On June 14, the House voted 217-199 to pass its version of the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (H.R. 8070), and the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 22-3 to advance their chamber’s version of...more
In this episode of "Don’t Take No for an Answer," Lynda A. Bennett and Alexander B. Corson explore the complex issue of "allocation" in the context of defense costs in insurance claims. They discuss what steps to take when...more
Careening race cars, missing diamonds, and gold treasure provide some of the backdrop for insurance issues that courts had to decide this past month. We begin in Pennsylvania where the state’s high court reined in some loose...more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, applying New York law, has held that one Insured cannot use consent and cooperation provisions in a D&O insurance policy to block coverage for another...more
In Loblaw Companies Limited v. Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2024 ONCA 145, the Ontario Court of Appeal, among other things, overturned the lower court’s finding that insureds were entitled to seek 100% of...more
Weighing in on an issue that has divided courts nationwide, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has ruled that an insurer under Massachusetts law has no right to recoup defense costs, or amounts the insurer pays...more
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, applying California law, has held that two former directors and officers were entitled to advancement of defense costs incurred in connection with SEC...more
In Part I (”When Can an Insurer Pursue a Malpractice Claim Against Defense Counsel Retained for an Insured”) of our two-part article published by the ABA’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee (ICLC), we addressed the...more
Second Circuit Holds That Malpractice Insurer Has No Duty to Defend or to Indemnify Lawyer Because Of Business Enterprise Exclusion- Associated Industries Insurance Company sued its insureds, a lawyer, and his former law...more
The Superior Court of Delaware has held that collateral estoppel bars an insured company from relitigating whether, under a second excess follow-form D&O policy, an SEC letter and order (collectively the “SEC Matter”)...more
When representing a client, it is helpful when law and logic align in an obvious manner. But alignment of law and logic sometimes appears murky at best, and often directly at odds. An example of this is when you need to...more
Our December Insurance Update features a few firsts from state high courts. For the first time: •The Supreme Court of Hawaii addresses reimbursement of defense costs. •The Supreme Court of Illinois addresses coverage for...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, applying New York law, held that a former director is not entitled to injunctive relief requiring an excess D&O insurer to pay his defense costs because the director has not...more
In a win for Wiley’s client, the Supreme Court of New York for New York County, applying New York law, has held that no coverage is available for a legal malpractice lawsuit because the “claim” was first made before the...more
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently granted summary judgment for an insurer on a pollution liability policy for lack of timely notice. The court agreed with the insurer that the...more
Here’s what we discuss in our October Insurance Update. Illinois: Environmental Suits Alleging Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations Did Not Assert an “Occurrence”- Massachusetts (federal): Insurer May Consider Sums...more
Policyholders purchase liability insurance expecting that, when they are sued, their defense will be paid for by their insurer. Because the key value of liability insurance is that it is really “litigation insurance,” courts...more
Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial started this week; and on the same day, he sued one of his director & officer insurers. And a lot of people are asking, why? Is the timing a coincidence or on purpose? Shouldn’t he be...more
A Massachusetts federal court, applying Massachusetts law, has held that the allocation of legal fees between two corporations is determined based on what reasonably would have been negotiated had each party in the joint...more
On June 3, 2023, the Nevada legislature enacted a law prohibiting insurance companies from issuing or renewing policies of liability insurance that contain defense-within-limits provisions, or so-called “burning limits”...more
Hosts Lynda A. Bennett and Eric Jesse of Lowenstein’s Insurance Recovery Group continue their discussion about the difference between the duty to defend, the duty to reimburse, and the duty to advance. They run through the...more
In this episode of “Don’t Take No for an Answer,” hosts Lynda A. Bennett and Eric Jesse of Lowenstein’s Insurance Recovery Group discuss the difference between a duty to defend versus a duty to reimburse. They explain why...more
The 2023 Carlton Fields Class Action Survey has revealed a significant increase in the number of labor and employment class action lawsuits and the amount companies are spending to defend those lawsuits. That is sobering news...more
The Delaware Supreme Court has held that Delaware law, rather than Montana law, applies in a dispute over D&O coverage for defense costs incurred in a stockholder appraisal action. Stillwater Mining Co. v. Nat’l Union Fire...more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, applying Michigan law, has held that, even absent an express policy provision regarding recoupment, an insurer was entitled to recoup defense costs after...more