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A New York federal court recently found that a lawsuit commenced by two insurance companies in run-off, Seaton Insurance Company and Stonewall Insurance Company, against their run-off manager, defendant Cavell USA Inc. and its principal, Ken Randall, was subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts, granting defendants’ motion to dismiss on that basis. …
Read More New York Federal Court Enforces Forum Selection Clause, Grant’s Run-off Administrator’s Motion to Dismiss

A Pennsylvania state court has reportedly ruled, in an unpublished opinion, that the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner may pursue a theory of damages against the accountant of an insolvent insurer based on a legal claim of “deepening insolvency.” …
Read More Pennsylvania State Court Permits Plaintiff to Pursue “Deepening Insolvency” Theory of Damages

AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. (“AWS”) recently filed a noteworthy reply brief in an ongoing D&O insurance coverage dispute between an AIG subsidiary and AWS over coverage for payments made by an acquirer on behalf of the acquiree’s directors and officers. 

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Read More AT&T Wireless Appeal Seeks Reversal of Lower Court Ruling Denying D&O Coverage for $47 Million Settlement Payment

If you are in-house counsel for a corporation in Connecticut, but are not licensed in Connecticut, please read this!  Failure to comply with Connecticut Practice Book section 15A could result in an enforcement action for unauthorized practice of law. …
Read More Connecticut In-House Counsel Not Licensed in Connecticut Must Register By June 30, 2008!

The Florida Supreme Court has refused to weigh in on the ongoing clash between the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and Allstate.  As reported here, here, and here, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty served subpoenas on Allstate, seeking internal documents concerning its reinsurance program.  When Allstate failed to comply with the subpoenas, the OIR suspended the rights of Allstate companies to issue new policies in Florida. 

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Read More Allstate Suspension Stands – Florida Supreme Court Denies Jurisdiction

In 316, Inc. v. Md. Cas. Co., Case No. 3:07cv528-RS-MD (N.D. Fla. May 21, 2008), an insured, whose commercial building had been damaged by Hurricane Ivan, alleged that its insurer acted in bad faith by refusing to pay for the damages. …
Read More Florida Bad Faith – Federal District Court Finds That Policyholder Failed To Sufficiently Plead Punitive Damages Claim

Representative Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced a bill on June 19 that would place increased regulatory scrutiny on bond insurers and require one rating standard for both municipal and corporate bonds.  The Municipal Bond Fairness Act, as the legislation is named, would require municipal bond insurers to submit information about their operations, including their financial soundness, risk management and underwriting standards in an effort to prevent the type of exposure currently faced by the monoline bond insurers as a result of the subprime credit crunch of the last 12 months. 

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Read More Municipal Bond Fairness Act Introduced

On June 19, Moody’s Investors Service removed the triple-A financial strength rating  for bond insurers MBIA Insurance Corp. and Ambac Assurance Corp., downgrading both companies in response to their continued exposure to the struggling mortgage market.  MBIA was downgraded from Aaa to A2, while Ambac was downgraded from Aaa to Aa3. …
Read More MBIA and Ambac Downgraded by Moody’s

In our continuing coverage of emerging product liability issues related to carbon nanotubes, which was first reported here, we focus on the U.S. government’s call for stricter monitoring of health risks arising from the production and use of this new technology. 

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Read More GAO Report on Federally Funded Research of the Environmental, Health and Safety Risks of Nanoscale Materials