General Liability
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December 11, 2025
Professor Highlights Climate Risks' Threats To Home Values
Climate perils have depressed home values in some of the riskiest real estate markets as insurers charge homeowners more for coverage to offset the cost of protecting against risks like hurricanes and fires, according to newly updated research. Here, Law360 talks to Philip Mulder, a risk and insurance professor, who updated a study tying insurance costs to climate risks to include more data and information on threats to home values.
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December 11, 2025
Life Insurers Exempt From Ill. Genetic Privacy Law, Court Says
An Illinois state appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a man's suit claiming two State Farm life insurers violated Illinois' genetic information privacy law, finding a section barring the use of genetic protected health information for underwriting purposes does not apply to life insurance companies.
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December 11, 2025
Pharmacies Battle For Coverage Of Opioid Lawsuit Claims
Publix Super Markets and a Georgia-based generic-drug wholesaler urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to force their insurers to defend them in numerous lawsuits accusing the pharmacies of improperly distributing opioids, arguing their policies' coverage for "bodily injury" should include the suits.
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December 11, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
AMC can seek coverage for a $99.3 million stock settlement with theater chain shareholders, two AIG units needn't cover a firearms retailer accused of contributing to gun violence, and a home insurer must cover a $1 million settlement for injuries a man suffered after taking LSD.
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December 10, 2025
Retailer Not Covered In Ghost Gun Suits, 2nd Circ. Affirms
Two AIG units have no duty to defend or indemnify a Texas-based firearm retailer accused of contributing to gun violence by selling unfinished components used to assemble what are known as ghost guns, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday, saying the underlying claims do not allege harm caused by an accident.
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December 10, 2025
5th Circ. Reinstates $1M Verdict In LSD Injury Coverage Suit
A split Fifth Circuit reversed a Texas federal court's decision undoing a jury verdict that put a home insurer on the hook for a $1 million injury settlement between a man who became a quadriplegic after taking LSD and the owners of the home where he ingested the drugs.
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December 09, 2025
NJ Drugmaker, Chubb Settle $6.5M Defense Costs Suit
A New Jersey pharmaceutical company and Chubb have reached a settlement to end a lawsuit alleging the insurer owes nearly $6.5 million in outstanding legal fees stemming from a multibillion-dollar arbitration dispute over the development of a COVID-19 drug, according to a stipulation of dismissal from the companies.
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December 09, 2025
Insurer Needn't Cover $5.8M Naval Base Defect Award
A general contractor can't recover $5.8 million from a subcontractor's Liberty Mutual insurer for an arbitration award over defective work on a naval base project, a Florida federal court ruled Monday, finding that the insurer had no duty to indemnify either company.
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December 08, 2025
Insurer Denies Coverage To Retailers For Kratom Death Suit
An insurance company is arguing it has no obligation to defend two Washington retail smoke shops facing a lawsuit by a father who claims they sold kratom products that killed his son, telling a federal court that their policies do not cover injuries caused by the sale of products expected to cause injury.
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December 08, 2025
Liberty Seeks Excess Insurer Repayment For $21.3M Verdict
A Berkshire Hathaway unit must cover Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc.'s portion of a $21.3 million jury award in a personal injury case, Liberty said in a new federal complaint, arguing the unit unreasonably failed to resolve the case before trial despite multiple settlement offers.
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December 08, 2025
Insurer Needn't Cover Jewish Group's $7.5M Wire Fraud Claim
A Jewish nonprofit organization isn't entitled to coverage for a fraudulent $7.5 million wire transfer, a Maryland federal court ruled, finding that its policy's extended reporting period was not active when it submitted the claim due to the start of another insurance program.
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December 05, 2025
Man Says Insurer Served Shooting Coverage Suit Too Late
The father of a mass shooter said his home insurer failed to serve him timely with a suit seeking to avoid coverage for an underlying action brought by the shooting victims and family members of decedents, telling a North Carolina federal court that the claims against him must be tossed.
