Mealey's Reinsurance
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February 09, 2022
Dismissal Rightly Recommended In Imputed Withdrawal Liability Suit, Reinsurer Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal magistrate judge’s report contains “methodical and thorough” analysis and correctly recommends dismissal of a lawsuit against a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company over $934 million in withdrawal liability on jurisdictional grounds, the company says in its Feb. 4 response to objections by the plaintiffs, who are trustees of a multiemployer pension plan.
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February 09, 2022
Insurers Have No Valid Claim In Suit Over Duke Energy Settlement, Reinsurer Says
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Denying allegations that it breached its contractual obligations, a reinsurer says in its answer and affirmative defenses filed Feb. 7 in a New York federal court that neither plaintiff has a claim to assert against it under the reinsurance certificates at issue, alleging that one paid nothing in the settlement that gave rise to the suit and the other released its rights in a 2003 commutation with an affiliate of the reinsurer.
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February 03, 2022
Parties Agree To Dismissal Of Mortgagors’ Class RESPA Suit Over Captive Reinsurance
FRESNO, Calif. — The parties in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action over captive reinsurance agreements on Feb. 2 filed a stipulation and proposed order for entry of judgment dismissing the case for lack of standing; a jury trial bifurcated into liability and damages phases is otherwise scheduled to start Feb. 15 in California federal court.
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February 03, 2022
Federal Judge: Reinsurance Agreement Does Not Violate UCL; Vandalism Not Proved
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Concluding that an insured did not carry its burden to demonstrate coverage regarding a claim for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) failure and that there is no genuine dispute that the defendants were in a reinsurance relationship, a California federal judge on Jan. 18 dismissed all claims in a suit that had alleged violations of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
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February 02, 2022
Renewed Motion Seeks Preliminary OK Of $92.6M Life Insurance Class Settlement
NEW YORK — Asserting that issues a New York federal judge cited in denying a previous motion without prejudice had been addressed, a life insurance policyholder who challenged a 2016 cost of insurance (COI) increase on Jan. 19 renewed her request for preliminary approval of a class action settlement; the proposal includes a $92.5 million payment by administrator and reinsurer Lincoln National Corp., a five-year COI freeze and a waiver of policy validity defenses.
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February 02, 2022
Class Decertification Denied In Mortgagors’ RESPA Suit Over Captive Reinsurance
FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Jan. 31 issued two orders in a long-running class action over captive reinsurance agreements that is set for a jury trial in February, denying without prejudice a motion to decertify the class TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez and partly granting and partly denying the defendants’ motion in limine as to calculating and proving damages in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case.
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February 02, 2022
Reinsurer Seeks Discovery Order In Defense And Indemnity Costs Dispute
NEW YORK — Noting that it intends to argue that the defendant has waived any late-notice defense in a dispute over defense and indemnity costs, a reinsurer on Jan. 28 asked a New York federal judge for a discovery order, arguing in a letter motion that it has a right to see the information on which the defendant relied in allegedly changing the basis for its denial position.
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February 01, 2022
D.C. Circuit Hears Argument On Phantom Contract, Tort Claims In Suit Over $26M Award
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Jan. 31 oral argument before the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a dispute over a $26 million award, the financial services company appellant contended that under credit insurance policy binders, it properly pursued direct contract claims against reinsurers; the reinsurers argued that the binders did not constitute contracts, and brokers asserted that tort claims against them were properly dismissed under the economic loss rule.
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February 01, 2022
4th Circuit Sets Oral Argument In Trustee Duties Spat Regarding Reinsurance Trust
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 6 tentatively calendared oral argument for the week of March 8 in a dispute over a reinsurance trust for an insolvent insurer; in the appeal, another insurer challenges a federal court in South Carolina’s ruling rejecting allegations that a bank failed to perform its duties as a trustee.
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January 31, 2022
Preliminary Injunction Sought In Fraudulent Transfer Suit Against LTC Insurer
WILMINGTON, Del. — The plaintiffs in a putative class suit alleging fraudulent transfers from an insurance subsidiary that more than 1 million policyholders depend on for long-term care (LTC) insurance disability benefits on Jan. 27 moved in Delaware Chancery Court for a preliminary injunction to stop “Anticipated Transfers” of assets in forms including dividend payments or spinoffs.
