As we previously reported here, the Rhode Island Supreme Court recently ruled that the public nuisance suit filed by the State’s Attorney General against various former lead paint manufacturers, resulting in a jury verdict against the manufacturers, should have been dismissed by the trial justice. 

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Read More Defendants in Rhode Island’s Lead Paint Public Nuisance Suit Seek Reimbursement of Costs

In a recent decision of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Jeld-Wen, Inc. v. Van Brunt, Adv. Proc. No. 07-51602 (Bankr. D. Del. June 9, 2008), the court held that a claim for injury allegedly due to exposure to asbestos was not discharged, survived the company’s exit from Chapter 11, and could be asserted against the successor company in a State court action under the circumstances presented: (i) under applicable governing non-bankruptcy law, such a claim does not arise until  injury manifests; (ii) the injury was not discovered until after the company had emerged from bankruptcy; (iii) the company’s confirmed plan of reorganization did not include a channeling injunction accommodating future asbestos related claims; and (iv) the published notice of the plan of reorganization did not provide notice to potential future asbestos claimants that their claims would be discharged by confirmation of the plan. …
Read More Bankruptcy Court Rules That Asbestos Claims Were Not Discharged By Plan of Reorganization

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently ruled that an Insured’s willful, unexcused refusal to submit to an examination under oath violated the cooperation clause in its policy resulting in a material breach on the part of the Insured. …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Rules that Insured Cannot Cure Material Breach of Policy Based on its Failure to Cooperate

The Mesothelioma Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (the Act) was given Royal Assent on 2 July 2008.  The Act allows victims with diffuse mesothelioma or their dependants to claim a lump sum payment from the government. This new Act allows even those victims who did not have workplace exposure to asbestos to claim a payment under the Act. …
Read More UK: Legislation Extends Government Compensation for Mesothelioma Victims

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. announced recently that it plans on pursuing claims for racketeering against 10 former Brocade officers and directors.  As previously reported on this blog, Brocade and its directors and officers have been the subjects of civil and criminal litigation for allegedly improper stock option backdating practices (click here). 

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Read More Brocade to Pursue Racketeering Claims Against Ten Former Officers and Directors

The two consultation papers published by the European Commission (Commission) on 31 July 2008 result from the perception that CRAs contributed to current market turmoil by underestimating the credit risk of structured instruments in which sub prime mortgages were embedded. Many investors relied too heavily on the generally favourable ratings given by CRAs to these products instead of assessing the risk characteristics themselves and assessing performance of the underlying assets. …
Read More EU: European Commission Publishes Two Consultation Papers on Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs)

A German court recently ordered Deutsche Telekom (“DT”) to provide records from a 2005 U.S. lawsuit to plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit filed in Germany. …
Read More Deutsche Telekom Ordered by German Court to Turn Over Records Provided in Earlier U.S. Lawsuit

As previously reported in our prior post, Congress is examining three key pieces of legislation that involve regulation of the insurance industry. 

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Read More UPDATE: Congress to Continue Examination of Federal Insurance Regulatory Initiatives in September

The Nebraska Department of Insurance recently adopted uniform producer licensing measures to make the lines of authority available for Nebraska licensed producers consistent with the uniformity standard of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. 

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Read More Nebraska Adopts Uniform Producer Licensing Measures

On July 29, XL Capital (“XL”) announced plans to raise $2.5 billion through an offering of ordinary shares and equity security units, the proceeds of which were to be used to recapitalize Syncora Holdings, Ltd. (formerly known as Security Capital Assurance) (“Syncora”), a bond insurance company that XL spun off in 2006. …
Read More NY Insurance Department Announces Successful Closing of Agreement to Recapitalize Syncora Holdings, Ltd.