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December 04, 2025
Zillow's Climate Score Removal Sparks Insurance Concerns
Zillow's recent decision to reduce the visibility of a climate-risk feature attached to its real estate listings highlights a need to provide consumers with more information on a key driver of insurance costs, given differences in climate-risk modeling practices.
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December 04, 2025
Mt. Hawley Nabs Full Win In Citibank Landlord's Coverage Bid
A New York federal court handed Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. a complete win over a Bronx property owner's claim that the insurer had a duty to defend it from a suit brought by a security guard who tripped in a Citibank parking lot.
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December 04, 2025
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
The Eleventh Circuit said a State Farm unit doesn’t owe $1 million for a gas station shooting, a California federal court gave its final sign-off to a $4 million settlement between Allstate and home insurance policyholders and a Massachusetts federal court certified a class of Liberty Mutual policyholders. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week's top insurance news.
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December 04, 2025
Mortgage Insurer Inks $650K Deal To End ERISA Suit
A mortgage insurance company has agreed to pay $650,000 to close a worker's proposed class action filed in North Carolina federal court claiming its mismanagement of an employee retirement profit sharing plan caused a $1.3 million loss.
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December 03, 2025
Allstate Files RICO Suit Over Fla. Clinic's 'Exorbitant Charges'
Allstate hit a Florida medical practice and its owner with a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint alleging the owner ran an insurance billing scheme for pain management care in violation of permanent restrictions on his medical license.
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December 03, 2025
Cos. Owe $946K For Grain System Collapse, Insurer Says
Companies hired to construct a grain drying, handling and storage facility on a Mississippi farm are responsible for more than $946,000 in damage caused by the system's collapse, the farm operator's insurer told a federal court Wednesday, saying the system failed to perform as represented and warranted.
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December 02, 2025
Drivers Get Class Cert. In Liberty Mutual Rental Coverage Suit
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday granted class certification to a group of auto drivers alleging that a Liberty Mutual subsidiary prematurely terminated car rental coverage, but denied the group's request to pursue its claims for classwide, injunctive relief.
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December 01, 2025
AM Best Says US Home Insurance Market Outlook Is 'Stable'
The U.S. homeowners insurance market is benefiting from a combination of moderating premium growth, reinsurance market stabilization and improved catastrophe risk management practices, global credit rating agency AM Best said Monday, upgrading the outlook for homeowner insurers to "stable" from "negative."
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December 01, 2025
Chancery Sets Standard In Scottish Re Case
The Delaware Chancery Court has signed off on the framework that will govern how scores of insurers press claims in the liquidation of Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc., issuing an opinion to spell out when courts must defer to the state insurance commissioner and when they must step in.
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December 01, 2025
Travelers Asks Texas Court To Allocate $11M Auto Coverage
The Travelers Indemnity Company of America asked a Texas federal court Monday to divvy up $11 million in insurance policy limits to relieve the insurer and the energy company it insured from wrongful death lawsuits following a fatal car crash involving a driver for the company.
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December 01, 2025
Mich. Law Firm's Misrepresentation Voids Policy, Insurer Says
An insurer asked a Michigan federal court to rescind and void a law firm's professional liability policy, saying the firm failed to disclose a potential malpractice claim arising out of its representation of the owner of medical services companies in a racketeering lawsuit and related whistleblower action.
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November 26, 2025
11th Circ. Says State Farm Doesn't Owe $1M For Shooting
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a lower court ruling in an unpublished opinion that ordered State Farm to cover a $1.13 million judgment against a gas station owner by an employee who was shot on the premises, saying that an employer's liability exclusion bars coverage.
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November 26, 2025
Broward Schools Sue Insurer To Cover Parkland Settlement
The School Board of Broward County, Florida, was "wrongfully abandoned" after its insurer failed to provide anything beyond $700,000 to cover a $26 million settlement to resolve suits from the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland high school, the board told a state court.
Ore. Ski Areas Face High Insurance Costs, Carrier Withdrawal
Ski areas in Oregon are one of the latest industries to feel the strain of rising liability insurance costs, compounded by one of the state's insurance brokers leaving the market this fall, as operators are forced to weigh passing costs on to patrons as legislative reform stalls, experts told Law360.
