Defendants in New York are now required to automatically disclose expansive insurance information at the beginning of a lawsuit. Beyond just providing evidence of an insurance policy, the new version of the discovery rule CPLR 3101(f) now requires disclosures such as the contact information of an insurer’s claim adjuster and information about whether attorney’s fees have eroded … [Read more...] about New York Now Requires Defendants To Provide Automatic Early Disclosure of Insurance Information
Legal
What Goes Around Comes Around
In 1990, the Second Circuit in Bellefonte Reinsurance Co. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 903 F.2d 910 (2d Cir. 1990), affirmed a District Court judgment that reinsurers were not obligated to pay additional sums for defense costs over and above the limits of liability specified in a facultative reinsurance certificate. Since then, the Bellefonte rule acted as a de … [Read more...] about What Goes Around Comes Around
Arizona Eliminates Peremptory Challenges
New Trend Poses Threat In Subrogation Trials. Effective January 1, 2022, Arizona will become the first state to eliminate the use of peremptory challenges in jury selection in both criminal and civil trials—including the trial of subrogation cases. It isn’t news to the insurance industry that many (if not most) people harbor certain resentments against insurance companies. If … [Read more...] about Arizona Eliminates Peremptory Challenges
New York’s Second Department Splits from First Department
DOES AN INSURER HAVE AN ENTITLEMENT TO RECOUP DEFENSE COSTS WHEN NO DUTY TO INDEMNIFY EXISTS? In a case of first impression for the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, the court chose not to follow prior decisions of its sister court and federal courts applying New York law. The Second Department held that an insurer could not recover defense costs … [Read more...] about New York’s Second Department Splits from First Department
Party-Appointed Arbitrators on the Precipice
Concerns about bias and prejudice from multiple repeat appointments have plagued party-appointed arbitrators for years. This is true of international arbitration, commercial arbitration and, of course, insurance and reinsurance arbitration. Recently, there have been several cases in the United States and the United Kingdom addressing implicit bias, repeat players and the need … [Read more...] about Party-Appointed Arbitrators on the Precipice
The Second Circuit Decision in Utica Mutual v. Munich Re: Some Clarity on Three Fronts
On July 29, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its ruling on the appeal of Utica Mutual Insurance Company (“Utica”) from the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in the dispute between Utica and Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. (“MRAm”). The court affirmed the decision of the court below that MRAm … [Read more...] about The Second Circuit Decision in Utica Mutual v. Munich Re: Some Clarity on Three Fronts
Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters
The Keynote Speaker of the 2021 Summer Membership Meeting was Randy Maniloff. Randy is counsel at White and Williams LLP and the lawyer behind the well-known monthly newsletter “Coverage Opinions.” He presented on the Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters. Randy started the seminar highlighting the fact that insurance companies don’t provide enough … [Read more...] about Top 10 Issues for Effective Reservations of Rights Letters
The Scope of an Arbitration Panel’s Authority
Raymond Mastrangelo, a Partner with Mound Cotton Wollan Greengrass LLP, moderated a panel discussion with three of the insurance and reinsurance arbitration community’s most experienced and respected arbitrators: Susan Claflin, Claflin Consulting Services LLC, Ann Field, Senior Managing Director of Client Services, Aon, and Howard Page, HR Page Consulting LLP. The panel topic … [Read more...] about The Scope of an Arbitration Panel’s Authority
A Look at the Legal Landscape
The education sessions of the 2021 Summer Membership Meeting began with “A Look at the Legal Landscape” of COVID-19 Business Interruption (“BI”) claims, presented by John O’Bryan, Partner, Freeborn & Peters, Michael Merlo, Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel, Aon, and Kay E. Wilde, Director of Reinsurance Assumed Claims, Allstate Insurance Company. The panel treated … [Read more...] about A Look at the Legal Landscape
Disputes Over Arbitrator Qualifications: The Northern District of California Offers Some Guidance
The selection of an arbitration panel can often lead to disputes between the parties regarding things like whether a particular candidate is qualified, whether a challenge to an arbitrator’s qualifications can be addressed pre-award and whether a party that names an unqualified arbitrator should lose the opportunity to name a replacement. In Public Risk Innovations v. Amtrust … [Read more...] about Disputes Over Arbitrator Qualifications: The Northern District of California Offers Some Guidance
Reinsurance Arbitration Awards – An Uphill Battle?
