A significant number of states prohibit or restrict the arbitration of disputes between an insurer and its policyholder and/or preclude the inclusion of arbitral provisions in insurance policies.The McCarran-Ferguson Act...more
Another Circuit Court Holds That the New York Convention Pre-empts State Laws Prohibiting Arbitration of Insurance Disputes - On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Article II, Section...more
In a dispute over whether an international insurance policy provided coverage for losses resulting from a fire that destroyed the insured property, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico determined that the...more
In a case involving an arbitration agreement between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, which is governed by the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and its implementing legislation,...more
The District Court of Puerto Rico upheld a prior judgment ordering Integrand Assurance Co. to arbitrate its claims against its various reinsurers, rather than remand the case to the court overseeing Integrand’s receivership,...more
Battles persist concerning the enforceability of insurance policy arbitration clauses due to the conflict between (a) the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause (Art. VI, cl. 2), which gives federal laws and international...more
Defendants, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s and its third-party claims administrator, CJW & Associates, sought to enforce a mandatory arbitration clause in a Lloyd’s policy issued to the plaintiffs. ...more
The United States Constitution, a U.S. treaty, two federal statutes, a state statute, and a commercial contract walk into a bar. The federal statutes are arguing. The Constitution, the treaty, one of the federal statutes, and...more
In this episode of OnRisk, Carolyn Branthoover and Sarah Turpin talk about the increasing frequency of arbitration clauses in insurance policies, the enforceability of arbitration agreements in both the U.S. and in the UK,...more
The receiver for Gramercy Insurance Company sought to avoid arbitration of a reinsurance dispute with Contractor’s Bonding, Ltd., by arguing the FAA was reverse preempted under the McCarran-Ferguson Act....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
In a case involving a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA), a California trial court has examined the interplay between two seemingly irreconcilable contract provisions: one that provided for the arbitration of any...more
A Cornhusker by birth, I’ve always had a special affinity for Nebraska, and particularly Omaha, where I was raised. My only regret is that I was neither old nor rich enough to participate in Mr.Buffet’s original partnership....more
The background of this case is as follows. State Insurance Commissioner Brian Maynard, acting as liquidator of the failed Kentucky Health Cooperative (“KYHC”), filed suit in Kentucky state court against CGI Technologies and...more
Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company appealed from the denial of its motion to compel arbitration in a dispute related to a reinsurance participation contract with South Jersey Sanitation Company. The trial...more
A recent ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals underscores the Federal Arbitration Act’s(“FAA”) strong policy favoring enforcement of arbitration agreements—even in the insurance industry and despite federal policy...more
Monarch Consulting, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., __ N.Y.3d __, 2016 WL 633946 (N.Y., Feb. 18, 2016) Case at a Glance - National Union Fire Insurance of Pittsburgh (“National Union...more
In an action to compel arbitration under payment agreements entered into between National Union and its insured, the New York Court of Appeals held the determination of arbitrability was not barred by the McCarran Ferguson...more
As we reported in this space late last year, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S.Ct. 1740, 1745 (2011), tilted the scales toward federal power in the field of arbitration, preempting...more
In a bout before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, two heavyweight federal statutes squared off, with coverage for hundreds of long-tail, asbestos-related personal injury lawsuits on the line. In one corner:...more
The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not preempt a state statute that prohibits binding arbitration agreements in insurance contracts....more