Insurance Law

Art Mystery: Who Owns the Tiny Renoir Purchased for $7 at Flea Market?

A small Renoir painting that was purchased in a “$7 box of junk” at a West Virginia flea market is at the center of a brewing ownership dispute now that evidence has surfaced that the work was stolen. The painting, which was set for an auction since cancelled because of…

Oct 1, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Taking the Pulse of the Health Act: States Weigh Whether to Opt Out of the Newly Approved Law

The U.S. Supreme Court may have warmed some hearts when it allowed most of the 2010 federal health care reform law to stand, but the June 28 decision clunked big-time in many statehouses and with one presidential campaign. As the election approaches, Republican governors and other state officials have cast…

Oct 1, 2012 7:40 AM CDT

Cozen O’Connor Announces New Chief, Discusses Plans for Future Growth

Once thought of as an insurance coverage powerhouse run by its name partners, Cozen O’Connor culminated years of expansion and development with a Tuesday announcement that a former chairman of its business law practice group has been elevated to the BigLaw firm’s top job. Effective Jan. 1 of next year,…

Sep 25, 2012 4:34 PM CDT

NFL Sues Insurers, Saying They Have Duty to Defend Brain Injury Claims

Dozens of insurance companies have not met their obligation to defend the National Football League in brain injury claims, the organization claimed in a Los Angeles Superior Court action filed Wednesday. The defendants include virtually every major insurer in the country, Reuters reports. According to the complaint, the NFL has…

Aug 16, 2012 6:10 PM CDT

UK Insurers Mull Taking Work In-House and Setting Up Their Own Law Firms as Latest Cost-Cutting Move

After a change ushered in with the United Kingdom’s Legal Services Act allowing nonattorneys to have an ownership interest in law firms, a number of insurance companies are planning to either bring legal work in-house or set up their own law firms as a cost-cutting move, a study has found.…

Aug 15, 2012 5:13 PM CDT

Some Life Insurers Agree to Seek Out Beneficiaries of Unpaid Policies, and More May Soon Do So

Life insurance policies require beneficiaries to make a claim to collect the money that is due to them, and for more than a century that is the only way benefits generally got paid. But that practice is changing, due in part to the ease of using computerized technology to cross-check…

Aug 13, 2012 10:53 PM CDT

Top Calif. Court OKs ‘Stacking’ of Policy Limits, State Could Get $60M More for Waste Site Cleanup

In a long-awaited ruling (PDF) that could add another $60 million to the $120 million the state of California previously got from other insurers, the California Supreme Court on Thursday OK’d the “stacking” of liability policy limits for a hazardous waste site cleanup. “In cases such as this it is…

Aug 9, 2012 10:15 PM CDT

What Regs Apply if Humans Meet ET? Can Asteroid Miners Profit? Space Lawyers Seek Answers

Should humans who meet extraterrestrials be quarantined? Who pays if satellites fall to the ground, hurting people or damaging property? Space lawyers are raising the issues and providing the answers. Space lawyers really do exist, and their practice has real-life consequences, Fast Company reports. “Depending on whether the space lawyer…

Aug 9, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Risk Averse: Insurance Firm Looks Askance at ‘Pot Lawyers’

When Denver attorney Ann Toney opened a letter from her malpractice insurance carrier, she was met with an unpleasant surprise: “Firm does not meet current underwriting guidelines because of the following risk factors: area of practice involving medical marijuana” read a portion of the nonrenewal notice she received from Hanover…

Aug 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

Fed’l Judge Nixes SEC Suit, Says SIPC Not Liable for Bank CDs Bought by Victims of Stanford Swindle

A federal judge district court judge in Washington, D.C., has sided with the Securities Investor Protection Corp. in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to provide some reimbursement to the victims of the $6 billion to $7 billion Ponzi scheme overseen by R.…

Jul 3, 2012 5:12 PM CDT

Picking a Winner: How to Identify Great Contingency Cases

Podcast Transcript: This ABA Journal podcast is brought to you by WestlawNext, the most advanced technology combined with market-leading content and West’s history of trusted editorial excellence. Helping legal professionals save time is what they’ve been doing for over 125 years. Learn more at WestlawNext.com. Stephanie Francis Ward: If you…

Jul 2, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Solicitor General’s Third Backup Argument Is a Winner in Health Law Case

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. surprised many court watchers on Thursday when he joined with the court’s more liberal justices to uphold the Obama administration’s health care law and its insurance mandate. Roberts wrote (PDF) that Congress had the authority to adopt the mandate—which requires most Americans to purchase…

Jun 28, 2012 2:10 PM CDT

Top Pa. Court Disbars Ex-Judge Convicted in Auto Insurance Fraud; Civil Suit Says Judge Is Victim

A retired Pennsylvania judge who at last report was serving a 46-month federal prison sentence after being convicted in a $440,000 auto insurance fraud case has been disbarred. In a brief order (PDF) attaching an earlier Disciplinary Board report, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday imposed the disbarment on Michael…

Jun 18, 2012 7:40 PM CDT

Lawyer Loses License for 1 Year, Represented Both Wife Suspected of Arson and Husband in Fire Claim

A longtime Kansas lawyer has been suspended from practice for one year, due in part to his concurrent representation of two spouses. One (the wife) was a suspect in a criminal arson investigation concerning the couple’s home and had been videotaped purchasing accelerants on the day of the fire, according…

May 18, 2012 5:19 PM CDT

Tipped Authorities Charge 20 in Fire Insurance Fraud, Say That Defendants Reused Same Sooty Items

It’s ordinarily hard to prove a fire insurance fraud. But prosecutors in a South Florida case will be able to rely on photographic evidence that the claimed perpetrators reused the same thrift-store furniture in claim after claim. The Miami New Times Riptide blog includes several examples of seemingly identical furniture—and,…

May 17, 2012 9:55 PM CDT