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This updates our October 26, 2010 posting.  With 61% of precincts reporting, 58% of the voters in the State of Washington have rejected Initiative 1082 (“I-1082”).  I-1082 would have allowed for the privatization of workers’ compensation insurance, which currently is only available through the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. …
Read More UPDATE: Washington Voters Reject Elimination Of Workers’ Compensation Monopoly

After a preliminary injunction hearing, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas has determined that D&O insurers for the Stanford Financial Group and various related entities are no longer required to advance defense costs relating to criminal charges and civil litigation filed against Mark Kuhrt, Gilbert Lopez and R. Allen Stanford. …
Read More Court Finds Insurers No Longer Required to Advance Defense Costs for Certain Stanford Individuals Due to Money Laundering Exclusion

In a February 8, 2010 blog post, which can be found here, we reported on a then-recent jury verdict in which a Connecticut jury awarded nearly $15 million to a class of automotive body shop plaintiffs based on the jury’s finding that the insurance company defendant violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. …
Read More Cigarette Rule Update – Still Smokin’ in Connecticut

Effective October 1, 2010, the New York Insurance Department (the “Department”) has authority to review health insurance rate requests before they go into effect.   Before this “prior approval” authority went into effect, health insurers could simply increase their rates by filing with the Department and notifying customers of the change under a system known as “file and use.” …
Read More NYID Implements “Prior Approval” of Health Insurance Rates

Reversing a district court holding to the contrary, the First Circuit has declared that Massachusetts public policy does not prohibit D&O carriers from insuring against damages allegedly incurred by one class of shareholders as a result of an unfair benefit conferred on another class of shareholders.  Rather, the Court held that the terms of the policy had to be given their plain and ordinary meaning.  The  Court then remanded the case for an allocation proceeding. …
Read More First Circuit Remands D&O Coverage Dispute for Allocation

This updates our May 13, 2010 posting.  On October 25, 2010, the New Jersey Assembly passed A.2360 (the “Bill”) by a vote of 77-0, which would permit a captive insurance market to exist in New Jersey.  The Bill is based largely on Vermont’s captive insurance bill, which is generally viewed as the state model with the best design for the captive insurance market so far. …
Read More Captive Bill Passed By New Jersey Assembly; Next Stop New Jersey Senate

A divided Court of Appeals of Kentucky recently held that an insured was continually covered under two back-to-back “claims-made” insurance policies issued by the same insurer even though a claim was made against the insured during one policy period, and not reported to the insurer until fourteen months later, during the second policy period. …
Read More Divided Kentucky Court of Appeals Relaxes Claims Made and Reported Requirements When Consecutive Policies Are Issued by the Same Insurer

The New York Times and its reporter Ron Nixon (collectively the “Times”) brought an action pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (the “Act”) against the United States Treasury in the New York Southern District court.  The Times sought to compel the Treasury Department to release the names of individuals who had been granted licenses by the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) to conduct business in or with foreign countries that would otherwise be unlawful under OFAC’s economic sanctions programs. …
Read More New York Court Compels Treasury Department to Release Identity of OFAC Licensees