In a case we have been following on www.insurereinsure.com, Louisiana Safety Association of Timbermen – Self Insured Fund v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari to hear a dispute between an insurance pool and its reinsurer concerning whether the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) preempts a Louisiana statute that bars enforcement of arbitration agreements in insurance or reinsurance contracts. …
Read More U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Dispute Concerning Preemptive Effect of New York Convention on State Law Barring Arbitration

The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut recently granted a property insurer’s motion for summary judgment on a claim that the insurer acted in bad faith when it denied coverage to its insured for damage to the basement walls in the insured’s home. …
Read More Connecticut District Court Grants Summary Judgment to Insurer on Bad Faith Claim

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently ruled that “negligent misrepresentation” claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee arising from alleged molestation by priests are not covered under the Archdiocese’s CGL policy. …
Read More Wisconsin Court: “Negligent Misrepresentation” Claims By Molestation Victims Against Archdiocese Are Not Covered Under CGL Policy

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, recently affirmed a trial court’s decision to deny coverage to an attorney and his law firm who had been sued in an underlying malpractice action. …
Read More New Jersey Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Coverage for Attorneys’ Failure to Disclose Potential Malpractice Claim

On 15 December 2010 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued a final notice informing Scottish Equitable plc of the £2.8 million financial penalty levied on it for breaches of FSA Principle 3 that occurred between 2002 and 2010. …
Read More UK: The Financial Services Authority Fines Scottish Equitable plc £2.8 Million

On 14 December 2010, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that it is to undertake a study of competition in the UK private healthcare market. Such studies, which typically last for 6-12 months, can lead to the OFT making recommendations to government on how competition could be improved and/or a full market investigation reference to the Competition Commission (CC). …
Read More UK: OFT to Launch Market Study into Private Healthcare

Lawmakers worked to complete their legislative “to do” list during the lame duck session of Congress, including tax relief legislation, a continuing resolution to keep the government running into next year in the absence of regular FY 2011 appropriations bills, and a host of other end-of-session priorities. In health-related news, such priorities included a one year patch to prevent deep reimbursement cuts from impacting physicians. In addition, two legal challenges to the new healthcare reform law also made headlines last week. …
Read More Healthcare News From Capitol Hill and The Department of Health and Human Services – December 20, 2010