In Dyno Nobel v. Steadfast Insurance Co., the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that, under Utah law, where a specific state is listed in an endorsement heading, coverage under the endorsement is limited to claims that have a nexus with that state, so long as such a reading is consistent with the body of the endorsement and policy text. Dyno Nobel is an explosives manufacturer with its principal place of business in Utah. It purchased a commercial general ... Keep Reading »
About Benjamin Stearns
Florida Enacts Bill Imposing Regulatory Oversight Relating to Insurer Accountability
On May 31, Gov. DeSantis signed a new law that enacts several wide-ranging regulatory requirements on insurers transacting business in Florida. The regulatory changes instituted by the new Insurer Accountability Act, which takes effect July 1, include amendments to Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade practices statute, increased fines, the imposition of potential criminal penalties, new requirements for residential property insurers, and the authorization of new ... Keep Reading »
Florida Overhauls Bad Faith Law, Repeals One-Way Attorneys’ Fee Statutes, Adopts Modified Comparative Negligence and Other Tort Reforms
On March 23, 2023, the Florida Legislature passed HB 837, a bill enacting major reforms to Florida tort law. Gov. Ron DeSantis wasted no time, signing the bill into law shortly after the bill was presented to him the next morning. Below is a summary of the many significant changes made to Florida laws, including changes to Florida's bad faith law, the repeal of one-way attorneys’ fee statutes, a reduction of the statute of limitations applicable to negligence actions, ... Keep Reading »
Florida Insurance Reform Special Session 2 – This Time Means Business
Between 2017 and 2022, 11 property & casualty insurers domiciled in Florida were declared insolvent and placed into liquidation. In an attempt to restore stability to the marketplace, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a proclamation on April 26, 2022, calling the Florida Legislature into special session to reform Florida’s Insurance Code. While the ensuing May special session yielded significant changes, including amendments designed to reduce fraudulent roof claims and ... Keep Reading »
Investment Advisory Firm’s Unlawful Copying and Distribution of Industry Publication to Firm Employees Not Covered by Professional Liability Policy
A California court recently held that an investment advisory firm’s losses stemming from its alleged copying and distribution of Oil Daily, an energy industry publication, to the firm’s advisers were not covered by investment advisory professional liability policies the firm had procured. Energy Intelligence Group Inc. is the publisher of “newsletters and other publications for the highly-specialized global energy industry,” including Oil Daily. Energy Intelligence ... Keep Reading »
Federal Court Rules “Unauthorized Network Access Exclusion” Precludes Coverage for $1.3M Payment From Hacker’s Fraudulent Email
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that an insurance policy issued by Federal Insurance Co. excluded coverage for the transmission of $1.3 million by the insured in response to an email request from a hacker purporting to be one of the insured’s business partners. The insured, Construction Financial Administration Services (CFAS), was a third-party construction funds administration company that disbursed funds for contractors whose ... Keep Reading »
Eleventh Circuit Finds Employer’s Liability Exclusion Ambiguous Under Alabama Law
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision that an insurer had a duty to defend its insureds under a commercial general liability policy in an action arising out of a catastrophic explosion at a pyrotechnics plant that killed two individuals and injured another, holding an "employer's liability exclusion" was ambiguous under Alabama law and thus must be construed in favor of coverage. The exclusion provided: "This insurance does not apply to any claim, ... Keep Reading »
Fifth Circuit Finds Coverage for Untimely Fraudulent Wire Instruction Claim Is Not Barred Under D&O Policy
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a ruling that a directors and officers liability policy provided no coverage for an insured financial services firm that fell for a scam involving a fraudulent direction to wire $1 million from one of its customer’s accounts. After the customer threatened to file a negligence suit against the financial services firm, the firm submitted a claim for coverage under its D&O policy. The insurer declined to defend the ... Keep Reading »
Texas Federal Court Finds Law Firm’s Alleged 40,000 Unauthorized Claims Related to Deepwater Horizon Disaster Were Not “Professional Services” Triggering Duty to Defend
The Southern District of Texas held that New York Marine and General Insurance Co. had no duty to defend its insured under a legal professional malpractice insurance policy for claims stemming from the firm's efforts to develop business in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In the underlying litigation (the Nguyen litigation), a group of 439 Vietnamese Americans brought claims against the law firm, alleging that the firm targeted Vietnamese American fishermen ... Keep Reading »
Gluing Feathers to a Phone Does Not Make a Turkey: Seventh Circuit Finds Mere “Negligence” Label and “Stitched Together” Factual Allegations Do Not Trigger Duty to Defend Aggressive Robocall Lawsuit Under Illinois Law
In 2015, Ocwen Financial Corp. was sued for its attempts to collect on a mortgage loan that had been discharged in bankruptcy. It tendered the defense to Zurich American Insurance Co., but Zurich asserted that two exclusions precluded coverage and sought a declaration from a federal court that it had no duty to defend the underlying complaint. The district court agreed, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed on appeal. The underlying complaint alleged that Ocwen violated ... Keep Reading »