Jurisdiction: United States
Subprime Lending Crisis Could Impact D&O Insurers
Although there has been a recent slowdown in D&O claims, it appears that D&O insurers may soon be hit with a new wave of claims arising out of the subprime lending crisis. To date, twelve securities class actions have been filed against mortgage lenders.
Read More
Southern District of New York Denies Summary Judgment to Cedent in Case Involving 3M Settlement
In National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Clearwater Ins. Co., 04-CV-5023 (S.D.N.Y., July 21, 2007), the Southern District of New York denied a cedent’s motion for summary judgment based on the follow the fortunes doctrine, finding that a material issue of fact existed as to whether a portion of a settlement involved payment for consequential damages claims that would be excluded under the reinsurance certificate at issue.
Read More
New Insurance for NASCAR Fans
Sports fans learn to assume certain risks when purchasing advance tickets for sporting events. Uncontrollable events often make it impossible for ticket holders to attend specific events, often leading to the forfeiture of high-priced tickets.
Read More
Bear Stearns Hires Law Firm To Investigate Ailing Hedge Fund Investments While Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Receives $3 Billion Bailout
Last week, Bear Stearns & Co. announced that it has hired a law firm to investigate losses incurred by two of its hedge funds. The hedge funds were forced into bankruptcy after losing significant amounts of money from investments in the subprime mortgage market. The stock market is currently reeling over credit problems stemming from the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry.
Read More
Met Life and Bancorp Fight Over Insurance-Related Patents
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Bancorp Services LLC are back in the ring again. Bancorp has filed a complaint alleging that MetLife is infringing a patent for a system that administers and tracks the values of insurance policies in separate accounts (U.S. Patent No. 7,249,037).
Read More
Massachusetts Court Weighs In On Duty To Defend Issues
A Massachusetts trial court recently ruled on a number of issues concerning an insurer’s duties where it agrees to defend an insured under a reservation of rights, including: (1) an insurer’s duty to defend an affiliated company that owns all of the insured’s shares when only the affiliated company and not the insured is named as a defendant in the lawsuit; (2) an insurer’s duty to pay defense costs for legal work that benefits both the insured and non-insured entities working together as part of a joint defense agreement; (3) an insurer’s duty to pay defense costs for both national and local counsel retained by an insured; and (4) the reasonableness of legal fees incurred when the defense is provided under a reservation of rights.
Read More
Florida Office Of Insurance Regulation Denies Three Rate Filings As “Too High”
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (the “OIR”) has denied rate filings of three insurance companies, because, according to the OIR, the requested rate decreases were not substantial enough to be in accordance with the legislative overhaul from the January Special Session.
Read More
Statutory Attorneys Fees Under Florida’s Insurance Code
In a recent decision, a Florida appellate court found that an insured was not entitled to statutory legal fees against its insurer where the insurer defended the insured under a reservation of rights before bringing a declaratory judgment action concerning coverage.
Read More
Recent Medical Product Liability Developments
A round-up of recent developments in medical product libility actions pending in federal courts across the U.S.
Read More
InsurTech
