Specialty Lines

  • January 21, 2026

    Nationwide Unit Seeks Exit From Stock Dilution Scheme Suit

    A Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. unit told a federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to a company and its officers for a shareholder derivative lawsuit alleging the officers schemed to dilute the stockholders' shares, saying the underlying suit doesn't allege a covered loss for disgorgement or restitution. 

  • January 21, 2026

    Insurer Loses Appeals Over $40M NC Drunken Driving Verdict

    A North Carolina appeals court on Wednesday rejected efforts by insurer Integon Indemnity Corp. to appeal decisions in a pair of cases stemming from a $40 million drunken driving verdict, saying the receivers suing for breach of contract were in the correct venue.

  • January 20, 2026

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 48 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, achieving milestones such as high-profile litigation wins at the U.S. Supreme Court and 11-figure merger deals.

  • January 20, 2026

    Cos. Seek Coverage For Military Housing Mold, Defects Suits

    A property management company and an affiliated investment company have alleged in Pennsylvania federal court that subsidiaries of insurance giants Starr and Allianz wrongfully denied them coverage for suits filed over allegedly poor military housing conditions.

  • January 16, 2026

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2025, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 16, 2026

    Mich. Justices Let Nationwide's Combined Filing Win Stand

    The Michigan Supreme Court declined Friday to review a lower court's ruling that allowed Nationwide entities to file combined returns and share tax credits among their members, with one justice suggesting the state Legislature should revise the combined filing rules for insurance companies.

  • January 15, 2026

    Litigation Costs, Mental Health Risks Strain Coverage For Jails

    Liability policies for certain county jails aren't being renewed due to their failure to ensure statewide standards and excessive claims, prompting a review of county policies and available funding, experts say.

  • January 15, 2026

    Maduro Removal Raises Insurance Questions Around Oil, War

    The U.S. military operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power could have significant insurance implications connected to the risk of increased oil trade and questions over whether the operation is viewed as an act of war.

  • January 15, 2026

    Insurer Owes $24.5M For Burn Case, Medical Spa Trustee Says

    A trustee for the bankruptcy estate of a former medical spa owner alleged that Aspen Specialty Insurance Co. breached its duty to defend the woman in litigation over a client's burn injury, forcing her to face a $24.5 million default judgment.

  • January 15, 2026

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up an appeal of the Sixth Circuit’s jurisdictional standard for mixed actions, the Sixth Circuit found no additional coverage for a religious organization’s code compliance costs and a Delaware state court said a biopharmaceutical company has coverage for a shareholder suit. Here, Law360 takes a look at the past week’s top insurance news.

  • January 14, 2026

    Underwriters Fight Early Win Bid For RealPage MDL Coverage

    Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London is fighting a landlord's bid for an early win in its suit seeking coverage for multidistrict antitrust litigation against property management software company RealPage Inc. and multiple landlords, arguing that Certain Underwriters' cyber insurance policy for the landlord applies only to data breach claims.

  • January 13, 2026

    Insurer, IT Co. Settle Coverage Claims Suit In Colo.

    An insurance company, an IT company and an investment firm have reached a settlement in the insurer's federal lawsuit in Colorado that alleged it owed no coverage to the IT company, which a jury found liable for making misrepresentations and breaching its cybersecurity agreement with the investment company.

  • January 13, 2026

    Insurer Didn't Owe Defense To Telecom Co. In Merger Row

    An insurer had no duty to defend a telecommunications company sued by a former board member in connection with a 2014 merger, a Wyoming federal court ruled, saying the suit is a single claim under its directors and officers policy and therefore falls under an "insured versus insured" exclusion.

  • January 09, 2026

    Biopharma Co. Secures D&O Coverage For Shareholder Suit

    A biopharmaceutical company is entitled to coverage for a suit alleging its board breached fiduciary duties under a pair of primary and excess directors and officers policies, a Delaware state court ruled, saying the suit is "meaningfully linked" to a previously noticed demand for books and records.

  • January 08, 2026

    Wash. Climate Change Premium Suit A Sign Of More To Come

    A Washington federal court suit accusing oil companies of contributing to increasing homeowners insurance premiums opened up a new consumer-oriented front in a wave of climate change litigation that experts say they only expect to see more of in the coming years.

  • January 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Casino Coverage Ruling Shakes Contract Exclusion

    The Ninth Circuit overturned an AIG unit's win in a coverage dispute with the Las Vegas Sands over an underlying suit alleging the casino failed to pay an agent for his work, challenging the scope of a contract exclusion that is nearly ubiquitous in directors and officers policies, insurance experts say.

  • January 08, 2026

    Insurance Litigation Week In Review

    The Eleventh Circuit affirmed that Nationwide needn't cover a $10 million abuse verdict, a Florida state appeals court reversed a $1 million jury award against an insurance broker and remanded for a new trial, and a New Jersey state court said Margolis Edelstein must face an insurer's malpractice suit.

  • January 08, 2026

    Tariff-Driven Cost Increases Shift Focus To Property Limits

    Construction costs remain high, partly because of tariffs, and questions remain as to the breadth of coverage available under property policies. Law360 spoke to Reed Smith LLP partners Richard P. Lewis and Nicholas M. Insua about their belief that first-party property policies' tariff-related construction cost increases are covered by replacement cost provisions.

  • January 07, 2026

    Firm In 'Maya' Verdict Seeks Coverage For Spinoff Fee Row

    The firm that secured a $213 million award in favor of Maya Kowalski, the person at the center of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," told a Florida federal court that its professional liability insurer owed coverage for a spinoff suit involving trial consultant fees. 

