Inez Tenenbaum, the chairman of the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, has asked China to help persuade its drywall manufacturers to cooperate in assisting U.S. homeowners fix their homes.
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United States
Chinese Drywall – Manufacturer Agrees to Fund Remediation Pilot Program
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United States
Chinese drywall manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Company (“Knauf”), has agreed to pay to repair 300 homes in four states in a remediation pilot program. Owners of homes in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi with drywall manufactured by Knauf will be eligible to participate in the program. …
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Court Upholds Insurer’s Decision to Deny Benefits to Smoker’s Widow
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
In Jackson v. Farmers New World Life Ins. Co., the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma ruled that the insurer did not act in bad faith or breach its contractual duty when it rescinded a $150,000 non-smokers life insurance policy after discovering that the insured was, in fact, a smoker. …
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Chinese Drywall – IRS Approves Tax Break for Chinese Drywall Remediation
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United States
The Internal Revenue Service recently approved a rule that would permit taxpayers with defective drywall in their houses to deduct the cost of repairs and replacement of damaged appliances. Under the new rule, taxpayers can deduct drywall related “casualty losses” in the year in which the loss occurs, as long as those losses are not compensated by insurance or other sources. …
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Washington To Vote On Elimination Of Workers’ Compensation Monopoly
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Regulatory, United States
On November 2, 2010, registered voters in the State of Washington will consider Initiative 1082 (“I-1082”) when they cast their ballots in this year’s election cycle. I-1082 would allow for the privatization of workers’ compensation insurance, which currently is only available through the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (the “L&I”). Washington is one of four states that maintain a government monopoly on workers’ compensation insurance. …
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BP Deepwater Horizon: Geographic Test to Determine Claim Eligibility Deemed Unwarranted
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Coverage & Claims, United States
Kenneth Feinberg, Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”), announced that geographic proximity to the BP Deepwater Horizon incident would not preclude a legitimate individual or business claim. Mr. Feinberg stated, “I have heard from elected officials in Florida, including Governor Crist, Attorney General McCollum, CFO Sink and others, about their concerns regarding Floridians’ proximity to the spill and how, regardless of distance, there has been economic impact beyond the areas closest to the spill. …
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Healthcare News from Capitol Hill and the Department of Health and Human Services – October 25, 2010
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
On October 14, a federal judge declined to dismiss two of the six claims in a healthcare reform lawsuit filed by 20 states. …
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Fifth Circuit Compels Arbitration, Holding that Parties Clearly Intended Arbitrator to Decide Issues of Arbitrability
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Plaintiffs purchased disability insurance from First American National, which later became known as defendant Regions Bank (“Regions”). …
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Ninth Circuit Finds That Parties Agreed to Apply the Arbitrator Disclosure and Vacatur Standards of the California Arbitration Act, Not the FAA
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
In Johnson v. Gruma Corp., No. 08-56911 (9th Cir. 2010), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – applying the California Arbitration Act (“CAA”) in lieu of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) – affirmed a District Court decision refusing to vacate an arbitration award on the ground that the arbitrator failed to disclose his wife’s former professional relationship with the law firm ultimately retained to represent the respondent in the arbitration. …
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The Brewing Foreclosure Crisis – An EAPD Complimentary Webinar
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
EAPD is hosting a complimentary webinar on Thursday, October 28, 2010 on the government investigations of lenders’ foreclosure practices. Please click here to register for this one hour program to learn more about what the exposure implications are for financial institutions. …
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