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Illinois Supreme Court Affirms BIPA Lawsuits Are Covered by GL Policies

By Jim Davis, Debra R. Bernard & Bradley Dlatt

June 1, 2021

Businesses operating in Illinois have faced thousands of lawsuits arising under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), leading to hundreds of cases and related insurance claims. Insurance companies have aggressively denied coverage for these claims and filed litigation seeking court approval of their denials, forcing policyholders into a two-front legal war. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a major victory for businesses facing BIPA lawsuits, holding that a BIPA lawsuit alleging a wrongful sharing…

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States Split on Key Issues—Federal Courts Disregard State Interpretations of the Law

By Norton Cutler

February 2, 2021

It is time for a new-year’s update on the ongoing thousands of cases on COVID-19 Business Interruption (BI) insurance. Even though the carriers have declared victory, numerous issues are still up in the air with conflicting state decisions; the carriers have set significant reserves; and we shall see what the new year will bring.…

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Insurer Files Goldilocks Motion to Dismiss and Insureds Get First Unqualified Win

By Norton Cutler

October 28, 2020

Insurance carriers have filed over 100 motions to dismiss in the more than 1,000 business interruption (BI) cases already filed that seek coverage for losses from COVID-19. All of these motions to dismiss allege that the insureds have not, under the standards of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009), and Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007), alleged enough facts to prove damage or structural alteration to their property, which…

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Now for the Main Event: [Litigation Over] the Virus Exclusion and Civil Authority

By Norton Cutler

October 6, 2020

Several decisions and numerous pending motions filed during the last few weeks have transitioned the litigation over COVID-19 Business-Interruption (BI) claims from what seemed like a preliminary event, namely the quarrel over whether COVID-19 contamination is property damage, to what may well turn out to be the main event: the meaning of the various exclusions for pollution, contamination, and microorganisms that insurers have cited when denying claims. Many BI policies have exclusions for viruses, but…

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FCA Case Provides a Win for Policyholders and Vindicates the Concept of Expedited Generalized Rulings for Small Businesses

By Jim Davis & Norton Cutler

September 22, 2020

As previously reported in this blog, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought a case against a variety of insurers under 21 policy wordings seeking clarification of sample clauses because the carriers refused to pay any U.K. claims relating to COVID-19 business interruptions largely for hospitality businesses. The policyholders seem to have won most of the coverage issues, and indeed the carriers have announced that they would book significant losses. The basic issues involved the…

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The Fat Lady Has Not Sung Yet

By Norton Cutler

September 8, 2020

In the last few weeks, since our last blog on this topic, another 50 cases have been filed seeking recovery of business-interruption losses from COVID-19. These include a case brought on behalf of adult entertainment clubs shut down by the virus-related closure orders (Rialto Pockets, et al v. Lloyd’s of London, Civ. No. 2:2020cv07709 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2020)), and a case claiming that covered governmental negligence in stopping COVID-19 caused the…

Tech Risk Report

COVID-19 Business Interruption Litigation: Lessons Learned So Far

By Norton Cutler, Jim Davis & Bradley Dlatt

August 18, 2020

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of businesses of all sizes have been forced to file lawsuits against their property insurers for failing to honor their contractual obligations to provide business interruption, extra expense, civil authority, and other coverage for the substantial losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this onslaught of litigation has produced little progress thus far, leaving hundreds of business-owner plaintiffs and thousands more interested outside observers waiting for the…

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Higher Education COVID-19 Losses: Property and Business Interruption Insurance Policies Should Provide Relief

By Jim Davis, Norton Cutler, Bradley Dlatt & Emily Craven

August 5, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions of higher education are facing significant revenue challenges and incurring extra expenses for which their insurance programs should provide relief. Potentially covered sources of loss and damage include (1) efforts to make buildings safe for students, faculty, staff, and administrators, (2) tuition adjustments, loss of athletic and extra-curricular events revenue and related sponsorships, and (3) extra expenses and/or lost revenue related to student housing issues.…

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On the Discoverability of Virtual Meetings

By Jonathan G. Hardin & Ryan Parietti

July 13, 2020

In 1964, futurist Arthur C. Clarke predicted that in 50 years, people “will no longer commute—they will communicate.” For a significant portion of the American workforce, the future is now. COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how we communicate: The virtual meeting is suddenly our primary means of interaction with coworkers. Video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco’s WebEx have seen unprecedented spikes in active users. As companies transition from triage to planning for the…

Tech Risk Report

UK COVID-19 Business Interruption Disputes Process May Offer Guidance to US Policyholders

By Norton Cutler, Jim Davis & Bradley Dlatt

July 6, 2020

The insurance industry in the United States continues to thwart legislative solutions for disputed COVID-19-related losses under property/business interruption policies and resists efforts to group lawsuits together into multi-district federal litigation or class actions. Meanwhile, the independent regulator of insurers in the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is trying to take a more organized and direct approach. Although the FCA indicated that it did not believe coverage existed for most claims for COVID-19-related…

Tech Risk Report

Protecting Innovative Companies Against 21st Century Risks

Blog Authors

Illinois Supreme Court Affirms BIPA Lawsuits Are Covered by GL Policies

States Split on Key Issues—Federal Courts Disregard State Interpretations of the Law

Insurer Files Goldilocks Motion to Dismiss and Insureds Get First Unqualified Win

Now for the Main Event: [Litigation Over] the Virus Exclusion and Civil Authority

FCA Case Provides a Win for Policyholders and Vindicates the Concept of Expedited Generalized Rulings for Small Businesses

The Fat Lady Has Not Sung Yet

COVID-19 Business Interruption Litigation: Lessons Learned So Far

Higher Education COVID-19 Losses: Property and Business Interruption Insurance Policies Should Provide Relief

On the Discoverability of Virtual Meetings

UK COVID-19 Business Interruption Disputes Process May Offer Guidance to US Policyholders

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