  • January 05, 2026

    Starr, Collection Co. Reach Deal Over $4.4M Bad Faith Dispute

    Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. struck a deal resolving a collections company's bid for $4.4 million in bad faith damages over underlying litigation concerning a real estate development in Washington state.

  • January 05, 2026

    Payment Co., Insurer End $6.8M Fraud Coverage Dispute

    An electronic payments company and its insurer have ended their dispute over whether the company's roughly $6.8 million loss from two fraud schemes fell within its policy's coverage for computer fraud, with an Iowa federal court agreeing Monday to dismiss the case.

  • January 02, 2026

    Top Property Insurance Trends To Watch In 2026

    Homeowners insurance investigations, a novel climate suit accusing oil majors of contributing to high premiums, and a California action accusing carriers of collusion are some of the top property insurance matters attorneys will be watching this year.

  • January 02, 2026

    Celebrity Rows, D&O Woes Top '26 Specialty Insurance Cases

    From high-profile celebrity coverage battles to high-stakes state supreme court rulings, the new year brings with it the promise of litigation developments that will reshape specialty line insurance policy disputes. Here, Law360 looks at a few of the top specialty line insurance cases to watch in 2026.

  • December 22, 2025

    Nationwide Gets Partial Early Win In 401(k) Class Action

    An Ohio federal judge on Monday granted Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. a quick win on some claims in a class action from employee 401(k) plan participants who alleged mismanagement, but directed the parties to prepare for a bench trial on other claims in the federal benefits lawsuit.

  • December 18, 2025

    Top Property Insurance Decisions Of 2025

    A major U.K. insurance ruling on aircraft stranded and seized by Russia joins a slew of important developments in smoke and fire damage coverage, and the arbitration rights of insurance companies, as some of the top property insurance rulings of 2025. Here, Law360 examines a series of rulings that helped advance property insurance law, from a decision poised to reshape aviation insurance, to circuit court rulings that addressed when insurers can arbitrate claims rather than go through the court system.

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding And Managing Jurors' Hindsight Bias

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    Hindsight bias — wherein events seem more predictable after the fact than they were beforehand — presents a persistent cognitive distortion in jury decision-making, but attorneys can mitigate its effects at trial through awareness, repetition and framing, say consultants at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Hybrid Claims In Antitrust Disputes Spark Coverage Battles

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    Antitrust litigation increasingly includes claims for breach of warranty, product liability or state consumer protection violations, complicating insurers' reliance on exclusions as courts analyze whether these are antitrust claims in disguise, says Jameson Pasek at Caldwell Law.

  • Better Crypto Insurance Is Attainable Amid Regulatory Shifts

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    With regulatory clarity improving and insurance carriers taking an increasingly constructive approach, crypto industry participants can improve their insurance coverage and pricing if finance, legal and compliance teams take specific steps, say Walker Newell and Jacob Sawyer at Woodruff-Sawyer.

  • NC Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    There were several impactful changes to the financial services landscape in North Carolina in the third quarter of the year, including statutory updates, enforcement developments from Office of the Commissioner of Banks, and notable mergers, acquisitions and branch expansions, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Montana Federal Ruling Takes Broad View Of 'Related Claims'

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    A Montana federal court recently took a broad view of related claims, ruling that claims brought by different plaintiffs in different states alleging different legal theories were nevertheless under a directors and officers insurance policy, illustrating the range of interpretations courts may give these clauses, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Demystifying Generative AI For The Modern Juror

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    In cases alleging that the training of artificial intelligence tools violated copyright laws, successful outcomes may hinge in part on the litigator's ability to clearly present AI concepts through a persuasive narrative that connects with ordinary jurors, say Liz Babbitt at IMS Legal Strategies and Devon Madon at GlobalLogic.

  • Why Early Resolution Of Employment Liability Claims Is Key

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    A former Los Angeles fire chief's recent headline-grabbing wrongful termination suit against the city is a reminder that employment practices liability disputes can present risks to the greater business, meaning companies need a playbook for rapid, purposeful action, says Karli Moore at Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions.

  • How New Rule On Illustrative Aids Is Faring In Federal Courts

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    In the 10 months since new standards were codified for illustrative aids in federal trials, courts have already begun to clarify the rule's application in different contexts and the rule's boundaries, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz.

  • Strategies To Get The Most Out Of A Mock Jury Exercise

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    A Florida federal jury’s recent $329 million verdict against Tesla over a fatal crash demonstrates how jurors’ perceptions of nuanced facts can make or break a case, and why attorneys must maximize the potential of their mock jury exercises to pinpoint the best trial strategy, says Jennifer Catero at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Notable Developments At The NAIC Summer Meeting

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    Attorneys at Debevoise discuss their top takeaways from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners summer meeting last month, including developments on risk-based capital requirements and the evolving use of artificial intelligence in insurance practices.

  • Avoiding Unforced Evidentiary Errors At Trial

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    To avoid self-inflicted missteps at trial, lawyers must plan their evidentiary strategy as early as their claims and defenses, with an eye toward some of the more common pitfalls, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • When AI Denies, Insurance Bad Faith Claims May Follow

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    Two recent rulings from Minnesota and Kentucky federal courts signal that past statements about claims-handling practices may leave insurers using artificial intelligence programs in claims administration vulnerable to suits alleging bad faith and unfair trade practices, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Insuring Against FCA Risk In Shifting Trade Landscape

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    In today's heightened trade enforcement environment, companies should proactively assess whether their insurance programs are positioned to respond to potential False Claims Act or customs-related claims, including reviewing directors and officers, professional liability, and representations and warranties policies for key terms, say attorneys at Pillsbury.