'Public Policy' Exclusion Raises Red Flags For Insured Attys
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a coverage dispute over claims that a Philadelphia hotel ignored sex trafficking, drawing the attention of policyholder attorneys who believe the hotel's insurers asked the court to step beyond the bounds of insurance contracts by applying an implicit "public policy" exclusion.
Colo. Plan To Cut Auto Rates Aims To Educate Policyholders
Colorado's governor is aiming to increase transparency in rate-making and improve public safety under his plan to combat rising auto insurance premium costs, but more action from policymakers may be required to spur significant change in the state's auto insurance industry, experts say.
Expert Analysis
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How Choice Of Law Won The Day In NC Biz Court COVID Case
The North Carolina Business Court recently ruled for policyholders in Tanger Properties v. ACE American Insurance, a business interruption lawsuit arising from the pandemic-related closure of Tanger outlet centers, underscoring the significant role that choice of law plays in insurance coverage disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Tracking The Evolution Of AI Insurance Regulation In 2025
As artificial intelligence continues to transform the insurance industry, including underwriting, pricing, claims processing and customer engagement, state regulators, led by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, are increasing oversight to ensure that innovation does not outpace consumer protections, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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6 Ways To Nuke-Proof Litigation As Explosive Verdicts Rise
As the increasing number of nuclear verdicts continues to reshape the litigation landscape, counsel must understand how to create a multipronged defense strategy to anticipate juror expectations and mitigate the risk of outsize jury awards, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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How Unchecked AI Exposes Expert Opinions To Exclusion
A growing number of cases illustrate the potential for misuse of artificial intelligence tools by experts in litigation, resulting in reports with hallucinated information or unexplainable analysis, so to embrace the efficiencies AI tools introduce without falling victim to the risks, attorneys and experts should implement a few best practices, say attorneys at Willkie Farr.
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'Measure Twice, Cut Once' Also Applies To Builders' Insurance
A New York federal court's recent decision in Ohio Security Insurance v. Southwest Marine and General Insurance, denying additional insured coverage, shows why it's key to apply the caution of "measure twice, cut once" to construction contracts and insurance policy language, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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1st Circ. Offers Diversity Jurisdiction Lessons For Assignees
A recent First Circuit opinion in Gore v. SLSCO, dismissing a case after years of litigation, serves as a cautionary tale about what can go wrong if an assignee has not alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate there is complete diversity jurisdiction, says Ray Gauvreau at Robinson & Cole.
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How Trial Attys Can Sidestep Opponents' Negative Frames
In litigation, attorneys often must deny whatever language or association the other side levies against them, but doing so can make the associations more salient in the minds of fact-finders, so it’s essential to reframe messages in a few practical ways at trial, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Cyber Ruling Illustrates Risks Of Overlapping Coverages
A Minnesota federal court recently held that insurer Illinois Casualty had to defend a suit alleging personal and advertising injury under both cyber protection coverage and the general liability coverage, highlighting complications that can arise when a single claim triggers multiple coverages, says Andrea Martinez at Wiley.
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Ill. State Farm Suit Tests State Insurance Data Demand Limits
The Illinois Department of Insurance's recently filed suit against State Farm, seeking nationwide data on its homeowners insurance, raises important issues as to the breadth, and possible overreach, of a state's regulatory authority, says Stephanie Pierce at Kutak Rock.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving claims related to oil and gas royalty payments, consumer fraud, life insurance, automobile insurance, and securities violations.
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Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.
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How CGL Policies May Respond To Novel AI Psychosis Claims
As courts and regulators begin to confront the realities of mental and physical injuries allegedly induced by artificial intelligence chatbots, commercial general liability insurers will need to reevaluate policy language, underwriting practices and claims handling protocols to address this emerging risk landscape, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Punitive Damages Awards Should Be Limited To 1st Instance
Recent verdicts in different cases against Johnson & Johnson and Monsanto showcase a trend of multiple punitive damages being awarded to different plaintiffs for the same course of conduct by a single defendant, a practice that should be deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, says Jacob Mihm at Polales Horton.