Insurance Law

Which Justices Dominated Oral Arguments on Insurance Mandate? Blog Tallies the Lines

Conservative justices dominated the first half of oral arguments Tuesday on the health care law’s insurance mandate, accounting for 75 percent of the debate, while liberals dominated the second half, doing 85 percent of the talking, according to a blog analysis of lines in the transcript. And two justices spoke…

Mar 30, 2012 11:22 AM CDT

Liberals Appear ‘Taken Aback, Angry’ in Medicaid Arguments; Will Court Redefine Federal Power?

Justice Clarence Thomas continued his six-year streak of silence as arguments on the health care law wrapped up Wednesday afternoon. Others were not so reluctant. “Lawyers call a lively group of judges a ‘hot bench,’ ” the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. “This one was scorching.” On Wednesday afternoon,…

Mar 29, 2012 11:59 AM CDT

Are Five Justices Ready to Ditch the Whole Health Care Law? Clues Sought in Severability Debate

Justice Antonin Scalia offered differing views this morning on whether other provisions of the Obama administration’s health care law can stand if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the insurance mandate. At one point, Scalia said, it “just couldn’t be right” that the entire law would have to fall if…

Mar 28, 2012 5:07 PM CDT

Insurer’s Tape of Roadside Phone Call Gets Charges Against Policyholder Dismissed

Stopped by the side of the road in Coral Springs, Fla. last October, a 59-year-old woman initially had only two flat tires to deal with, caused, she admits, by bumping the median of the road with her vehicle. But after an off-duty city police officer in a marked car stopped…

Mar 28, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

In Health Law ‘Doubleheader,’ Supreme Court to Weigh Severability, Medicaid Expansion

The Obama administration will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court today that two other parts of the health law must fall if the insurance mandate is struck down. The arguments on severability take place this morning, while the court will consider the law’s Medicaid expansion in an “afternoon finale,” Fox…

Mar 28, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Will Administration Get Fifth Vote to Uphold Health Care Law? Maybe Not, Arguments Suggest

Oral arguments on the Obama administration’s health care law did not start out well today for Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. He faced tough questioning as justices suggested that upholding the law’s health insurance mandate could lead to a slippery slope, according to the Los Angeles Times, the New York…

Mar 27, 2012 5:04 PM CDT

Where Do Lawyers Prepare for Health Care ‘Endurance Contest’? A Law School and Possibly a Lunchroom

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. will be squaring off against Paul Clement in health care arguments this week for the second time on health issues since November 2003, when Clement was deputy solicitor general. How are they preparing this time around? In the 2003 case, Verrilli, then a lawyer at…

Mar 26, 2012 1:14 PM CDT

6 More Dewey & LeBoeuf Partners Plan to Exit, Including Insurance Practice Leaders

Six more partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf have announced their planned exit. They include James Dwyer, who is in charge of the firm’s Chicago office; John Pruitt and Cynthia Shoss, who jointly run the firm’s insurance regulatory department; Jeffrey Mace, who oversees the Lloyd’s of London practice; and two tax…

Mar 23, 2012 9:08 PM CDT

Insurance Agent Gets Jail Time for Selling Annuity to Elderly Woman; He Denies Recognizing Dementia

Updated: A California insurance agent has been convicted of felony theft and sentenced to jail for selling an annuity with an early withdrawal penalty to an elderly woman, despite, prosecutors say, her apparent dementia. The agent, Glenn Neasham, was sentenced to 90 days in jail last month in a case…

Mar 20, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

12 Partners Exit Dewey LeBoeuf for Willkie Farr, Including 3 Practice Group Leaders

Updated: Dewey & LeBoeuf, which has already seen at least 18 of its 300 or so partners exit in the first two months of 2012, is now losing another 12. Headed to Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the latest departing partner group includes John Schwolsky, who served as co-chair of the…

Mar 19, 2012 1:50 PM CDT

Buffalo, NY, Law Firm Plants Flag in London, Puts British Insurance Lawyer at Helm

A Northeast regional law firm headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., is opening a new office in London. Goldberg Segalla announced today that the new outpost will be operating as of April, according to Buffalo Business First. Clive O’Connell, who previously served as chief of the commercial risk and reinsurance department at…

Mar 13, 2012 8:26 PM CDT

Plaintiff Challenging Health Insurance Mandate Lists Unpaid Medical Bills in Bankruptcy Filing

A plaintiff who is challenging the insurance mandate in President Obama’s health care law is being held up as a symbol of why the law is necessary. The plaintiff, Mary Brown, filed for bankruptcy with her husband last fall, listing $4,500 in unpaid medical bills as part of their debt,…

Mar 9, 2012 3:31 PM CST

Whether or Not the Biggest in Calif. History, $8.9M Worker’s Comp Settlement Is ‘Pretty Darn Large’

An $8.9 million structured worker’s compensation settlement he negotiated on behalf of a young painter severely injured in a fall from a scaffold may be the biggest in California history, says attorney Christopher Asvar. Others confirm that the amount is, as a spokeswoman for the carrier that must ante up,…

Mar 8, 2012 12:04 AM CST

City of Portland, Ore., Sues Insurer to Recover In-House Defense Costs of $1.5M

Saying that the use of its own in-house city attorneys to fight employment-related claims conferred a benefit to its insurance carrier, the city of Portland, Ore., has filed suit against its former liability insurer. Filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the suit seeks reimbursement of nearly $1.5 million Portland…

Mar 6, 2012 9:37 PM CST

Limbaugh Bashes 3L for Backing Contraceptive Coverage; She Fires Back for his ‘Attack on All Women’

Updated: Rush Limbaugh is questioning the morals of a Georgetown law student backing contraceptive insurance coverage at religious institutions. During his radio show on Wednesday, Limbaugh criticized Sandra Fluke, the 3L barred from testifying at a congressional hearing on the issue last month, according to the ABC News blog The…

Mar 2, 2012 1:17 PM CST