Applying North Dakota law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has held that an insurance policy issued to a parent company and several of its commonly owned affiliates did not provide coverage for a lawsuit against the owner of the companies and one of the insured subsidiaries for breach of a noncompetition covenant in an asset purchase agreement.  Mau v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., — F.3d –, 2018 WL 6379281 …

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, applying Virginia law, has held that a professional liability policy’s exclusion for “negligent supervision” of funds applied to bar coverage for damages resulting from an insured attorney’s reckless investment of trust assets.  ALPS Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Farthing, 2018 WL 4927366 (E.D. Va. Sept. 26, 2018).  The court also held that the insurer was entitled to recoup defense costs paid…

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held that three claims brought by a resident against a condominium owners’ association for alleged discrimination and retaliation involved related wrongful acts and therefore are properly treated as a single Claim deemed first made during the claims-made policy period when the first such claim was asserted. Great Am. Ins. Co. v. State Parkway Condo. Ass’n et al., 2018 WL 433623 (N.D. Ill. Sept. …

The Supreme Court of Montana has held that a Montana statute allowing insurers to “prevent a recovery” under an insurance policy in certain circumstances, including when the insured made misrepresentations or omissions in its application, does not provide a right to rescind the policy ab initio.  ALPS Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. McLean & McLean, PLLP, 2018 WL 3737950 (Mont. Aug. 7, 2018).  The court also held that an innocent insured attorney had…

In a case that was briefed and argued by Wiley Rein in the trial court and on appeal, along with Fox Rothschild LLP as Delaware local counsel, the Delaware Supreme Court held that Texas law applies to a comprehensive insurance program issued to a Texas corporation and its subsidiaries nationwide.  The Travelers Indemnity Company v. CNH Industrial America, LLC, No. 420, 2017 (Del. July 16, 2018).  The Court reversed a decision of the Superior…

In a case that was briefed and argued for the primary carrier by Wiley Rein at the trial court level and on appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit unanimously affirmed summary judgment on behalf of the insurers where the insured bank concealed key facts concerning a government investigation until the eve of settlement, holding that the insured failed to provide timely notice of a Claim or adequate notice of a potential…

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado, applying Massachusetts law, has held that an insurer had a duty to defend an entire suit against an au pair sponsor because the negligent misrepresentation claim asserted in that suit fell within the scope of the policy’s insuring agreement and could stand independent from other claims that were excluded from coverage by a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exclusion and an intentional conduct exclusion.  Cultural …