The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, has held that a professional liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an employee of its insured realty management company where the underlying allegations were based on the employee’s alleged intentional conduct in circumventing an estate plan.  Those Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, Severally Subscribing to Policy No. MPL-0000343-01 v. Karris, 2021 WL 493038 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 10, 2021).…

A new presidential administration always brings changes that impact a broad spectrum of industries.  And the Biden Administration figures to be no exception.  There have been numerous thoughtful articles about how President Biden’s administration could reshape federal agencies’ priorities and impact various industries.  One such article, by my Wiley colleague Duane Pozza, focuses on the FTC.  Duane identified five areas that a Biden FTC is likely to prioritize.  Duane’s whole article is interesting…

The California Court of Appeal, applying California law, has held that two lawsuits arising from work performed by the same insured engineering firm on a housing development constitute related claims under the firm’s professional liability policies, and were thus subject to a single policy limit.  D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Co. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London Subscribing to Policy No. 146/LDUSA0700832, 2020 WL 7417409 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 18, 2020).…

The Missouri Court of Appeals, applying Missouri law, has held that multiple acts of negligence committed by a lawyer while representing a married couple in a lawsuit are related acts or omissions constituting a single claim under the law office’s professional liability policy, and thus were subject to a single limit of liability.  Stacy v. Bar Plan Mut. Ins. Co., 2021 WL 243515 (Mo. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2021).  The court also held…

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, applying Maryland law, has held that the professional services and managed care activity exclusions in a D&O policy did not bar coverage for a lawsuit against the insured healthcare facility where the underlying complaint included allegations concerning the insured’s business decisions.  Atlantic Healthcare v. Argonaut Ins. Co., 2021 WL 266281 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 27, 2021).  The court also held the prior acts…

The United States District Court for the Central District of California, applying California law, has ruled that an insurer could rescind a policy issued after a homeowners association falsely claimed in its application that it had not had any claims against it in the prior five years.  Atain Specialty Ins. Co. v. Lake Lindero Homeowners Ass’n, 2020 WL 7416169 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2020).  The Court concluded that the information withheld was material to…

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, applying Alabama law, has held that an insurer could not invoke a policy’s consent-to-settle requirement to avoid liability because the insurer refused to participate in settlement negotiations despite having notice of the negotiations, and thus had waived its right to challenge the settlement for lack of consent.  Granite State Ins. Co. v. New Way Out, Corp., 2021 WL 191637 (S.D. Ala. Jan. 19, 2021).…