The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, applying California law, has affirmed a district court’s determination that California Insurance Code § 533 barred indemnity and defense costs coverage for a lawsuit...more
The United States District Court for the Central District of California, applying federal and California law, has held that there is no coverage for a civil judgment against an employee of an insured because the employee’s...more
Second Circuit Finds Coverage Where Insurer Unreasonably Delayed In Seeking Rescission and Its Exclusions Did Not Apply WW Trading was sued and sought coverage from United States Liability Insurance Company (USLI) which...more
The California Supreme Court answered the Ninth Circuit’s certified question in Liberty Surplus Insurance v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction. The court rephrased the question presented to it as: “When a third party sues an...more
"California prohibits insurers from indemnifying policyholders for their intentional misconduct, as a matter of public policy and as codified in California Insurance Code section 533. This bar on insurance coverage, however,...more
After a two week trial in 2013, a jury convicted Mitchell J. Stein, a lawyer, of mail, wire, and securities fraud based on evidence that he fabricated press releases and purchase orders to inflate the stock price of his...more
The Central District of California held that Section 533 of the Insurance Code eliminated any potential for coverage for suit under the state False Claims Act. On January 4, the U.S. District Court for the Central...more
Professional liability policies cover claims based on the insured’s alleged negligent acts, errors or omissions, and not claims for “sanctions or penalties” for “willful” professional misconduct. But the insurer’s duty to...more
On June 22, 2015, the 11th Circuit affirmed a Georgia federal court decision that there was no coverage under a director’s and officer’s (D&O) insurance policy for claims asserted by beneficiaries of a family trust against a...more
When an insurer agrees to defend its insured against a potentially covered claim without reserving the right to deny coverage, the insurer usually has the right to control the defense of the underlying lawsuit. See 3 Jeffrey...more