An Illinois Federal Magistrate Judge recently ruled that communications between an insurer and its reinsurer were discoverable in a coverage dispute between a policyholder and the insurer.
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Reinsurance
Arkansas Federal Court Finds That the New York Convention Preempts the McCarran-Ferguson Act
In Murphy Oil USA Inc., v. SR International Business Insurance Co. Ltd., et al., the insured sought coverage from its various excess insurers for losses resulting from an oil spill caused by Hurricane Katrina. No. 07-1071, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69732 (W.D. Ark., Sept. 20, 2007). Murphy’s excess insurers in turn served a notice of their intent to arbitrate any coverage dispute in London, pursuant to an arbitration clause contained in each insurer’s policy. …
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Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on the Scope of Judicial Review of Arbitral Awards
On Wednesday, November 7, 2007, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hall Street Associates, LLC v. Mattel, Inc., No. 06-989, in which the court is examining whether parties can contract for arbitration agreements that allow for judicial review of an arbitrator’s decision beyond that which is already provided for in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). …
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New York State Court to Determine Whether Distribution from Insolvent Union Indemnity Estate Should be Permitted
Recently, a New York state court gave the New York Liquidation Bureau (“NYLB”) permission to notify more than 300,000 creditors of Union Indemnity Insurance Company (“Union Indemnity”) that it plans to make the first distribution from the insolvent property casualty insurer’s estate. …
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KAMP RE Cat Bond About to be Triggered
Last week, Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) revealed that a $190 million catastrophe bond issued by special purpose vehicle KAMP RE 2005 Ltd. (“KAMP RE”) on behalf of Swiss Reinsurance America Corp., (“Swiss Re”) is about to be triggered. …
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California Appellate Court Rejects Narrow Definition of Attorney-Client Privilege With Respect to Documents Contained in Insurer’s Claims Files
In Zurich American Ins. Co. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, et al., No. B194793 (Cal. App., 2nd Dist., Oct. 11, 2007), an appellate panel reversed a lower court’s order and held that the attorney-client privilege extends to communications between an insurer’s employees regarding legal advice and strategy, even if such communications do not contain advice directly from counsel, when disclosure is reasonably necessary for the transmission of that information or to further the purpose of the legal consultation. …
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Other States Contemplate Following N.Y.’s Lead to Change Foreign Reinsurer Collateral Requirements
Court Rejects Cedent’s Argument that the “Follow the Fortunes” Clause Should be Implied into a Facultative Certificate and Binds Cedent to its Initial Settlement Allocation
Connecticut Federal Court Rules that Certain Communications Between a Cedent and Reinsurer in a Hurricane Katrina-Related Case are Not Protected by the Work-Product Privilege
New York Insurance Superintendent Proposes Change in Collateral Requirements for Non-New York Admitted Reinsurers
On Thursday, New York Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo proposed a regulation seeking to eliminate the existing collateral requirements imposed on foreign and alien reinsurers operating in New York. …
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