Mealey's Reinsurance
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October 04, 2023
Reinsurer Largely Loses Privilege Row Involving Allocation Modeling Documents
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Finding in part that allocation modeling documents in a discovery dispute are not privileged, a New York federal magistrate judge mostly denied a reinsurer’s motion for a protective order in the breach suit involving an environmental losses settlement.
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October 03, 2023
Plaintiffs Win Remand Of Coverage Row Over Aircraft Leased To Russian Airline
MIAMI — Citing “the complete alienage jurisdiction rule,” a Florida federal judge ordered remand to a Florida state court in a coverage dispute over aircraft that a Russian airline refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine.
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September 29, 2023
Dismissal Bid Fails In Excess Loss Reinsurance Row With ERISA, Bad Faith Claims
PITTSBURGH — Ruling the arguments “more appropriately handled at the summary judgment stage,” a Pennsylvania federal judge on Sept. 28 denied a dismissal motion in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an excess loss reinsurance contract.
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September 29, 2023
2nd Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Investors’ Complaint Against GE
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal judge’s dismissal of shareholder claims against General Electric Co. (GE) and certain of its executives, agreeing that the investors had failed to adequately plead scienter in their claims that the GE defendants had made misstatements regarding the company’s financial condition.
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September 28, 2023
Offset Applied In Finalizing Damages Against Collapsed Hedge Fund’s Co-Founder
NEW YORK — In a ruling involving interpretation of what he called a “somewhat ambiguous” part of a New York offset law, a New York federal judge reduced what would otherwise have been a liability of more than $15.2 million against a co-founder of the collapsed hedge fund Platinum Partners to just under $2.8 million.
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September 27, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms Ruling Against Relators In Qui Tam Crop Insurance Case
ST. LOUIS — In a ruling that drew a partial concurrence, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld a challenged ruling in a qui tam crop insurance case, saying in part that “gaps in proof are fatal” to the plaintiffs’ claims under the False Claims Act (FCA).
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September 26, 2023
Judge: Post-Judgment Garnishment Bids Fail In Excessive Force Case
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Ruling in part that the Oklahoma doctrine of “reasonable expectations” does not apply and that the relevant coverage agreement is not ambiguous, an Oklahoma federal judge on Sept. 25 ended post-judgment garnishment bids against an insurer and reinsurer in an excessive force case pertaining to a traffic stop.
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September 19, 2023
High Court Review Sought For Reverse-Preemption Ruling In Insurance Info Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing in part that the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals removed “large pieces of insurance regulation from the purview of states, where it has long been placed and confirmed by the McCarran-Ferguson Act [MFA],” the Delaware Department of Insurance (DDOI) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a corporate privacy case involving microcaptive insurance company information.
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September 19, 2023
Remand To Florida Court Argued In Coverage Row Over Leased Aircraft
MIAMI — Arguing in a reply brief that “in lawsuits between parties of different countries, there is no federal diversity jurisdiction,” plaintiffs in a coverage dispute over aircraft that a Russian airline refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine urge a Florida federal court to remand the case to Florida state court.
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September 18, 2023
Justice Denies Protective Order, Disqualification Bid In Reinsurance Row
NEW YORK — Addressing two motions relating to an audit agreement, a New York justice denied both a liquidator’s request for a protective order regarding certain previously produced documents and reinsurers’ bid to disqualify the liquidator’s counsel.
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September 18, 2023
Parties File Joint Pretrial Stipulation In Row Over Reinsurance Distributor Deal
MIAMI — Parties in a suit over the acquisition of a managed health care reinsurance distribution company have filed a joint pretrial stipulation in Florida federal court outlining their positions in advance of a bench trial.
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September 15, 2023
Unsecured Creditors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Want To Conduct Discovery
WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing that it “is the only independent fiduciary capable of conducting a thorough and conflict-free investigation,” the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the jointly administered Chapter 11 case of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities on Sept. 14 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court for leave to conduct discovery.
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September 15, 2023
2nd Circuit Won’t Stay Bermuda Arbitration Pending Appeal Over Bias Allegation
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has denied a motion it “construed as seeking to enjoin arbitration pending appeal” in a bid to replace one arbitrator in a proceeding concerning two reinsurance contracts between Bermuda-based entities.
