualified through specific training or actual experience. ...more
Defendants wanted to examine GEICO’s Rule 30(b)(6) witness about GEICO’s special investigation unit practices, protocols and guidelines, as well as its resources and procedures devoted to claim verification and fraud...more
5/2/2018
/ Depositions ,
Discovery ,
FRCP 30(b)(6) ,
GEICO ,
Insurance Fraud ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motions to Quash ,
Non-Parties ,
Subpoenas ,
Witnesses
Defendant, Munich Re, moved for summary judgment relating to defense costs and allocation and Plaintiff, Utica, moved for summary judgment as to Munich Re’s claim for reimbursement. The Court denied the motions with the...more
4/30/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Endorsements ,
Follow-the-Fortunes Clause ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Legal Costs ,
Policy Terms ,
Reimbursements ,
Reinsurance ,
Summary Judgment ,
Umbrella Policies ,
Utica Mutual Insurance Co.
County of Suffolk v. Lexington Ins. Co., Case Number 604661-2017, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Suffolk County -
Under New York law, the requirement of a fortuitous loss is a necessary element for coverage to...more
4/17/2018
/ Breach of Contract ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
E&O Insurance ,
Energy Sector ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Justifiable Reliance ,
Leases ,
NY Supreme Court ,
Parking Lots ,
Promissory Estoppel ,
Solar Panels ,
State and Local Government ,
State Contractors ,
Wrongful Acts
The filed-rate doctrine precluded recovery of deficiency assessments the Workers’ Compensation Reinsurance Association (WCRA) levied against employers which were alleged to have been wrongfully collected in 2013 and 2014 when...more
When is a misrepresentation material on an application for insurance coverage? The Ninth Circuit affirmed a decision from the Central District of California, finding that an answer on an application for D&O insurance was a...more
Finding Montana law was inapplicable to the subject insurance policy under both federal maritime choice-of-law principles and the policy language, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that an arbitration clause was...more
2/5/2018
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Forum Selection ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Marine Insurance ,
McCarran-Ferguson Act ,
Policy Terms ,
State and Local Government ,
Venue
Seeking reimbursement of fees paid, allegedly by mistake, under the transitional reinsurance program in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), the trustees of the Twin City Pipe Trades Welfare Fund’s sued the...more
Following a jury trial, Utica Mutual Insurance Company was awarded $35 million, plus interest ($29,092,191.78) on its claims against Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company to enforce the terms of the certificates of reinsurance...more
Defendant Golden Isles Reinsurance Company, Limited (“Golden Isles”) sought detailed information regarding individual claims Canal Insurance Company (“Canal”) submitted for reimbursement under the parties’ reinsurance...more
Applying Delaware law, a South Carolina District Court found Plaintiff had properly pled its causes of action for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence/gross negligence and negligent misrepresentation...more
10/25/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Duty of Care ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fronting Policies ,
Good Faith ,
Gross Negligence ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Trust Accounting ,
US Bank National Association
This case involves a tax dispute centering on whether certain “purported” insurance and reinsurance transactions “lacked economic substance.” Following an in camera review of communications identified in Respondents’...more
The parties in this case presented to a court the issue of whether a reinsurance syndicate for which Federal Insurance acted as “a front” was a real party in interest and should be involved in an arbitration between Federal...more
Respondent moved for an immediate stay of an arbitration of claims relating to the purchase of insurance and to vacate the panel’s interim award requiring the posting of pre-hearing security. Petitioner moved to confirm the...more
The question presented to the Court was “whether federal law has opened the door for state law to ‘reverse preempt’ the diversity jurisdiction statute.” The McCarran-Ferguson Act was enacted by Congress to prevent federal...more
After previously holding that various claims against the insured, Pella, alleged property damage caused by an “occurrence,” thus triggering Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s (“Liberty”) coverage obligations under various CGL...more