According to its recent Form 10-Q SEC filing, Merck’s insurance coverage will not suffice to fully cover the November 2007 settlement reached in connection with the federal Vioxx class action litigation, reported to be for an “aggregate amount of $4.85 billion” for qualifying domestic claims (a figure that does not include legal defense costs). …
Read More Merck Reports Dispute With Insurers Over Coverage of Vioxx Claims

International broker Aon has released its 2009 political risk map, which identifies Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Cuba as Latin American countries with high political risk based on measures of the countries’ risk of currency inconvertibility and transfer; strikes, riots and civil commotion; war; terrorism; sovereign non-payment; political interference; supply chain interruption; and legal and regulatory risk. 

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Read More Aon Releases 2009 Political Risk Map; Four Latin American Countries Noted as High-Risk

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act suit based on subject matter and scienter arguments. 

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Read More Federal Court Denies Insurer’s Motion to Dismiss Whistleblower Suit

Brian Green, one of the coordinators of InsureReinsure.com, was invited to be a panelist at LegalTech 2009 to discuss InsureReinsure.com and web 2.0 generally. …
Read More Blog Coordinator Invited to Speak about InsureReinsure.com at Legal Technology Conference

Recently the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reduced an award of punitive damages by over two-thirds, holding that a 1:1 ratio between punitives and compensatory damages is the appropriate limit where the harm is purely economic and the compensatory damages award is substantial.  Jurinko v. Medical Protective Co., Nos. 06-3519 & 06-3666 (3rd Cir., December 24, 2008).  The court reduced the award from $6.25 million to just under $2 million. …
Read More Third Circuit Vastly Reduces Punitive Damages Award Against Insurer, Applies 1:1 Ratio

The FSA issued a statement on 15 January 2009, in response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report into the regulation of Equitable Life. In this statement, the FSA accepted the report’s findings that appropriate standards of administration and regulation were not achieved, and therefore accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendation that individual policyholders that were affected by the maldministration should be compensated by the Government. The FSA apologised for its failings in the statement. 

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Read More UK: Government and FSA Responds to Ombudsman’s Enquiry into Equitable Life

Birmingham City Council v Rose Forde [2009] EWHC 12 (QB) concerned an appeal arising from the judgment of a Costs Judge regarding two conditional fee agreements used to fund litigation between Birmingham City Council (the Council) and Rose Forde, a Council tenant. 

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Read More UK: High Court Suggests That a Retrospective Success Fee in a Retrospective Conditional Fee Agreement May Not be Contrary to Public Policy

On January 23, 2009, Intel Corp. filed suit against American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company (“AGLI”), in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that AGLI  owes a duty to defend Intel in its antitrust litigation with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (“AMD”). …
Read More Intel Commences Action Against Its Insurer for Coverage of Antitrust Litigation Under “Advertising Liability” Provision of Policy

On January 16, 2009, American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (“American Equity”) issued a press release announcing that it, together with a coalition of insurance companies and independent marketing organizations, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to overturn Rule 151A adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). …
Read More Suit Filed to Overturn SEC Rule Classifying Indexed Annuities as Securities

On December 29, 2008, the New York Insurance Department’s (“NYID”) Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) issued an opinion setting forth its position with respect to NYID Circular Letter No. 27 (2008) (the “Circular Letter”) that addressed the issue of whether same-sex marriages from jurisdictions outside of New York are covered under group long-term disability, group short-term disability and group term life insurance issued in New York.  We previously reported here on the Circular Letter. …
Read More New York Insurance Department: Legally Married Same-Sex Couples Should be Recognized with Respect to Certain Types of Health and Term Life Insurance Issued Under New York Law