Law Advice

LAKELAND, Fla. – There are material questions of fact regarding whether an insurer and its insured dispute the amount of loss arising from Hurricane Charley or a denial of coverage, a Florida appeals panel ruled Feb. 1, finding that a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer was premature (Rosamma Panjikaran [...]

SAN DIEGO – Two commercial fisheries cannot recover premiums for lawfully issued insurance policies, even where those policies were possibly bundled with others underwritten by nonadmitted insurers, a California appeals court held Jan. 30 (M&F Fishing Inc., et al. v. Sea-Pac Insurance Managers Inc., et al., No. D056098, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 1; 2012 [...]

LOS ANGELES – A California appeals court on Jan. 30 in an unpublished decision reversed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit over health care premiums, finding that the trial court improperly dismissed claims brought under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) (Amalia Corona Lample v. California Physicians’ Service, No. B231849, Calif. App., 2nd Dist., Div. [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Because a federal judge erred in finding that a disputed patent could be found novel over prior art cited by defendant Ford Motor Co., the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 27 reversed findings of validity and remanded for a judgment of nonliability (Jacob Krippelz Sr. v. Ford Motor Company, [...]

LOS ANGELES – A judge improperly found that Kmart Corp.’s bankruptcy discharged a man’s asbestos claims because the record contains no evidence of the ascertainability of the claim when the company filed for bankruptcy, a California appeals court held Jan. 25 (Rachel Flores, et al v. Kmart Corp., No. B229109, Calif. App., 2nd Dist., Div. [...]

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Supreme Court on Jan. 24 overturned a judgment for a woman injured in a trip and fall accident on a municipality’s sidewalk, concluding that the deviation on the walkway did not present an unreasonable risk of harm (Arlene Chambers v. Village of Moreauville, No. 2011-C-898, La. Sup.; 2012 La. LEXIS [...]

In an obscure insurance fraud case that grew into a federal courthouse spectacle, the 9th Circuit has held that a party to a joint-defense agreement doesn’t unilaterally waive privilege for the other person by lodging an ineffective-assistance of counsel claim. View full post on Law.com – Newswire

SAN FRANSISCO – The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 20 reversed a lower court’s ruling that technology liability and commercial general liability insurers’ duty to defend its insured terminated, further finding that the lower court erroneously found that an excess insurer had a duty to defend (National Union Fire Insurance Company of [...]

VENTURA, Calif. – There are issues of material fact regarding primary and excess insurers’ intent in entering into a tender agreement, a California appeals panel ruled Jan. 24, reversing a lower court’s orders in favor of the excess insurer in a dispute over $ 3.5 million that the primary insurer paid to settle a lawsuit [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A California federal judge did not err in deeming a disputed patent invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S. Code Section 101, but the same cannot be said for findings that a related patent is noninfringed, according to a Jan. 20 ruling by a divided Federal Circuit U.S. Court of [...]