The California Supreme Court last week handed down a major ruling endorsing the “all-sums-with-stacking” approach for insurance coverage in long-tail environmental claims. …
Read More California Adopts “All-Sums-With-Stacking” Rule in Decision that Maximizes Coverage Available to Policyholders

On August 6, 2012, Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) signed into law a nearly 350-page bill that builds on the health reform legislation signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney in 2007, and supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The legislation’s cost containment provisions are estimated to save Massachusetts up to $200 billion in healthcare costs over the next 15 years. …
Read More Client Advisory – Massachusetts Governor Signs Healthcare Payment Reform Bill

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, issued a ruling this past week in which it adopted a “clear approach” for determining the difference between direct and derivative claims.  The decision clarifies heretofore murky New York law on the topic.  A copy of the slip opinion, Yudell v. Gilbert, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 05896 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Aug. 7, 2012), is available here. …
Read More New York Adopts Delaware’s “Tooley Test” for Distinguishing Between Derivative and Direct Actions

In JP Morgan Chase & Co. v Indian Harbor Ins. Co., 2012 NY Slip Op 4702 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t June 12, 2012), the New York Appellate Division, applying Illinois law, held that an insured was unable to access numerous excess layers due to its failure to show that the exhaustion provisions in the excess policies had been satisfied. …
Read More New York Appellate Division Affirms Lower Court’s Ruling That Excess Insurers Have No Payment Obligations Where The Insured Fails to Satisfy Conditions Precedent to Exhaustion

State insurance regulators working through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) joined their counterparts from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to further regulatory cooperation on issues impacting both countries. The U.S.-China Insurance Regulation Seminar was held in Qingdao, China on July 24th and 25th, 2012.  This seminar is the eighth time that such talks have been held between the parties. …
Read More NAIC-CIRC Dialogue Advances

The New York State Court of Appeals has ruled that additional insureds are not entitled to coverage under a general liability policy if that policy is rescinded due to the named insured’s material misrepresentations. …
Read More New York Court Holds That Additional Insureds Are Not Entitled To GL Coverage Where The Policy Is Rescinded Due To The Named Insured’s Material Misrepresentations

Does an excess liability insurer have standing to bring a malpractice claim against counsel appointed by its insured’s primary carrier to defend against a lawsuit?  In Mississippi, the answer is a qualified, “Yes.” …
Read More Mississippi Appeals Court Recognizes Excess Carrier’s Malpractice Claim Against Insured’s Defense Counsel

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island declared that a claimant lacks the ability to bring an action against an insurer for violation of Rhode Island’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, R.I. Gen. Laws, tit. 27, ch. 9.1 (1956).  The case is Great American E&S Insurance Company v. End Zone Pub & Grill of Narragansett, Inc., No. 2010-375-Appeal. …
Read More Supreme Court of Rhode Island Finds That Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act Does Not Create Private Cause of Action Against Insurers

The Second Circuit recently held that, even if a stock recovers its value after dropping following a corrective disclosure, this does not necessarily negate a showing of loss causation at the pleading stage in a claim for securities fraud.  See Acticon AG, et al. v. China North East Petroleum Holdings Ltd., et al., No. 11-4544-cv (2nd Cir., August 1, 2012).  A copy of the decision is available here. …
Read More Second Circuit Holds That Post-Disclosure Recovery of Stock Price Does Not Negate Loss Causation

In Cox v Ergo Verscherung AG [2012] EWCA Civ 854, the Court of Appeal considered whether, in a claim for damages recoverable from a German insurer, damages should be assessed under English or German law. …
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Considers the Applicable Law to the Assessment of Damages