On March 5, 2019, Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued his opinion in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, in which he attempted to significantly change how...more
In its recent decision, Brink v. Direct General Ins. Co., 38 F.4th 917 (11th Cir. 2022), the Eleventh Circuit ruled 2-1 that the Florida district court erred when it failed instruct a jury that an insurer not only owed a duty...more
In this week’s episode, Gary Qualls discusses a recent case decided in the Western District of Louisiana, which highlights how the application of the arbitrary and capricious standard as applied to payor coverage...more
On September 12, the Eleventh Circuit decertified an injunction class defined by the past denial of insurance benefits—a decision that may help thwart future efforts from plaintiffs to certify Rule 23(b)(2) classes, rather...more
Managing your plan’s claims procedures to avoid successful challenges requires careful attention to all of the requirements in the regulations and in the applicable plan’s or policy’s terms and continual review in light of...more
Even when a claims administrator approves a claim for disability benefits, its job is not done. That principle was again demonstrated in the recent case Owings v. United of Omaha Life Insurance Co., No. 16-3128 (10th Cir....more
The Holding - In Preciado v.Young American Insurnace Company, 2017 WL 2805631 ( Ariz.App . June 29, 2017) (unpublished), the Arizona Court of Appeals held the trial court erroneously failed to grant an Insurer’s motion for...more
Insurers looking to remove declaratory judgment actions to courts in the Third Circuit were recently given some clarity — and, for one defendant insurer, a welcome reversal. On August 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a strong decision for insurers, the Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the administrator, rejected plaintiff’s conflict of interest argument, and found that it was not arbitrary for the...more
In Hartford Accident and Indemnity v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance et al., the Eleventh Circuit recently reversed a District Court’s decision refusing to vacate its prior judgments even though vacatur was a condition of...more
Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. v. Vigil, No. 32,171 (N.M. Ct. App. Jan. 21, 2015). Court of Appeals of New Mexico rules that district court abused its discretion in excluding evidence of previous coverage ruling in...more