Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Florida’s Citizens Defends Plan to Consider Higher Rates on New Business

May 18 2012 // Facing protests from consumers and state officials, Florida’s state-run homeowners insurer has found itself defending a proposal to increase rates for new customers above a legislative cap placed on current...

China Broker CNinsure Announces Changes to Board of Directors

May 18 2012 // CNinsure Inc. an independent insurance intermediary company operating in China, announced that the board of directors of the Company has appointed Yunxiang Tang as an independent director of the Board and Yongwei Ma has...

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf Lawyers Join DLA Piper Hong Kong Office

May 18 2012 // The DLA Piper law firm announced that a group of lawyers led by partners Joyce Chan and Heng Loong Cheong will join its Hong Kong office from Dewey & LeBoeuf. The move signals yet another step in the meltdown of that...

Safety Inspections Don’t Hurt Businesses; Do Lower Workers’ Comp Costs: Study

May 17 2012 // Random inspections of U.S. industrial workplaces lower the risk of workers being injured on the job and have no measurable negative effect on the companies inspected, according to a study in the journal Science. Companies...

Judge: New York AG Must Decide on Revealing Spitzer’s Emails on AIG

May 17 2012 // New York’s Attorney General must review his predecessor’s private emails relating to a probe of American International Group Inc. and decide whether to release them to the public, a state judge has ruled. The...

Group Urges N.Y. to Overhaul Regulation of Force-Placed Insurance

May 17 2012 // The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group, today called on New York regulators to become a national leader in overhauling regulation of force-placed insurance (FPI) for...

The Industry’s Role in Cutting Down Crooked Contractors

May 17 2012 // Approximately one year ago, on Sunday, May 22 at about 5:30 p.m., Joplin, Mo. was devastated by a massive EF 5 tornado that at times was one mile wide and traveled on the ground for more than 20 miles. This storm,...

Missouri House Approves Bill on Suing Co-Workers

May 16 2012 // Missouri lawmakers likely will not pass any legislation moving claims related to deadly work-related diseases into the workers’ compensation system, Senate Majority Leader Tom Dempsey said. The state Legislature will...

Illinois Governor Mulls Executive Order on Insurance Exchange

May 16 2012 // Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn may use an executive order to establish a health insurance exchange, a website where consumers could comparison shop for insurance that’s a key piece of President Barack Obama’s health...

Court Ruling in Georgia Upholds School’s Use of Publication Excerpts

May 16 2012 // A federal judge sided with Georgia State University on a range of copyright infringement claims filed by three publishing houses in a ruling that administrators said could set an important precedent for how educational...

Pro-Gun Advocates Claim Victory in Oklahoma Session

May 15 2012 // Advocates for expanded gun rights in Oklahoma are claiming success in the 2012 legislative session after the passage of several pro-gun measures, including one that allows permit holders to openly carry firearms. The...

Judge Dismisses Part of Lawsuit Over Birds Point Levee

May 15 2012 // A federal judge has dismissed a large portion of a class-action lawsuit brought by more than 140 southeast Missouri farmers whose land was damaged when Birds Point levee was intentionally breached last year. Judge Nancy B....

Judge Denies Delay of BofA Directors’ $20 Million Settlement Over Merrill

May 15 2012 // A U.S. federal judge in New York on Monday refused to delay the approval process for a controversial $20 million settlement between Bank of America Corp. directors and shareholders who accused the bank of overpaying for...

New Law in Oklahoma Toughens Penalties for Insurance Fraud

May 14 2012 // A bill recently passed and signed by the governor toughens the penalties for insurance fraud, state officials say. Senate Bill 1439, requested by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak, is expected to save taxpayers...

R.I. Court Rules on Designated Drivers’ Liability

May 14 2012 // Rhode Island’s Supreme Court has ruled that designated drivers are not responsible for what their drunken passengers do after giving them rides. Last Thursday’s ruling involved a 2005 crash in Scituate that...

New York Judge Orders Anonymous Blogger into Court Over Business Reports

May 14 2012 // A New York judge has ordered an anonymous blogger to appear in court next week over accusations that the blog Alfredlittle.com wrote false reports about a Chinese company to drive down the stock. The blogger was served...

Schwab Loses Bid to Halt Regulatory Discipline Over Right to Sue

May 13 2012 // A federal court judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit by Charles Schwab Corp. that sought to stop its regulator from bringing a disciplinary case against the company for trying to take away customers’ rights to sue it...

Judge to Insurer: Pay Legal Fees in Pending Insider Trading Fraud Case

May 11 2012 // A federal judge said during a court hearing in New York on Thursday he is prepared to order an insurance company to keep paying the legal fees of several former hedge fund managers and traders caught up in an insider...

Judge: Mississippi Lawyer Owes Diet Drug Claimants $600K

May 10 2012 // A judge has ruled that a Jackson attorney owes two former clients a combined $600,000 from more than $4.5 million in attorney fees he received in a diet drug settlement case dating to the early 2000s. The Clarion-Ledger...

Florida Looks to Fix Loophole in PIP Reform Law

May 9 2012 // Florida regulators are scrambling to fix a loophole in the state’s new auto no-fault insurance law that could affect medical payments to health care providers and trigger a spate of lawsuits against the law. Florida...