Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lehman Executives, Auditor Must Defend Investor Lawsuit, Judge Rules
Jul 27 2011 // Former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. executives, directors, auditors and underwriters on Wednesday lost their bid to dismiss an investor lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for losses tied to the investment...
Conn. Demands Unemployment Payments from Businesses
Jul 27 2011 // Tens of thousands of businesses in Connecticut are receiving bills from the state to pay $30 million in interest this year for state borrowing from the federal government for unemployment insurance benefits. About 73,000...
North Carolina House Joins Senate to Override Veto of Malpractice Cap
Jul 27 2011 // Victims of North Carolina doctors guilty of medical malpractice will be limited to $500,000 what they can collect for pain, suffering and lost body parts under legislation the state House passed into law over a veto by...
Alaska Joins State Surplus Lines Coalition
Jul 26 2011 // Members of the Non-Admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement coalition are proud to welcome Alaska to the NIMA group. Insurance Director Linda Hall signed on behalf of Alaska, which collected $109 million in excess and...
California WC Appeals Board Takes Back Physician Ruling
Jul 26 2011 // Just a few months after the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board ruled that a non-approved physician’s report cannot be used to support workers’ compensation eligibility, it is reconsidering...
Judge Blasts West Virginia Medical Damages Cap
Jul 25 2011 // A West Virginia judge who helped West Virginia’s Supreme Court hear a recent medical malpractice case is blasting the outcome. First Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson dissented sharply on Friday with last month’s...
MetLife to Sell Banking Unit to Avoid ‘Too Big To Fail’ Regulation
Jul 22 2011 // MetLife, the largest life insurance company in the United States, has put its banking operations up for sale to avoid the “too big to fail” regulatory scrutiny that analysts have said was likely. MetLife said...
Ready or Not, New Surplus Lines Law Is Here
Jul 21 2011 // The implementation deadline for the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act has arrived. States have been scrambling over the past year to update surplus lines laws that will conform with NRRA requirements, while agents and...
U.S. Judge Allows Shareholder Suits Against China Accountants
Jul 21 2011 // The fourth time was the charm for shareholders suing the auditors of Shenzhen-based China Expert Technology. China Expert shareholders have been trying unsuccessfully to sue the company’s accounting firms for failing...
Good Morning NRRA! Home State Scenarios for Affiliated Groups
Jul 21 2011 // Welcome to the magical mystery tour of Home State taxation and regulation under Nonadmitted Insurance and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA). The NRRA went live at 12:01 a.m., July 21, 2011, in all time zones. You may...
Canada’s Reformed Class Action Law Wins Few Friends
Jul 20 2011 // A Canadian law designed to make it easier to bring class action suits against companies that mislead investors has all sides frustrated as it faces its first real-world tests. Changes to the Ontario Securities Act that...
California Surplus Lines Bill Signed Into Law
Jul 20 2011 // California passed legislation this week that will allow the state to implement provisions in a new federal surplus lines insurance law. The federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA), which becomes...
Massachusetts Judge: Obsolete Fire-Suppression Means No Claims Paid
Jul 20 2011 // A Massachusetts restaurant owner who failed to upgrade his obsolete fire suppression system was not entitled to collect insurance money after a massive fire six years ago — and must return $15,000 advanced to him by his...
Mississippi Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against Scruggs Book Authors
Jul 20 2011 // A Lafayette County, Mississippi circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a former federal prosecutor and a political blogger over a book they co-wrote about the judicial corruption case involving former attorney...
U.S. Judge Permits Toyota Appeal in California
Jul 20 2011 // A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Toyota Motor Corp. lawyers could appeal a previous ruling allowing consumers without sudden-acceleration claims to join litigation before a Santa Ana, California, court. The ruling by...
South Dakota Is Sixth State to Join Surplus Lines Coalition
Jul 18 2011 // South Dakota has joined the Non-Admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA) coalition. Insurance Director Merle Scheiber signed the agreement on behalf of South Dakota, which collected nearly $29 million in excess and...
Judge Says $200M Los Angeles Train Cash Award Falls Short
Jul 18 2011 // The judge deciding how to divide $200 million among victims of a deadly Los Angeles County train crash in 2008 says it will fall far short of all the requests he received. Attorneys for the victims had requested between...
Virginia Judge Nixes Part of $1 Billion Fly Ash Lawsuit
Jul 18 2011 // A group of Chesapeake residents plans to refile a $1 billion lawsuit against Dominion Virginia Power after a judge dismissed claims that fly ash used to build a golf course harmed their health and property. The lawsuit was...
Mississippi Supreme Court Halts Asbestos Case Over Trial Judge
Jul 18 2011 // The Mississippi Supreme Court has halted all proceedings in an asbestos case until it determines whether the trial judge should have stepped down. The case resulted in a $322 million verdict. In an order signed Tuesday,...
Judge Tosses Racketeering Claims vs. BP Over Oil Spill
Jul 18 2011 // BP Plc won two legal victories Friday, as a federal judge threw out racketeering claims made by the lead plaintiffs suing over last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and also set aside a lawsuit by partner Anadarko...
