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Death Benefits Insurance Litigation

Carlton Fields

Litigation Lineup: Recent Decisions in Life and Disability Insurance Run into Policy Lapse, COVID-19, and Conflict of Interest...

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Life Policy Lapse Shortly Before Insured’s Death - In Simon v. USAA Life Insurance Co. (Mar. 29, 2024), the insurer denied death benefits under a term life insurance policy, which had lapsed for nonpayment of premium two...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - October 2023

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This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that range from the effect on disability benefits when medical records are not provided after two appeals, to a case that examines how an award of death benefits is...more

Cozen O'Connor

The Latest McHugh Battleground: Class Certification

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We are writing with a further litigation update on the potential after-effects of the California Supreme Court’s pivotal decision in McHugh v. Protective Life Insurance Company.1 That decision addressed the breadth of the...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Delaware Supreme Court’s Long‐Awaited Decision May Raise More Questions Than It Answers

On November 16, 2021, the Supreme Court of Delaware issued an opinion in Lavastone Capital LLC v. Estate of Beverly E. Berland (“Berland”) answering three certified questions under Delaware law. All three questions...more

Carlton Fields

Not So Fast: Court Upholds Denial of Request for Accelerated Life Insurance Payment

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The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a summary judgment ruling in favor of Minnesota Life Insurance Co. on all claims stemming from its denial of an accelerated life insurance payment. ...more

Carlton Fields

Autoerotic Asphyxiation Ruling Brews Circuit Split on Coverage

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In Tran v. Minnesota Life Insurance Co., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that an insured’s death from autoerotic asphyxiation fell under the policy exclusion for deaths resulting from “intentionally...more

Carlton Fields

Court Sheds Light on ERISA’s Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege

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A federal district court in Ohio recently attempted to shed some light on when internal communications between an ERISA plan administrator and its in-house counsel are discoverable and when they are protected by the...more

Carlton Fields

Intentional Killing a Grave Mistake Under Slayer Statutes

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Recent decisions provide worthwhile guidance for insurers handling slayer claims. According to traditional inheritance law, a “slayer” is one who intentionally kills, or conspires to kill, feloniously or unjustifiably,...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Tyll v. Stanley Black & Decker: When Plan Ambiguity Cost an Employer $4 Million

McDermott Will & Emery on

An employer learned the full cost of ambiguity when a Connecticut federal district court agreed with an employee’s widow that the word “maximum” was ambiguous in the company’s life insurance plan, thus making the widow...more

Carlton Fields

Life Insurer Defeats Bid to Apply Policy Lapse Statute Retroactively

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In Smith v. Jackson National Life Insurance Co., a beneficiary of a life insurance policy that lapsed prior to the death of the insured sued Jackson National for failing to provide sufficient notice of termination and...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

New Jersey Supreme Court Rules on Insurable Interest and Return of Premiums

On June 4, 2019, in a case captioned Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the Supreme Court of New Jersey answered two questions certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third...more

Mayer Brown

Sixth Circuit Invalidates Tennessee’s Punitive-Damages Cap and Holds That Punitive Damages Are Available Under Tennessee Law For...

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Should divided panels of federal appellate courts really be deciding state-law issues of first impression? That’s what happened last month in Lindenberg v. Jackson National Life Insurance Co. In Lindenberg, two Sixth Circuit...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Don’t Forget To Calendar Your Deadlines – Especially The Statutory Ones!

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If you commence an action by way of summons with notice, you must bear in mind the strict time limitations imposed by CPLR 3012(b). When the other party timely serves a written demand for a complaint, you have exactly twenty...more

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