Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
‘Game Changer’: Florida Supreme Court Ruling Could Chill Punitive Damages Claims
Jan 13 2022 // Punitive damages, long the scourge of businesses named in lawsuits, and a tricky issue for insurers, may soon be much harder to come by in Florida after a recent opinion handed down by the state Supreme Court. “This...
Judge Denies Prince Andrew’s Bid to Avoid Sex Abuse Lawsuit Tied to Epstein
Jan 12 2022 // Prince Andrew failed to convince a judge to toss a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing a teenage girl decades ago. Virginia Giuffre claims the British royal was one of several powerful men to whom Jeffrey Epstein...
Judge: Lawsuit Against Flint, Michigan Water Contractor Can Proceed
Jan 12 2022 // A judge on Jan. 10 refused to dismiss a lawsuit against an engineering company, which is accused of not doing enough to stop the flow of lead-contaminated water in Flint in 2015. Four families are suing Veolia North...
Judge Gives Preliminary OK to Firm’s $34M ‘Forever Chemical’ Settlement in Vermont
Jan 12 2022 // A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $34 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against a chemical company over contamination of groundwater and soil in a southern Vermont community. Notices are going...
South Dakota Lawmakers Consider Recreational Marijuana Legalization
Jan 11 2022 // South Dakota lawmakers spent the last year figuring out what to do with two voter-approved measures to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana. While a medical program has been implemented, recreational pot...
California Lawmakers to Consider Universal Healthcare Proposal
Jan 11 2022 // California lawmakers will start debating whether to create the nation’s first universal health care system in a key measure of whether the proposal will muster the support it needs to pass this year — and be sent...
Kentucky Lawmakers Plan to Move Quickly on Tornado Recovery Package
Jan 11 2022 // Kentucky lawmakers, back in session, are planning to take up tornado-recovery legislation this week, with the goal of quickly distributing an initial round of assistance, House Speaker David Osborne said. The newly...
Michigan Judge Dismisses Gay Corrections Officers’ Suit
Jan 11 2022 // A federal judge in Michigan has tossed a lawsuit brought by two gay corrections officers, ruling that some of their discrimination claims weren’t sufficiently proven and that statutes of limitation barred...
Southeast Lawmakers Meet This Week with Comp, Captive and Property Insurance Bills on Their Plates
Jan 11 2022 // Legislatures in most Southern states convene this week and dozens of insurance-related bills are now in the hoppers. Here’s a look at some of the measures that have been filed, which could affect property and...
Kansas High Court Ruling Keeps Law Allowing COVID Lawsuits Alive
Jan 10 2022 // Kansas’ highest court on Jan. 7 kept intact a law that allows people to sue counties over mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions and obtain quick trial-court decisions. The Kansas Supreme Court declined to...
Federal Judge Divides Insurance Proceeds in Maine Fishing Boat Tragedy
Jan 7 2022 // A federal judge has divided almost $1 million in insurance proceeds between the families of four fishermen who died in 2020 when a fishing boat sank in high seas off the coast of Massachusetts. U.S. District Judge John...
Judge Tosses California Lawsuit of Man Who Was Nude Baby on Album Cover
Jan 6 2022 // A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit of a 30-year-old man who alleged that the image of him nude as a 4-month-old on the 1991 cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album is child pornography. Judge Fernando...
Judge Narrows SEC Claim vs Morningstar Over Undisclosed Bond Rating Changes
Jan 6 2022 // A U.S. judge on Wednesday narrowed but refused to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing Morningstar Inc. of letting analysts adjust credit rating models for about $30 billion of mortgage securities,...
Judge Approves Partial Settlement in 2018 Fatal Shooting by Kansas City Police
Jan 4 2022 // A federal judge has approved a partial settlement of a lawsuit filed by the parents of a man who was shot and killed by Kansas City police in 2018. Court records do not include the amount of the settlement paid to the...
Unfinished Business Awaits California Lawmakers
Jan 4 2022 // California lawmakers are flush with money and unfinished business from last year as they returned to the state Capitol on Monday, but they head into an election year rife with uncertainty due to the redrawing of...
Judges Send Iowa Tyson Workers’ Virus Lawsuit Back to State Court
Jan 4 2022 // A federal appeals court has ruled that Tyson Foods can’t claim it was operating under the direction of the federal government when it tried to keep its processing plants open as the coronavirus spread rapidly within...
Judge Orders Mediation for Purdue Pharma, Sacklers, States Over Opioid Settlement
Jan 4 2022 // A U.S. judge on Monday ordered mediation in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, calling for the company, the Sackler family members that own it and nine states to determine whether they can reach a new opioid litigation...
Judge Holds Skanska Negligent for Barge Damage During Florida Hurricane
Dec 30 2021 // A federal judge has found that Skanksa USA, part of one of the largest construction companies in the world, failed to secure its barges before a 2020 Florida hurricane hit. The ruling opens the door to hundreds of lawsuits...
Purdue Bankruptcy Judge Extends Sacklers’ Lawsuit Shield Until February
Dec 30 2021 // A bankruptcy judge has extended temporary protections against opioid-related litigation for the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma until Feb. 1 after another judge overturned the OxyContin maker’s...
Italian Judge Drops Case Against Unipol CEO Over Merger With Insurer Fondiaria
Dec 27 2021 // An Italian judge on Thursday dropped a case against the CEO of Unipol and six other people related to the 2013 merger between Italy’s second-largest insurer and smaller rival Fondiaria-SAI, a judicial document seen...
