Podcast - How Do You Define Success?
Texas House Passes Pandemic Liability Protection Act
More Emerging Litigation Claims and Demands from COVID-19
We cover a broad range of topics in this month’s insurance update. The Supreme Court of Vermont considers how to measure a boat’s capacity under a watercraft exclusion. The Sixth Circuit decides whether an equipment...more
The Texas Supreme Court recently issued a major opinion reversing a nearly $90 million judgment against a national motor carrier in a personal injury suit arising from a multi-vehicle crash on an icy interstate. The case,...more
In a significant decision issued on June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court of Texas reversed a jury verdict awarding over $89 million in damages in favor of the plaintiffs in Werner Enterprises, Inc. v. Blake, holding that the...more
In Columbia Casualty Co. v. State Auto Mutual Insurance Co., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, under Ohio law, that a demand letter to a general liability insurance carrier’s insured containing allegations of bad...more
On June 10, 2025, the New York State Grieving Families Act got a (fourth) chance to be signed by Governor Hochul. She refused to sign prior iterations of the legislation, citing stress on New York’s business community and the...more
On April 21, 2025, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 68 (SB 68) into law, marking a significant shift in Georgia’s civil litigation landscape. Aimed at shedding the state’s “judicial hellhole” reputation, the law...more
I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in early March as appellate counsel at a hotly contested wrongful death trial. Seated next to lead trial counsel, I had a ringside seat where I could observe the jury minute by minute,...more
Key Points: Use of Deadly Force: The court upheld the police officers’ use of deadly force, which is relevant for insurance coverage in similar incidents. Municipal Liability: No liability for the defendant as there was no...more
In Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Hampton Court, L.P., et al. the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted an insurer's motion for judgment on the pleadings that it owed...more
In Ross v. Public Service the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled on March 20 that the Felonious Killing Exception applies to corporations. What is the “Felonious Killing Exception?”...more
Tragedy struck on I-495 when a wrong-way driver, allegedly under the influence, caused a fatal accident. (Delaware Online) This incident raises critical legal questions about civil liability in DUI-related fatalities. In...more
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently affirmed the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas’ dismissal of breach of contract claims asserted against an insurance broker in Thuong Erin Wasielewski, Individually and as...more
More often than not, liability coverage and how the courts interpret insurance policies often reflect current social mores and norms. As the dynamics around domestic households and partnerships continue to evolve, who...more
On February 4, 2025, New York’s Senate introduced the Grieving Families Act, a proposed amendment to the state’s wrongful death statute (the “Proposed Act”). This is the Legislature’s fourth attempt to amend the wrongful...more
When someone you love dies in an auto crash, it is a terrible tragedy. When the accident was caused by the actions of a negligent driver, Florida law allows family members to recover compensation for their loss by filing a...more
Insurers attempting to accept a time-limited demand (often called a “Holt” demand in Georgia) must adhere to every term and condition of performance therein, even those that appear immaterial; otherwise, a court may find that...more
In Helguera v. Mid-Century Insurance Co., California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held that an intentional acts exclusion in the liability coverage part of a homeowners insurance policy issued by Mid-Century Insurance...more
A new Illinois law that aims to increase jury awards demonstrates that juries are not the only culprits of social inflation. Certainly, juries can render nuclear and thermonuclear verdicts, disregard jury instructions, place...more
On March 24, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 837 into law, effecting sweeping reform of Florida’s tort laws. Some of the most notable changes are to Florida’s frameworks for negligence, insurance,...more
A federal district court, applying Missouri law, has held that an insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an insured because the underlying litigation alleged intentional conduct that was barred by an intentional acts...more
On February 15, 2022, the United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit upheld the Southern District of Florida’s summary judgment victory for GEICO, finding that no reasonable jury could conclude that GEICO had...more
The last time we looked at litigation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, it appeared that businesses and their insurers faced a grave risk of being buried by COVID-related lawsuits. So far, however, the worst fears within...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled in United Specialty Insurance Co. v. Bani Auto Group Inc. that United Specialty Insurance Co. did not have a duty to indemnify its insureds in...more
Welcome to this 36th issue of Unprecedented. When we published our first issue on March 24, our understanding of the type of litigation to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic was much like our understanding of the virus itself:...more
In National Fire & Marine Insurance Company v. Hampton, No. 19-17235 (9th Cir. Oct. 21, 2020), the Ninth Circuit held that a doctor’s guilty plea to the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance barred insurance...more