The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) Life Insurance Working Group (Working Group) has released its recommendations to revise the life insurance provisions of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 1995 (1995 Uniform Act or...more
The California Insurance Commissioner issued a notice on February 18, 2015 to more than 750 property and casualty insurers doing business in California, announcing that “any use of Price Optimization in the ratemaking/pricing...more
On January 23, 2015, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) released a new white paper outlining the unique and varied challenges broker-dealers face when complying with state unclaimed property...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held yesterday in Gelboim v. Bank of America Corp., No. 13-1174, that an order disposing of an individual case previously consolidated with other cases for multidistrict litigation (MDL)...more
The year 2014 saw a surge in class action filings under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Record-setting class action settlements captured the headlines. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided...more
In Braun v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a $187 million jury verdict in favor of class action plaintiffs. The rationale of the ruling raises the concern that Pennsylvania state courts may...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court relieved decades of uncertainty concerning the filing requirements for removal of cases to federal court from state court by holding that a defendant is required only to file “a short and plain...more
Confirming that auditor independence continues to be a regulatory priority, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued orders on December 8,...more
As class action filings under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) have continued to rise, so too have the number of disputes with commercial liability insurers over coverage for their insureds’ alleged TCPA...more
Companies in the financial services industry are being targeted in lawsuits brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Record-setting class action settlements like the recent $75 million settlement involving...more
SUTHERLAND’S THREE C'S: CONSENT, COMPLIANCE, COMMUNICATION -
What is the TCPA?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) protects consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls, prerecorded or autodialed...more
Late this summer, the Massachusetts Treasurer demanded mutual fund records on a nationwide basis as part of a multistate unclaimed property audit. Thirty-five (35) states are involved in the audit, but the Treasurer has...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has clarified the standard for “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in a September 29, 2014 decision reversing an outlier ruling by a...more
The enrollment period for the Delaware Secretary of State’s Voluntary Disclosure Agreement Program (the Delaware VDA Program) for unclaimed property reporting closes next week on September 30, 2014. Delaware has previously...more
To autodial or not autodial, that is the question. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) defines autodialer as “equipment which has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or...more
What constitutes valid consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? A hot issue in TCPA litigation is the scope of consent necessary to place automated calls to consumers where the consumer has provided a cell phone...more
On August 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held in Vander Luitgaren v. Sun Life Ass. Co. of Canada, No. 13–2090, 2014 WL 4197947 (1st Cir. Aug. 26, 2014), that an insurer, acting as a claims administrator,...more
Insurance companies are increasingly the subject of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuits. Any insurance company that communicates with its customers, job applicants, and others by phone or text using an automated...more
In an opinion filed August 5, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal held that Florida’s unclaimed property law does not make life insurance proceeds due and payable at the time of the insured’s death and does not impose an...more
In a recently issued notice of rulemaking, the Idaho State Treasurer’s Office has proposed a temporary rule that, if permanently adopted, would alter two key definitional provisions in the state’s unclaimed property laws...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has confirmed that proof of death is a reasonable requirement for payment under a life insurance policy, and is a prerequisite to monies becoming “payable” under unclaimed...more
Amidst ongoing multistate unclaimed property audits of many life insurers, and despite many regulatory settlements, the insurance industry and state regulators continue to disagree over the application of unclaimed property...more
In a class action challenging a cost of insurance (COI) rate increase, a New York federal district court has stated that an insurer may only consider factors specifically enumerated in the policy when raising COI rates on a...more
Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) put into effect a certification program required for any person or entity seeking to access information during the three-year period...more
In what is commonly known as a rails-to-trails case, the U.S. Supreme Court held on March 10, 2014, in an eight-to-one decision, that certain railroad rights-of-way revert to private property owners following the railroad’s...more