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September 15, 2023
Claim Added In Coverage Dispute Over Loss Of Patent Litigation Counsel
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mostly granting two motions, a Tennessee federal magistrate judge on Sept. 14 implemented the parties’ proposed schedule in a coverage dispute over loss of patent litigation counsel, also allowing the plaintiffs to add allegations and a promissory estoppel claim.
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September 14, 2023
Judge Rules For Government In Challenge Over Farming Practices Determination
FARGO, N.D. — Saying a reconsideration determination that a farm didn’t follow good farming practices (GFP) was neither “arbitrary and capricious” nor “contrary to the substantial weight of the evidence,” a North Dakota federal judge granted summary judgment against the farm in a dispute stemming from a crop insurance policy reinsured by the government.
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September 12, 2023
ERISA-Imputed Withdrawal Liability Suit Is Dismissed On Jurisdictional Grounds
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rejecting objections filed by the trustees of a multiemployer pension plan and declining “to adopt a less rigorous standard for general personal jurisdiction,” a District of Columbia federal judge on Sept. 11 dismissed a lawsuit against a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company over $934 million in withdrawal liability.
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September 12, 2023
Judicial Estoppel Bid Doesn’t Stop Transfer Of Reinsurer’s Breach Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — Concluding that judicial estoppel doesn’t apply and a reinsurer failed to meet its “burden of showing why the court should not transfer the case to the agreed-upon forum,” a California federal judge granted the defendants’ motion to transfer the case involving allegations of a fraudulent scheme to inflate provisional commissions and breach of various agreements.
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September 08, 2023
Judge Rules For Reinsurer In Dispute Over Ultimate Net Loss Provision
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Agreeing with a reinsurer regarding interpretation of an ultimate net loss contract provision, an Alabama federal judge granted summary judgment against an insurer on a single breach of contract claim in a complex suit.
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September 08, 2023
1 Of Insurer’s 4 Suits Seeking Asbestos Settlement Reimbursement Is Dismissed
OMAHA, Neb. — One suit that National Indemnity Co. (NICO) filed against reinsurers in Nebraska federal court over the insurer’s $157.2 million settlement with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures has been dismissed with prejudice because no defendants remain after a wave of stipulations.
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August 31, 2023
Wrangling Over Automatic Bankruptcy Stay Continues In Letter Of Credit Fallout
WILMINGTON, Del. — Arguing that the filing of a Chapter 15 case violates a consent order, Chapter 11 debtor Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities on Aug. 30 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court to issue a contempt order and sanctions against Bermuda-based White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. and “the putative joint provisional liquidators [JPLs] of segregated cells.”
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August 30, 2023
Bid For Non-Waiver And Clawback Order Fails In Microcaptive Summons Row
TAMPA, Fla. — Saying in part that two cases where the Internal Revenue Service agreed to entry of an order pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) are “distinguishable,” a Florida federal magistrate judge on Aug. 29 denied an insurance consultancy’s motion for a non-waiver and clawback order regarding material produced in response to an IRS summons.
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August 30, 2023
3rd Circuit Affirms Rulings Against Insured In Greenhouse Coverage Lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA — Upholding rulings in favor of a insurer and reinsurer in a dispute concerning an ozone system failure in a basil-growing greenhouse, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 29 said in part that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding two proposed witnesses to be unqualified.
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August 30, 2023
Defamation Claimed In 2nd Cross-Complaint Filed In Breach Suit
LOS ANGELES — In the second cross-complaint filed in a lawsuit in California state court involving allegations that a claim should have been covered by reinsurance of a shared risk incentive pool, a managed services organization (MSO) and its CEO allege defamation.
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August 29, 2023
Joint Statement Filed In Coverage Row Over Jet Leased To Russian Operator
SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine plan to initially focus depositions “on persons identified by the ‘War Risk’ insurers,” according to a filing in California state court.
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August 29, 2023
Appeal Of Dispute Over Arbitrator’s Firm’s Work For Reinsurer Is Dismissed
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California appellate case over confirmation of an arbitration panel’s ruling against a university was dismissed after the parties filed a joint notice of settlement and a stipulation for dismissal, the case docket shows.