The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, affirming a district court’s decision, has ruled that an insurance company was not obligated to cover a property damage claim where the insured had failed to provide “prompt” notice as required by the policy.

Background

In July 2009, a hailstorm in Dallas, Texas, allegedly caused damage

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, affirming a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, has ruled that an insurance company had no obligation to defend a bank that had not provided notice of a lawsuit “as soon as practicable,” as required by its insurance policy.

Background

On

The Colorado Supreme Court, reversing an intermediate appellate court’s decision, has refused to extend the “notice-prejudice rule” to a case involving the insured’s breach of an insurance policy’s no-voluntary-payments clause.

Background

After an accident at a construction site in July 2007, the project’s general contractor sought damages from Stresscon Corporation, a subcontractor.

Stresscon reached a

The Montana Supreme Court, reversing a trial court’s decision, has clarified the definition of “accident” under Montana law and has ruled that it could include intentional acts if the damages “were not objectively intended or expected by the insured.”

Background

Jerry and Karen Slack alleged that they hired contractor Jeffrey Fisher and his company, Fisher

Individuals and businesses engaging in insurance fraud can face significant civil penalties under various state and federal laws, including in appropriate cases under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The financial penalties that can result, however, may not truly be a deterrent for judgment-proof defendants.

Criminal laws—with the possibility of prison time—clearly can

A foreign national with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics can obtain an O-1 visa to enter the United States and work in their field of expertise.  Due to the annual numerical cap set by Congress on the number of workers that can obtain an H-1B visa for workers in specialty

U.S. Supreme Court Holds That ERISA Pre-empts Vermont Law Requiring Health Plan Disclosures

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a Vermont law that required disclosure to a Vermont state agency of payments relating to health care claims and other information relating to health care services was pre-empted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act

“Broadband Internet access service” (BIAS) is the essential conduit for the conduct of our daily personal and private lives, without which all Internet activity comes to a stop. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission recently referred to BIAS as “the most significant communications technology of today.”1 Nevertheless, because BIAS is the road on which Internet traffic

Introduction

Established the by Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Shared Savings Program was designed to provide better care for individuals, better health for populations, and lower growth in expenditures through the investment in infrastructure and redesigned care delivery.¹Early in the development of the Shared Savings Program, it was apparent that such arrangements,

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has ruled, in response to a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, that, where two workers’ compensation insurance policies provided coverage for the same loss, an insured could not elect which of its insurers was to defend and indemnify the claim by intentionally

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that because incorporation of an allegedly defective ingredient into supplement tablets did not damage other property and did not result in loss of use of property, there was no “property damage.”

The Case

Wisconsin Pharmacal Company supplied a daily probiotic feminine supplement to a major retailer. The supplement was

An appellate court in South Carolina has ruled that a pollution exclusion precluded coverage for a homeowner’s lawsuit against a public service district seeking to recover damages he alleged had been caused by offensive sewage odors.

The Case

A South Carolina homeowner filed a complaint against the East Richland County Public Service District for inverse

The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that personal injury claims allegedly arising from lead poisoning due to lead-based paint ingestion were excluded from coverage pursuant to an absolute pollution exclusion in a commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurance policy covering residential rental property.

The Case

A landlord was sued for injuries the plaintiff’s daughter allegedly sustained

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, applying Georgia law in an asbestos coverage dispute, has adopted a “pro rata” approach to determining the responsibility of insurance carriers for indemnity and defense costs and has ruled that the insured – not the insurers – was responsible for an insolvent insurer’s obligations.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has published a proposed rule that would amend 42 CFR Part 2 (commonly referred to as “Part 2”) which governs confidentiality of drug and alcohol abuse patient records. Part 2 was last revised in