Specialty Line Insurance Cases To Note: 2025 Midyear Report
The first half of the year has already delivered a series of high-profile decisions giving specialty line insurance practitioners clarity on some of the hottest coverage dispute issues and even a preview of their ripple effects. Here, Law360 reviews some of the top specialty line insurance decisions from the first half of 2025.
Top General Liability Rulings From The First Half Of 2025
Federal courts have handed down big wins for insurers, finding that they needn't cover claims related to a Home Depot data breach and opioid litigation brought against Publix, as well as issuing rulings favoring carriers in disputes over so-called ghost guns and PFAS-related litigation. Here, Law360 breaks down the top commercial general liability rulings from the first half of 2025.
Texas Floods Highlight Risk Of Climate Cuts, Low Coverage
A series of deadly floods in Texas Hill Country over the July 4 weekend underscore the danger of rollbacks and threats to federal programs for disaster relief and climate monitoring, while also showing the need for greater flood coverage uptake to avoid longer-term economic challenges.
Specialty Line Insurance Cases To Note: 2025 Midyear Report
The first half of the year has already delivered a series of high-profile decisions giving specialty line insurance practitioners clarity on some of the hottest coverage dispute issues and even a preview of their ripple effects. Here, Law360 reviews some of the top specialty line insurance decisions from the first half of 2025.
Top General Liability Rulings From The First Half Of 2025
Federal courts have handed down big wins for insurers, finding that they needn't cover claims related to a Home Depot data breach and opioid litigation brought against Publix, as well as issuing rulings favoring carriers in disputes over so-called ghost guns and PFAS-related litigation. Here, Law360 breaks down the top commercial general liability rulings from the first half of 2025.
Texas Floods Highlight Risk Of Climate Cuts, Low Coverage
A series of deadly floods in Texas Hill Country over the July 4 weekend underscore the danger of rollbacks and threats to federal programs for disaster relief and climate monitoring, while also showing the need for greater flood coverage uptake to avoid longer-term economic challenges.
Expert Analysis
Absent from the recent discourse about U.S. rule of law is the crucial role of impartial jurors in protecting the ... (more story)
A well-prepared expert witness can bolster a case's credibility with persuasive qualifications, compelling voir di... (more story)
In Kane v. Beazley, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently found that a cyber liability provision insuring secur... (more story)
Property More
A California property owner accused State Farm of "maliciously" denying its property insurance claim in a lawsuit removed to federal court, further alleging that the insurer intentionally ignored evidence of t... (more story)
A suit brought by Illinois homeowners seeking more than $5 million in coverage for damage caused by a burst pipe during an extreme temperature drop is headed to trial after an Illinois federal court found that... (more story)
A 92-year-old Miami resident has brought a petition against one of Florida's largest property insurers over redirecting disputes away from courts and into state arbitration hearings, described as forums with b... (more story)
The Seventh Circuit upheld discovery sanctions against an Indianapolis hotel owner after an Indiana federal court found it repeatedly failed to hand over records relating to whether the property was deemed "va... (more story)
A State Farm unit acted in bad faith by unreasonably delaying and denying coverage for a fire that damaged a downtown Denver property more than two years ago, the property owner said in a suit removed to Color... (more story)
Michigan's top court found that claims over personal injury protection coverage can be revived after they are transferred to third parties, the Eighth Circuit relieved a Chubb insurer from having to split an u... (more story)
A Texas federal judge largely sided with Meritage Homes in a lawsuit to force AIG to cover $11 million paid out to hundreds of homeowners that complained of construction defects on stucco homes in Texas and Florida.
A car dealership told a Texas federal judge that its insurance company stiffed it to the tune of $2 million after Hurricane Beryl blew through and damaged multiple buildings, saying in a Wednesday complaint th... (more story)
An insurer told a Washington federal court it has no duty to defend or indemnify a developer facing a nearly $13 million arbitration demand from a construction lender, which claims the developer misrepresented... (more story)
The owner of a high school in Guam and its property insurer resolved their coverage dispute over the owner's claims the insurer underpaid its more than $5.1 million typhoon damage claim in bad faith, in part t... (more story)
General Liability More
A drywall company's insurer has no duty to cover the business in a pending wrongful death lawsuit over a woman's murder, a Texas federal court ruled Monday, saying that both "common sense" and a "plethora of c... (more story)
Two Travelers insurers may proceed with their claim that they have no duty to indemnify railway giant BNSF in a suit alleging that a track relocation project the company undertook caused significant flooding o... (more story)
An insurer has no duty to defend an equestrian facility against claims that its negligence contributed to the injury, neglect, and even death, of horses that were kept on its property, a Texas federal court ru... (more story)
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Geico's victory in a certified class action alleging it owed additional refunds to drivers who overpaid their auto insurance premiums during COVID-19 stay-home orders, ruling on Wedn... (more story)
A Hartford unit violated Washington state's Insurance Fair Conduct Act by unreasonably denying additional insured coverage for a man's lawsuit alleging he suffered severe injuries when moving a product at Cost... (more story)
An insurer for a digging and pipe services company told an Indiana federal court it should owe no coverage for a civil antitrust lawsuit, pointing in part to an exclusion barring coverage for "personal and adv... (more story)
A transportation company is not entitled to coverage for personal injury suits stemming from a crash involving a trucking shipment, a Pennsylvania federal court has ruled, saying coverage is excluded because t... (more story)
Two oil and gas companies can't proceed with bad faith claims against certain underwriters at Lloyd's of London in a dispute over coverage for the remediation of water byproduct pollution, a New Mexico federal... (more story)
A Charleston builder will get a second chance at recouping the money it spent repairing a condo complex that flooded after the Fourth Circuit on Monday partially vacated a pretrial win favoring its insurer, fi... (more story)
A well site operator is entitled to defense and indemnity for an underlying injury suit brought by a contractor's employee, the operator told a Texas federal court, saying the contractor and its Liberty Mutual... (more story)
Specialty Lines More
An insurer for a manufacturer of countertops told a New York federal court that only one primary environmental liability policy it issued applies to roughly 175 lawsuits seeking damages for exposure to silica,... (more story)
A Texas federal court tossed an RV dealer's suit seeking to recover more than $1 million it lost after transferring funds to a fraudster posing as a general contractor, saying the dealer's insurer already paid... (more story)
An insurer for an equestrian and his company that faced theft claims urged a Florida federal court to toss a coverage action from the underlying plaintiff, arguing it lacks standing to claim the insurer wasted... (more story)
An Ohio dentist cannot deduct his life insurance premiums that he intended to potentially donate to a zoo, the Sixth Circuit ruled, saying the arrangement was taxable under 2003 regulations governing policies ... (more story)
The Fifth Circuit said an exclusion barring coverage for intellectual property infringement claims didn't necessarily relieve an insurer from covering defense expenses an oil and gas company incurred in an IP ... (more story)
A Hartford unit told an Illinois federal court that it does not owe a general store coverage for claims that the company violated the state's genetic information privacy law by conditioning employment on discl... (more story)
A plumbing subcontractor told a California federal court that its primary insurer was improperly limiting its coverage in an employee stock ownership plan dispute, hindering its ability to tap into its full $2... (more story)
The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.
The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.
A Missouri-based life insurer agreed to pay $45 million to settle a group of proposed and certified class actions accusing it of using certain nonmortality factors, contrary to policy language, to impose highe... (more story)