Patent Infringement: Successful Litigation Stays the "Course"
In Johnson v. Lowe’s Home Centers LLC, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order granting defendant Lowe’s motion to compel arbitration of plaintiff Maria Johnson’s individual claims brought under...more
Another Circuit Court Holds That the New York Convention Pre-empts State Laws Prohibiting Arbitration of Insurance Disputes - On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Article II, Section...more
Plaintiffs filed a putative class action against Norwegian Cruise Lines claiming that Norwegian failed to disclose profits it earned when the plaintiffs elected to purchase travel insurance during the cruise booking process....more
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 background of this case in California federal court is that The Hartford (“Hartford”) issued reinsurance billings to Employers Insurance Company of Wausau (“Wausau”) for settlement payments made to one insured under...more
The California Court of Appeals became the latest court to determine that a common arbitration agreement related to the EquityComp workers’ compensation insurance program and accompanying reinsurance agreements is...more
An Illinois appellate court recently affirmed a lower court decision granting summary judgment and denying defendant insurers’ motion to compel arbitration where Nebraska law governed, reverse preempted the Federal...more
The recent decision of Nielsen Contracting, Inc. v. Applied Underwriters, Inc., 232 Cal.Rptr.3d 282 (Cal. App. 4 Dist. 2018) provides a cautionary tale of the failure to comply with insurance regulatory filing requirements of...more
In 2011, Top’s Personnel entered into a reinsurance agreement with Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company (“AUCRA”), and several years later executed a promissory note (“the Note”) in favor of a related entity,...more
Applying the doctrine of judicial estoppel, a district court refused to compel arbitration finding that the arbitration clause in a reinsurance agreement was unenforceable under a Virginia statute that voided a mandatory...more
In the most recent decision in an ongoing dispute between MF Global Holdings Ltd. and its (re)insurers, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Allied World to post a $15 million bond before the...more
A New York court compelled the arbitration of a claim under a reinsurance agreement, rejecting the plaintiff reinsurer’s claim that the reinsurance policy is void because the reinsured issued an underlying insurance policy...more
Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company appealed from the denial of its motion to compel arbitration in a dispute related to a reinsurance participation contract with South Jersey Sanitation Company. The trial...more
Applying Wisconsin law, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals determined the parties did not have an agreement to arbitrate because, even though their excess/reinsurance agreement contained “follow form” language, and the...more
In a suit by an auto body company against a captive insurance company for rescission of certain workers compensation reinsurance participation agreements, for disgorgement of $70,000 paid thereunder, and for fraud, breach of...more
A New York federal district court denied Transatlantic Reinsurance Company’s petition to compel National Indemnity Company (“NICO”) to submit to arbitration. While the court’s order does not provide the basis for its ruling...more
In This Issue: - Southern District of New York Orders Arbitration Panel to Proceed with Umpire Selection: Finding the Federal Arbitration Act mandates that a provision in a reinsurance agreement establishing a...more