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January 31, 2022
Editor’s Note
The journalists and staff of Mealey’s Litigation Reports are saddened by the passing of co-founder Michael P. Mealey. He was a respected member of the newsletter community, being named publisher of the year by the National Newsletter Association and president of the National Newsletter Association. Mike and Judy Mealey started Mealey Publications Inc. in 1984. As president, Mike grew the Mealey’s Litigation Report portfolio, introduced email news bulletins and electronic CD formats and launched a continuing legal education conference business. Mealey’s was sold to LexisNexis in 2000. We hope to carry on his journalistic curiosity and integrity in the titles we continue to publish today under his name.
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January 26, 2022
8th Circuit Partly Dismisses Interlocutory Appeal Over Excess Collateral Cross-Claim
ST. LOUIS — After two of the three parties involved reported in a Jan. 19 stipulation that the interlocutory appeal as between them “has been fully compromised and settled,” the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 24 granted dismissal only as to that dispute; the appeal concerns a Minnesota federal judge’s denial of a motion to dismiss or compel arbitration on cross-claims in an interpleader suit over excess collateral in an insurance-reinsurance program.
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January 26, 2022
Douglass Cited In Fight Over Dismissal Recommendation In ERISA Suit Against Reinsurer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Citing in part the recent Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in Douglass v. Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, trustees of a pension plan on Jan. 21 objected to a District of Columbia federal magistrate judge’s report recommending dismissal on jurisdictional grounds of their lawsuit over a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company’s alleged failure to make $934 million in withdrawal liability payments.
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January 26, 2022
Judge Extends Insurance Fraud Scheduling Deadlines As SEC Says Settlement Reached
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Jan. 5 granted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to extend the deadline for a proposed schedule in a lawsuit alleging that two individuals “perpetrated multiple schemes to defraud their advisory clients, which were insurance companies and reinsurance trusts” until March 31 unless the SEC is able to fully resolve the case before that date.
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January 25, 2022
Judge Realigns Case, Grants Reinsurers Summary Judgment On 2 Of 7 Issues
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on Jan. 20 allowed Certain London Market Company Reinsurers (LMRs) summary judgment only as to a choice-of-law question and a state law claim, otherwise denying summary judgment on the basis of factual questions; in the same ruling, the judge granted a motion by Lamorak Insurance Co. to realign the parties.
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January 24, 2022
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Reinsurance Suit Over Asbestos Claims
DETROIT — After previously telling a Michigan federal judge in a stipulated order that they reached an unspecified settlement in principle, the parties in a reinsurance dispute over asbestos claims on Jan. 20 filed a one-paragraph stipulation of dismissal with prejudice; on Jan. 21, the judge ordered the case closed.
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January 20, 2022
Reinsurers Seek Resolution Of Summary Judgment Issues As Jury Trial Looms
BOSTON — In an unopposed Jan. 18 motion for a status conference, Certain London Market Company Reinsurers (LMRs) seek resolution of “several substantive and procedural questions” ahead of a jury trial scheduled to start March 1 before a Massachusetts federal judge, including issues raised in a pending motion for summary judgment.
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January 19, 2022
Stay Pending Related Case Disputed In Reinsurance Interference Row
LOS ANGELES — A reinsurer’s parent companies are seeking a stay of a suit that alleges that they intentionally interfered with contractual relations and induced breach of contract, telling a California federal court on Jan. 7 that resolution of a related case could make it “entirely moot”; in an opposition filed Jan. 14, insurers argue in part that that the other case wouldn’t be completely dispositive.
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January 19, 2022
Reinsurers, Insurers Ordered To Keep Talking Discovery In Indemnification Row
TRENTON, N.J. — After the parties in a dispute over indemnification for asbestos bodily injury claims filed a Jan. 14 letter detailing discovery disputes on which they have reached “impasse,” a New Jersey federal magistrate judge on Jan. 18 ordered them to keep trying.
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January 19, 2022
Judge Bifurcates Trial In Mortgagors’ RESPA Claims Suit Over Captive Reinsurance
FRESNO, Calif. — In a flurry of filings dated Jan. 3 to Jan. 18 in California federal court, a judge bifurcated the upcoming trial in a long-running class action over captive reinsurance agreements into liability and damages phases and ruled on numerous motions in limine; in that time, the parties also completed briefing in pending motions to strike.