In B v A [2010] EWHC 1626 (Comm), Mr Justice Tomlinson was asked to determine a preliminary issue concerning whether the claimant (B) had a realistic prospect of challenging an arbitration award (the Award) under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). …
Read More UK: English Commercial Court Considers Challenge to an Arbitration Award

The Court of Appeal has affirmed a High Court decision that prevents solicitors’ insurers from gaining access to privileged documents held by the Law Society after an intervention in the firm. In Quinn Direct Insurance Ltd v Law Society of England & Wales [2010] EWCA Civ 805 the Court unanimously rejected Quinn’s appeal against the decision of Mr Justice Peter Smith (see our previous blog here). …
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Rejects Insurers’ Appeal for Access to Privileged Documents Held by the Law Society

In Persimmon Homes Ltd v Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) Plc [2010] EWHC 1705 (Comm), the High Court ruled that dishonesty on the part of a claimant which has taken out after the event (ATE) insurance can amount to a material non-disclosure such that the insurer may avoid the policy. …
Read More UK: English High Court Rules on Purported Avoidance of After the Event Insurance

A federal judge has ruled that directors and officers of a company in bankruptcy proceedings may continue to access an eroding liability policy to cover their defense costs.  The court based its decision on a close examination of the policy language, and alternatively held that the individual directors and officers had shown they were entitled to relief from the automatic stay. …
Read More Delaware Bankruptcy Court Rules That Directors & Officers May Access Eroding Policy Despite Company’s Bankruptcy

On 9 July 2010, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined David Head £10,500 for putting customers at risk of receiving unsuitable advice on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Head, a director of Essex based mortgage and insurance broker network, FT Compliance Services Limited, and an FSA approved person, failed properly to supervise insurance and mortgage brokers who advised on PPI sales. …
Read More UK: FSA Fines Approved Person for Unsuitable PPI Advice

The U.S. Supreme Court recently asked the Solicitor General to file a brief on behalf of the United States expressing its views on whether the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) and the federal legislation that enforces it, the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”),  are subject to the reverse preemption provision of the McCarran-Ferguson Act. …
Read More United States Supreme Court Asks for Federal Government’s Opinion on Applicability of the McCarran-Ferguson Act to the New York Convention

In American Home Assurance Co. v. American Re-Insurance Co., No. 602485/06 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 27, 2010), the plaintiffs, several ceding companies, brought a declaratory judgment action against certain reinsurers (collectively, the “Reinsurers”) seeking reimbursement for portions of a settlement plaintiffs made with their insured, Monsanto Corporation. …
Read More New York State Court Finds that Follow the Settlements Doctrine Does Not Apply

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is a sponsor of the Reinsurance Association of America’s  reinsurance education programs. Vincent J. Vitkowsky, Partner in New York, will be presenting at the seminar “Dispute Resolution Clauses in Contracts” presented at the Reinsurance Association of America’s ReContracts program on July 22, 2010 in New York City.  If you are planning to attend the conference, please come by our booth and meet our attorneys and to network with your peers in the industry. …
Read More RAA/Contracts Conference in New York

The Law Commission has published an Issues Paper considering the insured’s post-contract duty of good faith, in particular, the law of fraudulent claims, focusing on what remedies should be available to insurers if policyholders act fraudulently. …
Read More UK: Law Commission Publishes Paper on The Insured’s Post-Contract Duty of Good Faith