Latest Lawsuits Headlines
All the headlines from our Lawsuits Topic Page, ordered by recency.
N. D. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Fargo Insurance Company
Feb 2 2007 // A North Dakota judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to change the way one of the state’s largest insurance companies picks its board of directors. Northwest District Judge Douglas Mattson of Minot ruled against...
St. Paul Travelers Settles Stun-Gun Suit Against Pa. Suburb
Feb 2 2007 // A Pittsburgh suburb’s former insurance carrier paid $100,000 to an ex-pizzeria owner who sued the municipality after being subdued by police with a stun gun in 2005. Mount Lebanon police used a 50,000-volt Taser on...
Okla. Supreme Court Ruling Puts new Twist on Civil Liability Debate
Feb 2 2007 // For Dr. David Russell, an Enid radiologist and president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the debate over civil justice reform in Oklahoma isn’t about the politics that has kept many reform measures bottled...
Victims of Calif. Flooding Seek $1 Billion in Lawsuits
Feb 1 2007 // Victims of last winter’s flooding in Marin County, Calif., are seeking more than $1 billion in a suit filed against government agencies they blame for the devastation. Each of the 265 individuals and businesses named...
Arizona Lawmakers Move to Raise Burden of Proof on ER Suits
Jan 31 2007 // Hoping for a change of heart by Gov. Janet Napolitano, the Arizona Senate on Monday narrowly approved a medical malpractice bill to raise the bar on the legal burden of proof required for malpractice lawsuits involving...
Corporate Governance, Capital Drive D&O Liability Prices Down
Jan 30 2007 // Changing corporate governance practices and excess capital in the insurance market have made directors and officers (D&O) liability premiums drop in recent years, according to Advisen Ltd., a provider of analytics,...
Slip slidin’ away: The deterioration of the late notice defense
Jan 29 2007 // Through a series of opinions, courts seem to be gradually chipping away at insurer’s policy defenses based on late notice of claim or suit, or failure to forward suit papers. The new trend started when the Supreme...
Case Law Watch
Jan 29 2007 // Additional Insureds Alpha Holdings Ltd. v. Travelers Indemnity (California Court of Appeals, Second District, July 13, 2006) Ruling: This case involved a declaratory judgment action on insurance coverage under a...
Minn. boy sues parents over injuries in accident
Jan 29 2007 // Amy and Ted Harrison Sr. are being sued over a car crash that left their son permanently disabled, and they hope they lose the case now before the Minnesota Supreme Court. The plaintiff is their son, Teddy Harrison, who...
Enron’s legacies and directors and officers risk
Jan 29 2007 // Shortly after former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s Oct. 23, 2006, sentencing, the Enron Task Force said it was closing down, with its mission mostly complete. Yet did that event really signal an endpoint in the Enron...
Case Law Watch
Jan 29 2007 // Bad Faith (Mo. App. Jan. 4, 2007) Ruling: Attorneys fees were awarded under Missouri’s “Vexatious Refusal to Pay” statute. Insured brought suit against insurer for denial of homeowners coverage. In...
Slip slidin’ away: The deterioration of the late notice defense
Jan 28 2007 // Through a series of opinions, courts seem to be gradually chipping away at insurer’s policy defenses based on late notice of claim or suit, or failure to forward suit papers. The new trend started when the Supreme...
Enron’s legacies and directors and officers risk
Jan 28 2007 // Shortly after former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s Oct. 23, 2006, sentencing, the Enron Task Force said it was closing down, with its mission mostly complete. Yet did that event really signal an endpoint in the Enron...
Federal Judge Puts Part of State Farm Katrina Settlement on Hold
Jan 27 2007 // The federal judge who must sign off on a proposed $50 million class action settlement involving State Farm’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims has said he needs lots more information before agreeing to the deal...
State Farm Storm Surge Settlement Could Scare Insurers from Mississippi Market
Jan 26 2007 // A landmark legal settlement with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. promises to jump-start the rebuilding process for thousands of Mississippi homeowners devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but critics warn the deal could...
Ex-Pats’, Current Notre Dame Coach Files Suit Over Obesity Surgery
Jan 26 2007 // Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ medical malpractice lawsuit against two doctors involved in his near-fatal gastric bypass surgery is scheduled to start in Suffolk Superior Court next month. Weis had the surgery in...
R.I. High Court Throws Out Lawsuit Based on Bad Job Reference
Jan 24 2007 // Rhode Island’s highest court this week dismissed a lawsuit filed by a licensed nurse who sued her former boss over a bad job reference. Paula Kevorkian said Judith Glass, her former supervisor at the Pawtuxet Village...
State Farm Settles Miss. Katrina Lawsuits; Agrees to Reopen Other Miss. Claims
Jan 24 2007 // State Farm Insurance has agreed to settle a Mississippi class action brought by more than 600 policyholders involving property claims related to Hurricane Katrina and reopen thousands of additional Katrina claims. There is...
Mich. Court Orders $10 Million Settlement in Sterling Heights Suit
Jan 24 2007 // In a written opinion issued January 19, 2007, United States District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds of the Eastern District of Michigan has ordered United National Insurance Co. to pay the city of Sterling Heights over $10...
Ex-State Farm Adjusters Tell Miss. Grand Jury of Katrina Claims
Jan 23 2007 // A Mississippi grand jury probing State Farm Insurance Co.’s handling of claims after Hurricane Katrina heard testimony this week from two sisters who turned over reams of internal claims records to investigators...
