Taunia Kittler, through Galilea LLC, owned a 60-foot sailing yacht named Galilea. In June 2015, the Galilea crashed off the coast of Panama and was deemed a complete loss. Kittler and Galilea LLC sought insurance coverage...more
Lamorak Insurance Co. issued excess policies to Olin Corp. and also reinsured those policies with the defendants, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London. After Lamorak and Olin settled a declaratory judgment action...more
The plaintiff commenced an arbitration proceeding with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against two of his former investment brokers and their former employers — Concorde and Westminster. The plaintiff...more
The Southern District of New York granted a ceding insurer’s motion to dismiss certain counterclaims by a defendant-reinsurer, finding their reinsurance agreement was never rescinded and that the cedent adequately performed....more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed an order granting a motion to compel arbitration and to dismiss, finding that a purchase order issued by the plaintiff to purchase goods from the defendant incorporated a binding arbitration clause...more
Changes in patents are afoot that will have a significant effect on the insurance and financial industries. Although business method patents have been the pariah of the patent industry for the past few years...more
The plaintiff sued his former employer for discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, and violations of the Missouri Human Rights Act. The defendant moved to compel arbitration based on the parties’ Mutual...more
7/10/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Delegation Clauses ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hostile Environment ,
Motion to Compel ,
Retaliation
A Pennsylvania federal district court granted a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 4 of the Federal Arbitration Act, over objection by the defendant on severability grounds. The defendant argued that its...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held as a matter of first impression that a district court properly looked to the substance of an underlying dispute in determining whether it had subject-matter jurisdiction over...more
Petitioners, two Rent-A-Center entities, moved to compel arbitration of a lawsuit by Anita Ellis alleging that Rent-A-Center unlawfully terminated her employment for seeking workers’ compensation benefits....more
6/18/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Arbitration ,
Contract Terms ,
Delegation Clauses ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Motion to Compel ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Wrongful Termination ,
WV Supreme Court
Given the broad duty to defend rules in most jurisdictions, liability insurers often find that they must — or perhaps should out of an abundance of caution — defend an insured against a claim that in all likelihood will not...more
A California district court issued its latest decision arising from Odyssey Reinsurance Company’s ongoing effort to collect a $3.2 million default judgment against insurance agency Cal-Regent, its successor PBIS, and their...more
The plaintiff sued the defendants (collectively, DAL) in Colorado federal court after they denied his application for a Subway restaurant franchise....more
In the latest iteration of a complex reinsurance dispute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a 2018 district court order enforcing an arbitration award against IRB Brasil Resseguros S.A. (IRB). ...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina denied summary judgment to the trustee of an account established pursuant to a “fronted” reinsurance program. The plaintiff, Accident Insurance Co. (AIC),...more
Everest Reinsurance Co. reinsured Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. under several treaties requiring the parties to arbitrate all disputes....more
The plaintiff filed a putative class action for alleged violations of California employment law, and the defendant moved to compel arbitration....more
3/27/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Final Judgment ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Compel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stays
Several months ago we blogged about the duty to defend advertising injury claims under commercial general liability (CGL) policies, noting that many courts continue to struggle with the practical application of basic duty to...more
3/13/2019
/ Advertising Injury ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Fashion Design ,
Fashion Industry ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Trade Dress
The Texas Department of Insurance has repealed and replaced Chapter 15 of the Texas Administrative Code relating to surplus lines insurance. ...more
Archer & White Sales, Inc. (“Archer”) sued Henry Schein, Inc. (“Schein”) in federal court seeking both monetary and injunctive relief....more
1/29/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Contract Terms ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Henry Schein Inc v Archer and White Sales Inc ,
Judicial Review ,
Motion to Compel ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Wholly Groundless Doctrine
Sears Roebuck and Co. (Sears) entered a 40-year lease with Century III Mall, PA., LLC (“Century III Mall”), whereby Sears agreed to maintain an anchor store at the Century III Mall. ...more
1/10/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Business Litigation ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Contract Disputes ,
Dismissals ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Property Valuation ,
Sears ,
Shopping Centers
A New York district court has granted a motion to compel arbitration of matters arising out of general liability “fronting” policies issued by member companies of AIG. ...more
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) announced on October 17, 2018 that it has voted unanimously to rescind the designation of Prudential Financial Inc. (“Prudential”) as a systemically important financial...more
Duty to defend principles are generally well-settled in most jurisdictions: If the allegations in an underlying complaint potentially fall within the scope of coverage, the insurer must defend. ...more
Plaintiffs, current and former employees of the University of Southern California (“USC”), were participants in two USC-sponsored ERISA contribution plans. In order to participate in the plans, individual employees were...more