The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the California district court’s decision in the case of Northrop Grumman Corp. v. Factory Mutual Ins. Co. (click here to read our blog post about the district court’s decision and click here to read the Ninth Circuit’s opinion).  The Ninth Circuit held that Factory Mutual’s excess all risk policy’s flood exclusion was not ambiguous and served to exclude coverage for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge to the insured’s shipyards. 

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Read More Ninth Circuit Holds Flood Exclusion Clearly Barred Coverage for Katrina Storm Surge Losses

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently upheld the S.D.N.Y.’s decision to dismiss federal indictments against thirteen former KPMG executives for alleged tax-fraud after finding that federal prosecutors violated the KPMG executives’ constitutional rights. …
Read More Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Indictments Against KPMG Executives

The Nevada Supreme Court recently held that Nevada’s willful self-injury exclusion does not apply to a suicide if a sufficient chain of causation exists to demonstrate that a workplace injury is the cause of the suicide. 

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Read More Nevada Supreme Court Holds that Suicide is the Result of an Industrial Injury

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently held that an insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify where the insured service provider’s own abandoned materials caused the property damage at issue. 

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Read More Eighth Circuit Holds That “Your Work” Exclusion Precluded Coverage For Property Damage Caused by Insured’s own “Abandoned” Materials

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink recently announced that she has created a “Financial Action Team” comprised of an assortment of financial and housing stakeholders to identify federal assistance available to Floridians. 

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Read More Florida CFO Alex Sink Creates Task Force to Examine Foreclosures

According to media sources, Rana Tahboub, Assistant Director General of the Insurance Commission of Jordan (“IC”), recently stated that the IC is planning on introducing legislation to the Council of Ministers to create a captive insurance market in Jordan, the fourth such market in the region. …
Read More Jordan to Introduce Captive Insurance Guidelines by Year End

On a recent campaign trip to Florida, Republican presidential nominee John McCain restated his opposition to the national “Cat Fund” bill that passed the U.S. House last year and was sponsored by Palm Beach County Democratic Congressmen. Ron Klein and Tim Mahoney.  McCain did say that he would consider a “Gulf States Compact” or other regional risk pool alternative to a national catastrophe insurance fund. …
Read More McCain Opposes National Catastrophe Fund, but Supports Regional Alternative

In its August 2008 opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld a lower court decision granting the defendant insurers’ motion to dismiss on the grounds that plaintiffs’ price discrimination claims would “impair” the Missouri laws that regulate the “business of insurance” within the meaning of the McCarran-Ferguson Act. 

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Read More Eighth Circuit Dismisses Purported Class Action Against Insurers Alleging Price Discrimination

With Tropical Storm Fay on the map and threatening to become a hurricane before landfall on August 19th, property insurers stopped writing new policies in Florida. 

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Read More Tropical Storm Fay Temporarily Halts Writing of New Property Insurance Policies

J, K, P v. Archbishop of Birmingham (QBD 25/7/2008) is one of the first cases decided subsequent to the House of Lords decision in A v. Hoare. The case concerned a procedural matter of whether the issue of limitation in respect of bringing sexual abuse claims should be decided as a preliminary issue or at the substantive trial. …
Read More UK: Judge Refuses to Hear Limitation Defence in Sexual Abuse Claim as a Preliminary Issue