A long-running dispute between Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company and one of its reinsurers, Everest Reinsurance Company, recently culminated in the unsealing of an award from an arbitration to which Everest had not been a party. Everest was able to obtain this result despite the fact that Penn National had withdrawn its petition to confirm the award (and … [Read more...] about Reinsurance Arbitration Awards – An Uphill Battle?
Developments in Restructuring Plans and Cross-Class Cram Down: Virgin Active
The English High Court has sanctioned the restructuring plans proposed by the Virgin Active group following a hearing contested by a group of the gym chain's landlords. The decision represents the first use of the restructuring plan procedure, introduced during the summer of 2020, to restructure a lease portfolio, demonstrating the utility of the tool for debtors when … [Read more...] about Developments in Restructuring Plans and Cross-Class Cram Down: Virgin Active
Uncertainty > Risk: Lessons for Legal Thought from the Insurance Runoff Market
Abstract: Insurance ideas inform legal thought: from tort law, to health law, to theories of distributive justice. Within legal thought, insurance is often conceived as an ideal type in which insurers distribute determinable risks through contracts that fix the parties’ obligations in advance. This ideal type has normative appeal because, among other reasons, it explains how … [Read more...] about Uncertainty > Risk: Lessons for Legal Thought from the Insurance Runoff Market
Same Virus, Different Outcomes
State and federal courts across the country are grappling with insurance coverage litigation, as insureds who suffered business losses due to government-mandated shutdowns look to their property insurers for relief. These cases present the following key issue for courts: does the alleged presence of the COVID-19 virus on property constitute physical damage to that … [Read more...] about Same Virus, Different Outcomes
Reinsurance Agreements and Initial Disclosures
A recent decision by a North Carolina federal court adds to a list of cases requiring insurance company defendants in coverage actions to produce reinsurance agreements as part of their initial disclosures under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26. Although the list may be growing, many of these decisions adopt an overly simplistic, one-size-fits-all approach that fails to … [Read more...] about Reinsurance Agreements and Initial Disclosures
California Supreme Court clarifies the special relationship
On April 1, 2021, the California Supreme Court entered an opinion in Brown v. USA Taekwondo, which involves sexual abuse-related claims against USA Taekwondo (“USAT”) and the United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”). Lowers Courts’ Decisions From 2007 to 2013, then-minors Yazmin Brown, Kendra Gatt and Brianna Bordon (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) were sexually abused by their … [Read more...] about California Supreme Court clarifies the special relationship
Strike and Rank – An Alternative to the Strike and Flip Umpire Selection Process
Umpire selection is one of the most important aspects of a reinsurance (or any other) arbitration because it can have a significant impact on the outcome of your case. Traditionally, parties have utilized the “strike and flip” method of umpire selection where the parties nominate a specified number of candidates, strike all but one of the other side’s candidates and then select … [Read more...] about Strike and Rank – An Alternative to the Strike and Flip Umpire Selection Process
The latest challenge to Ohio’s allocation law
Nearly two decades ago, the Supreme Court of Ohio adopted an “all sums” approach to allocate insurance coverage for progressive injuries among multiple triggered policies. In Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., the Court held that “when a continuous occurrence of environmental pollution triggers claims under multiple primary insurance policies, the … [Read more...] about The latest challenge to Ohio’s allocation law
Mind On His Money and His Money On His Mind: New York District Court Judge Affirms Arbitral Award Arising Out of Dispute Over Royalties Owed to Rapper Snoop Dogg
Perhaps Snoop Dogg should stick to gin n’ juice, as the rapper’s foray into promoting cognac and brandy products caused him to become the subject of a decade-long arbitral dispute, which was finally resolved last month. On January 25, 2021, a New York district court judge affirmed a nearly $2 million arbitration award against French cognac distiller Cognac Ferrand SAS … [Read more...] about Mind On His Money and His Money On His Mind: New York District Court Judge Affirms Arbitral Award Arising Out of Dispute Over Royalties Owed to Rapper Snoop Dogg
Confidentiality v. Public Access: Third Circuit Unseals Arbitration Award Based On Common Law Right of Access
On December 24, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that an arbitration award filed in connection with a petition to confirm constituted a “judicial record” to which the common law right of public access applies. The Court also held that the ceding company failed to demonstrate a “clearly defined” injury that would warrant keeping the award under seal. The award was … [Read more...] about Confidentiality v. Public Access: Third Circuit Unseals Arbitration Award Based On Common Law Right of Access
