News & Analysis as of

Reversal Insurance Litigation

Cozen O'Connor

Fourth DCA Reverses Jury Verdict Due to Improper Admission of Claims Handling and Bad Faith Evidence

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In Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Naze, No. 4D2024-0098 (Fla. 4th DCA June 4, 2025), the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a jury verdict in favor of the insured, holding that the trial court improperly...more

Marshall Dennehey

The Trial Court Incorrectly Entered Directed Verdict for the Insurer

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Wenzel v. Homeowners Choice Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., Fla. 4th DCA, 4D2023-0088, Apr. 24, 2024 - Following a jury trial, the circuit court entered a directed verdict for the insurer and set aside the jury’s verdict, concluding...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The California Supreme Court Confirms Vertical Exhaustion Applies for First-Layer Excess Insurers

In Truck Ins. Exch. v. Kaiser Cement, 321 Cal. Rptr. 3d 761, 549 P.3d 781 (2024), the California Supreme Court answered the question left open by Montrose Chem. Corp. v. Superior Ct., 9 Cal. 5th 215 (2020) (Montrose III): for...more

Carlton Fields

Georgia Appellate Court Finds Insurer’s Intended Acceptance of Presuit Settlement Offer Invalid, As Check Was Issued Earlier Than...

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In Pierce v. Banks, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order denying plaintiff Aaron Pierce’s partial motion for summary judgment and granting a cross-motion to enforce a settlement in favor of defendant...more

Cozen O'Connor

Fifth Circuit Finds Potential Coverage for Data Breach; Interprets “Publication” Broadly

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Using general contract interpretation principles, the Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of an insurer and found a duty to defend Landry’s in a data breach lawsuit. Landry’s Inc. v. The Insurance Company of the...more

Cozen O'Connor

Iowa Supreme Court Rejects Restaurant’s Allegations of Bad Faith and Breach of Contract After Appraisal

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The Iowa Supreme Court recently reversed the appellate court’s denial of an insurer’s motion for a directed verdict, finding that United Fire did not breach the insurance policy and did not commit bad faith during a property...more

Cozen O'Connor

A Jury Must Find An Insurer Acted Unreasonably In Order To Find Bad Faith Failure to Settle

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On March 8, 2021 the California Court of Appeal, reversing a $10 million verdict against Farmers, found that a jury must specifically find unreasonable acts by an insurer to support a “failure to settle” bad faith...more

Cozen O'Connor

Claims Handling: Questions Are the Answer

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The key issue in insurance bad faith litigation is whether the claims professional reasonably handled the claim. Throughout the claims-handling process, the claims professional should constantly ask him-or-herself whether the...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The LHD/ERISA Advisor - October 2020: Ninth Circuit Finds ERISA Complaint Sufficiently Alleges Insurer had Waived Anti-Assignment...

In Cal. Spine & Neurosurgery Inst. v. Blue Cross of Cal., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 20533 (9th Cir. June 20, 2020), the Ninth Circuit held that a surgical provider's complaint sufficiently alleged that Blue Cross of California...more

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC

VSC Rules "Date Of Loss" Not Ambiguous

Brillman v. New England Guaranty Ins. Co., 2020 VT 16 (Feb. 21, 2020) - In this insurance coverage decision, the Vermont Supreme Court determined that the “date of loss,” which starts the clock running on the one-year...more

Payne & Fears

Ninth Circuit Rejects Excess Insurer's Attempt to Dispute Exhaustion of Underlying Insurance

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This week, in AXIS Reinsurance Co. v. Northrop Grumman Corp., ____ F.3d ____, 2020 WL 5509743 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2020), the Ninth Circuit addressed an important question of first impression: When can an excess insurer...more

Carlton Fields

Coverage Claim Bites the Dust: Seventh Circuit Finds No Coverage for $50 Million Judgment Resulting From Dust Pollution Due to...

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In Greene v. Westfield Insurance Co., the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment finding that commercial general liability policies issued by Westfield Insurance Co. did not cover a $50.56 million...more

Payne & Fears

Withholding Claims Notes Results in Severe Sanctions

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In Garcia v. Awerbach, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 27 (May 21, 2020), the Supreme Court of Nevada reinstated a severe discovery sanction against a defendant who withheld a critical insurance claims note. In doing so, the Supreme Court...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Auto policy may be cancelled if policyholder misstated information when applying

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On May 6, 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court found that specific language in an insurance policy was sufficient to warn the insured that misstatements as to warranties in her application for the policy rendered the policy void from...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Commonsense Prevails; Intentional Attack is not an Insured Accident

In a significant and likely influential decision, the Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed a lower court decision and held that the insured's intent—not that of the victim—controls whether or not bodily injury is an...more

Carlton Fields

The Three “Musts” for a Competent Affidavit or Declaration

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Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision that serves as a reminder not to take for granted a proposition that most practicing attorneys regularly encounter: a motion for summary judgment must be...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Fifth Circuit Decision Excluding Coverage under Pollution Exclusion for Damage to Stream Caused by Rock Fines

In a sweeping decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit extended the absolute pollution exclusion to the unplanned discharge of “rock fines,” pellets produced during quarry operations, and denied coverage for...more

Carlton Fields

Eighth Circuit Reinstates Arbitration Award Stemming From Federal Crop Insurance Policy

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The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court decision vacating an arbitration award relating to a federal crop insurance policy issued through a standard reinsurance agreement with the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC). The...more

White and Williams LLP

Illinois Appellate Court Clarifies What Is and Is Not an “Occurrence” in the Construction Defect Context

On December 31, 2019, the First District Illinois Appellate Court issued its decision in Owners Insurance Company v. Precision Painting & Decorating Corporation, clarifying what does and does not constitute “property damage”...more

White and Williams LLP

Establishing Proximate Cause Where Both Roads Lead to the Defendant

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In Westfield Ins. Group v. Pure Renovations, LLC, 2019-Ohio-4773, 2019 Ohio App. LEXIS 4829, the Court of Appeals of Ohio considered whether the lower court properly granted the defendant’s summary judgment motion. In its...more

Pillsbury - Policyholder Pulse blog

A Recent “Event” in Wisconsin: Appellate Court Rules That a Commonly Used London Market “Occurrence” Definition Is Ambiguous

In recent years, Wisconsin generally has been a pro-policyholder jurisdiction when it comes to long-tail environmental coverage cases. That trend continues with a decision by a Wisconsin appellate court in a case involving...more

White and Williams LLP

PTSD May Be Covered As “Bodily Injury” If It Resulted From Physical Injuries, Pennsylvania Appeals Court Holds

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It has long been the rule in Pennsylvania that a mental or psychological injury generally does not constitute “bodily injury,” as defined in most standard insurance policies, unless that mental or psychological injury results...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Empire State of Mind: New York Bad Faith Update

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WHILE THERE REMAINS NO BAD FAITH CAUSE OF ACTION IN NEW YORK, A RECENT APPELLATE DIVISION CASE OUT OF THE FIRST DEPARTMENT MAKES PLAIN THAT AN INSURED NEED NOT MEET A HEIGHTENED PLEADING STANDARD WITH RESPECT TO CONSEQUENTIAL...more

White and Williams LLP

Delaware Supreme Court Applies Plain Meaning of Insurance Policy Language to Reverse $48 Million Defense Cost Award

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An unbroken sequence of Delaware trial court decisions have reflected strong pro-policyholder leaning in insurance cases in furtherance of the state’s pro-business model. Following the most recent of these pro-policyholder...more

King & Spalding

Eleventh Circuit De-Certifies Injunction Class Where Class Members Effectively Sought Retrospective Relief

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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

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