Jurisdictions

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In an unpublished two page decision filed August 11, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a $21.6 million jury verdict in favor of a New Orleans grocer with approximately $1 million in bad faith damages. …
Read More Fifth Circuit Upholds Jury Verdict Against Insurer in Hurricane Katrina Case

In Shell Egypt West Manzala GmbH & Others v Dana Gas Egypt Limited (formerly Centurion Petroleum Corporation) [2009] EWHC 2097 (Comm) Dana Gas Egypt Limited (Dana) submitted that the court had no jurisdiction to hear Shell’s application for permission to appeal, allowed under section 69(1) of the Arbitration Act (the Act), or any substantive appeal because of the phrase “final, conclusive and binding” in the relevant arbitration clause. 

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Read More UK: Can the Right to Appeal an Arbitration Award Under the Arbitration Act 1996 be Excluded?

On August 14, 2009, Governor Paterson announced the appointment of James J. Wrynn to serve as Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department (the “Department”).  He will succeed Eric Dinallo who resigned from the Department on July 3 to accept a visiting professor position at New York University. 

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Read More Governor Paterson Announces Appointment of New York Superintendent of Insurance

The Obama Administration unveiled the final portion of its sweeping financial regulatory reform effort last week, when the Treasury Department released its over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives proposal.  The draft legislative proposal – sent to Capitol Hill on August 11 – seeks to bring transparency to the field of OTC derivatives, and to provide regulators with tools to prevent abuses such as manipulation and fraud in such markets. 

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Read More Administration’s Final Regulatory Reform Proposal Released

This updates our March 30, 2009 posting.  On July 27, 2009, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) released a revised draft of the Reinsurance Regulatory Modernization Act of 2009 (the “Act”), which was the result of a proposal adopted at its 2008 Winter Meeting to modernize reinsurance regulation. 

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Read More NAIC Releases Second Draft of Federal Legislation for Implementation of Reinsurance Regulatory Modernization Framework

On August 10, 2009, New York Governor David Patterson signed legislation continuing the freeze on medical malpractice rates.  In addition to the premium rate freeze, the legislation also suspended an anticipated surcharge.  The Legislature projected that without the freeze, medical malpractice rates would have increased by as much as 30% for some physicians. 

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Read More New York Freezes Medical Malpractice Rates For Additional Year

In Catalyst Investment Group Ltd & Ors v Max Lewinsohn & Ors [2009] EWHC 1964 (Ch) the High Court held that where the English courts have jurisdiction to hear a claim under Article 2 of EC Regulation 44/2001 (the Jurisdiction Regulation) it was not open to that court to stay the action before it on the grounds that there were existing proceedings on foot in a non-EU jurisdiction which had a closer connection to the case than England. 

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Read More UK: English High Court Considers the Effect of Parallel Proceedings on its Jurisdiction

On July 9, 2009, a Texas federal court awarded in excess of $5.5 million in damages to an insured under a second-layer excess insurance policy, for claims arising out of Hurricane Katrina related damage. One of the main issues in contention was whether the second-layer excess insurer’s liability attached even if the underlying insurers had paid out their full limits of liability because they did not correctly determine coverage. 

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Read More Katrina: $5.5 Million in Damages Awarded by Texas Federal Court to an Insured Under a Second-Layer Excess Insurance Policy Regardless of Whether the Underlying Insurers Properly Paid their Limits

The applicant, Midgulf, was a trader in sulphur. Groupe Chimiche Tunisien was a state-owned company of Tunisia which had a demand for sulphur. The parties entered into a contract in June 2008 for the sale of 23,000 mt of sulphur by Midgulf to Groupe Chimiche Tunisien, which included a clause for London arbitration. A second, July, contract was for the sale and purchase of 150,000 mt of sulphur at $895 per ton. This was agreed between the parties orally. …
Read More UK: Agreement to Arbitrate: MIDGULF INTERNATIONAL LTD v GROUPE CHIMICHE TUNISIEN