
Former Utility Execs Agree to $117M Settlement for Wildfire Liability
Former executives and directors of Pacific Gas & Electric have agreed to pay $117 million to settle a lawsuit over devastating 2017 and 2018 California wildfires sparked by the utility’s equipment, it was announced Thursday.
September 30, 2022
Liability
Litigation
California

Former NFL RB Awarded $28.5M in Medical Malpractice Case
A former New York Giant who sued a prominent Manhattan surgeon for allegedly ending his football career won a whopping $28.5 million verdict in the case. Running back Michael Cox, 33, had a four-year, $2.3 million contract with Big Blue when he was tackled during a November 2014 game in Seattle.
September 28, 2022
Liability
Litigation
New York

Therapeutic Tears and a Compassionate Judge: $1.1B Allocated to Surfside Victims’ Families
Seventy-nine funerals in five weeks. Not at a cemetery but inside Judge Michael Hanzman’s courtroom, during unprecedented hearings held throughout an excruciating summer of sadness as he appraised the worth of the victims killed in the Surfside condominium collapse.
September 23, 2022
Liability
Litigation
Florida

Court Requires Insurer Show Prejudice for Coverage Denial
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, applying Oklahoma law, granted an insured’s motion for summary judgment, finding that a claim was sufficiently made and reported during the policy period.
September 22, 2022
Liability
Litigation
Oklahoma

Open and Obvious Defense to Premises Liability Claims
The 2nd Appellate District in Montes v. Young Men’s Christian Assn. of Glendale, California (2022 Cal.App.LEXIS 677) recently reaffirmed the application of the ‘open and obvious’ defense to premises liability claims, especially as they related to trial following an unsuccessful motion for summary judgment raising the defense.
September 21, 2022
Liability
Litigation
California

1907 Law Used to Deny all Hurricane Ida Property Claims In NYC
Nearly a year after the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded the Forest Hills one-bedroom apartment where Heidi Pashko and her husband live, the couple is finally beginning to settle back into their first-floor home of over four decades.
September 13, 2022
Liability
Property
New York

Various Remaining Claims in Hard Rock Hotel Collapse Sent to Mediation
Nearly three years after the partially built Hard Rock Hotel collapsed and killed three construction workers, a mediator is trying to settle dozens of claims filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court against the developers and construction contractors, ranging from business losses to worker injuries to death claims.
September 13, 2022
Liability
Litigation
Louisiana

Fifth Circuit Leans on Well-Established Contractual Interpretation Doctrine to Preclude Coverage Under General Liability Policy
To paraphrase Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a case ‘which appeals to the feelings and distorts the judgment’ makes bad law. In the face of exceptionally tragic circumstances, however, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals resisted the urge to let its emotions carry the day.
September 12, 2022
Liability
Litigation
Texas

Luxury Vehicles Destroyed in Car Carrier Crash, Fire on I-95
Interstate 95 between Four Oaks and Benson was shut down for several hours on Sunday night after a blown tire caused a truck hauling expensive vehicles to crash. The driver said he was hauling privately-owned, expensive motor vehicles from New York City to Miami.
All were destroyed by a raging fire. Firefighters who responded to the scene said that tires and batteries were blowing up "like 4th of July fireworks."
The owner-operator of the truck said he had just checked all of his tires at a fuel stop in southern Virginia, but heard what sounded like an explosion behind him before the fire erupted.
He attempted to extinguish the flames at first, but eventually had to flee from the scene when the fire became too large.
The driver, who did not give his name to WRAL News, was concerned about his clients more than for his own loss of livelihood.
September 7, 2022
Auto
Liability
Subrogation
All were destroyed by a raging fire. Firefighters who responded to the scene said that tires and batteries were blowing up "like 4th of July fireworks."
The owner-operator of the truck said he had just checked all of his tires at a fuel stop in southern Virginia, but heard what sounded like an explosion behind him before the fire erupted.
He attempted to extinguish the flames at first, but eventually had to flee from the scene when the fire became too large.
The driver, who did not give his name to WRAL News, was concerned about his clients more than for his own loss of livelihood.

New Illinois Law Mandates That Insurers Report All Dog Bite Claims
It’s a great trivia question. Which state has the most dog bite claims? The answer probably won’t surprise you -- California, with 2,103 insurance claims in 2020, followed by Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.
September 2, 2022
Legislation & Regulation
Liability
Illinois

Judge Strikes Down State Ban on Credit-based Insurance Scores
A Washington state judge has struck down a state rule banning the use of credit-based insurance scores. On Monday, Judge Indu Thomas rendered a final order declaring that Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler exceeded his authority when he issued a permanent rule prohibiting the use of credit-based insurance scores.
August 31, 2022
Auto
Legislation & Regulation
Liability
Property
Washington

Insurer Found Vicariously Liable for Adjuster Selling Client Information
B.C.’s public auto insurer has been held vicariously liable for a privacy breach, in which one of its claims adjusters sold client information to a third party that ultimately led to arson and shooting attacks.
August 29, 2022
Liability

Blue Bell’s Carriers Do Not Have to Pay for Listeria Outbreak Damages
Federal Judge Robert Pitman, who presided over the 15-day mistrial of Blue Bell’s former president, has ruled in another case involving the Brenham, TX-based creamery. From his Western District of Texas federal court bench, Pitman granted the motion for a summary judgment favoring two insurance companies over Blue Bell Creameries USA Inc.
August 29, 2022
Liability
Litigation
Texas

New Jersey City Achieved Zero Traffic Deaths With Quick, High Impact Ideas
In January 2019, Sarah Risser was in the passenger seat as her son, Henry Zietlow, drove them from Minnesota to Michigan for a ski trip. They were on a Wisconsin highway when an oncoming pickup towing too much weight veered into their lane.
August 26, 2022
Auto
Liability
New Jersey

Another One Bites The Dust: United P&C To Quit Florida, Louisiana, Texas And NY Homeowners Markets
St. Petersburg-based United Property & Casualty Insurance (United P&C) has filed plans to withdraw operations in Florida, Louisiana and Texas and intends to file a plan of withdrawal in New York, its parent company United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UPC) announced Thursday.
August 26, 2022
Insurance Industry
Liability
Property
Florida
Louisiana
New York
Texas



