Treasurer’s Payment Mistake Requires Defense Coverage Under Property Association’s D&O Policy
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Evan Holober and Geoffrey B. Fehling
22h ago
A federal court recently ruled that a carrier must defend its policyholder against a claim involving the treasurer’s erroneous payment to a scammer. The ruling shows that a “wrongful act” under a D&O policy need not be an egregious act of wrongdoing, that coverage may hinge on whether extrinsic evidence can establish coverage, and that breach of contract claims are not always uninsurable as a matter of law. In Bridlewood Estates Property Owners Association v. State Farm General Insurance Co., a California federal district court evaluated whether an insured association may be entitled to co ..read more
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Business Insurance Names Rachel Hudgins Among 2024 Break Out Award Winners
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
22h ago
We are pleased to announce that counsel Rachel E. Hudgins has been recognized as one of Business Insurance’s 2024 Break Out Award winners. The magazine’s Break Out Awards honor 40 top professionals each year from a competitive field of nominees who have under 15 years’ experience in the insurance and risk management sector and are “on track to be the next leaders in the risk management and property/casualty insurance field.” Clients describe Rachel as their “chief contact for high-exposure coverage work.” She meets clients where they are with a curiosity and interest in their busines ..read more
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Supreme Court Sinks Yacht Owner’s Insurance Counterclaim on Choice-of-Law Grounds
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Lara Degenhart Cassidy and Adriana A. Perez
1w ago
The United States Supreme Court recently held in Great Lakes Ins. SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, that choice-of-law provisions in maritime contracts, including maritime insurance policies, are presumptively enforceable under federal maritime law. In Great Lakes, a policyholder asserted counterclaims against its insurer under the state law of Pennsylvania, where the insurer had filed a federal-court action seeking a declaration of no coverage, even though the choice-of-law provision in the applicable maritime insurance policy designated New York law. The policyholder argued that Pennsyl ..read more
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Avoiding Rescission of Insurance Coverage: An Insured’s Worst Nightmare  
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Geoffrey B. Fehling, Cary D. Steklof and S. Alice Weeks
2w ago
No policyholder wants to hear the word “rescission” in the context of an insurance claim. The reality, however, is that when policyholders complete applications for insurance, they are typically focused on obtaining the best policy terms for the best rate. Nuances about question wording, the breadth of the applicant’s representations or how a court may analyze the insurer’s questions or the policyholder’s answers usually take a back seat to the central importance of placing and renewing coverage at a realistic price. But once a claim is made, insurers look back at applications to assess the ac ..read more
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Recent Suit Filed in California Federal Court May Offer Glimpse Into Adjudicating RWI Disputes
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Syed S. Ahmad, Kevin V. Small and Jae Lynn Huckaba
3w ago
A software company—Zywave, Inc. (“Zywave”)—recently filed a lawsuit in California federal court that may provide rare insight into how courts will resolve representations and warranties (“R&W”) insurance coverage disputes. Zywave purchased a buyer-side R&W policy in connection with its acquisition of an insurance product-distribution software company. Zywave alleged that, post-close, it learned that the seller had knowledge of “serious material performance issues with certain customers that it failed to disclose,” amounting to breaches of various sections of the acquisition agreement ..read more
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Year in Review: Top Insurance Cases of 2023
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Michael S. Levine, Latosha M. Ellis and Olivia G. Bushman
1M ago
Directors and Officers (“D&O”) and cyber-related incidents continued to make headlines while ramped up regulatory enforcement and new legislation significantly altered the insurance landscape for both policyholders and insurers. Other noteworthy decisions reinforced the importance of foundational insurance coverage principals. Now that 2023 has wrapped, we highlight and review some of the most significant decisions and insurance developments that will continue to impact the world of insurance in 2024 and beyond. Read More ..read more
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Broad Forum Clause Favors Policyholders’ Choice of Venue
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Michael S. Levine, Christopher J. Cunio and Madison W. Sherrill
1M ago
The Washington Supreme Court’s recent en banc decision in Pacific Lutheran University et al. v. Certain Underwriters At Lloyd’s London et al. looked to the broad language of the forum selection clause in the governing insurance policies in upholding the policyholders’ rights to select the forum for their coverage suit. In Pacific Lutheran, 60 higher education institutions (the “Colleges”) filed suit in the Superior Court for Pierce County, Washington, against 16 insurers (the “Insurers”) that issued all risk insurance policies to the Colleges through the Educational & Institutional Insuran ..read more
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Mitigation of Increased Risks to Retailers Through Insurance
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Michael S. Levine, Latosha M. Ellis and Veronica P. Adams
1M ago
Hunton Andrews Kurth’s 300-lawyer cross-disciplinary Retail Industry Team has released its annual 2023 Retail Industry Year in Review. The Review discusses retail industry issues that implicate multiple legal practice areas and highlights new and emerging risks retailers may encounter in the year ahead. Significant issues from 2023, with insurance implications that will continue to evolve in 2024 and beyond, include copyright infringement claims for retailers engaged in social media and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) related liability claims and related putative class action lawsuits. We di ..read more
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Government Investigations and M&A Transactions: Recent California Case Highlights Potential D&O Coverage Gaps
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Geoffrey B. Fehling and Olivia G. Bushman
1M ago
Last week, a California federal judge held that a D&O liability insurer must advance subpoena-related defense costs on behalf of two former biotech directors and officers after the insurer could not provide conclusive evidence that the subpoenas alleged actual wrongdoing by the individuals after the company’s merger, as required to trigger the policy’s “Change in Control” exclusion. See AmTrust Int’l Underwriters DAC, Plaintiff, v. 180 Life Sciences Corp., et al., N.D. Cal. No. 22-CV-03844-BLF, 2024 WL 557724 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 12, 2024). The decision highlights the interplay of two significa ..read more
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Data Breach Putative Class Action Questions Whether Broker Was Swift Enough in Notice and Response
Hunton Andrews Kurth Blog
by Andrea DeField and Matthew J. Revis
1M ago
While America was tuned into the big game, one California insurance broker faced its own treacherous showdown in the form of a putative class action filed on February 8, 2024 stemming from a data breach. With cyber incidents still on the rise, this is a story we know all too well: an unauthorized third party gains access to personally identifiable information, the company eventually detects the threat actor and leadership must decide how to respond. Once notifications to the public go out, the individuals impacted often file suit to recover for their alleged harm. According to the complaint in ..read more
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