Insurance Law

At Issue in Health Care Debate: Insurers Cancel When Policyholders Get Sick

When she developed aggressive breast cancer, a Texas nurse says, her insurer canceled her individual medical insurance policy. The purported reason was that she had failed to disclose information when she applied for the health coverage–she had once visited a dermatologist about her acne. Such stories of health coverage rescinded…

Jun 17, 2009 5:14 PM CDT

Dewey & LeBoeuf Sued for $3B on Behalf of Failed Insurer’s Policyholders

Dewey & LeBoeuf is facing a $3 billion suit that claims the law firm is liable for faulty legal advice given to General American Life Insurance when it was sold to MetLife—another insurer that soon became a law firm client. The suit (PDF posted by the Am Law Daily) targets…

Jun 2, 2009 11:47 AM CDT

Exerting Their Patients

Spate of lawsuits forces change in not-for-profit hospital billing

May 2, 2009 2:30 AM CDT

Former Employees Say Insurer May Have Paid Their Lawyer $5 Million

Did a major insurer make a $5 million payment to a law firm representing former employees against the company? That is the question that may soon finally be answered after more than five years of litigation between Prudential and some of the 359 employees who filed an earlier suit against…

Apr 21, 2009 12:52 AM CDT

Arbitrators Can Award Legal Fees Despite Dutch-Treat ADR Pact, 2nd Circuit Says

The arbitration agreement between two insurance companies called for each to bear its own costs to resolve a dispute. But that didn’t prevent the arbitration panel from awarding sanctions, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided. Overruling a federal trial judge on the sanctions issue,…

Apr 14, 2009 10:30 PM CDT

Feds Seize Madoff’s Yacht, as Owners of Less Expensive Watercraft Abandon Ship

As federal agents today seized a 55-foot yacht owned by convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, other owners of less expensive watercraft reportedly are abandoning ship on boats they can no longer afford to maintain. The yacht, described as a beautifully maintained custom-built antique by the owner of the South Florida…

Apr 1, 2009 10:37 PM CDT

‘Meatball Justice’ Creates World of Hurt for NY Workers’ Comp Claimants

A once-groundbreaking system of helping injured New York workers obtain treatment and reasonable compensation from their employers is now a struggling $5.5-billion-a-year state-run “subbasement of the legal world” in which delay and questionable results reportedly are commonplace. At some hearings of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, judges looked…

Apr 1, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Geithner to Propose Sweeping Regulations for Oversight of Financial System

Hedge funds would have to provide government reports on their operations, and large financial institutions would be subject to more oversight under sweeping regulations to be proposed today by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The plan would be the most significant regulatory expansion since banking and mortgage reforms instituted after the…

Mar 26, 2009 11:13 AM CDT

Paul Hastings Warned AIG of Double Liability for Failure to Pay Bonuses

Lawyers at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker warned AIG that it faced double liability if it failed to honor contractual obligations to pay bonuses. AIG confirmed that it was advised by Paul Hastings on bonus obligations, the American Lawyer reports. Hogan & Hartson lawyers were on hand when AIG chief…

Mar 24, 2009 12:10 PM CDT

WolfBlock Partners Vote to Dissolve; Many May Be Headed to Cozen O’Connor

After stunning news this morning that WolfBlock was on the verge of possible dissolution, the firm’s demise is now official. In a vote today, the partners decided to close the approximately 300-atttorney Philadelphia-based regional firm, reports Above the Law. While the firm, for which corporate real estate work has been…

Mar 23, 2009 9:03 PM CDT

AIG Lawyer Offers to Return $6.4M Bonus, Stations Guards at His Home

An AIG lawyer who was general counsel of the insurance company’s troubled financial products unit has offered to return his $6.4 million bonus, the largest amount handed out to company executives. The lawyer, Douglas Poling, is returning the bonus “because he thought it was the correct thing to do,” according…

Mar 20, 2009 12:16 PM CDT

Red-Light Cameras Could Soon Catch Insurance Scofflaws, Too

It wouldn’t be difficult for government officials to tweak red-light camera operations so that they also check violators’ license plates against automobile insurance records, says an official of a company seeking to sell an insurance-check service to the City of Chicago. And, eager to increase revenue in tough times, officials…

Mar 17, 2009 12:01 AM CDT

Luzerne, Pa., Arb Rules Change, as Judge Is Probed Over Panel Appointments

In an apparent expansion of an ongoing probe into judicial corruption in Pennsylvania, a federal grand jury in Scranton is now hearing testimony about uninsured and underinsured motorist arbitrations in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. A related investigation is also looking at the relationship between a Luzerne judge and a local…

Mar 16, 2009 11:04 PM CDT

Obama in ‘Tough Spot’ over Benefit Orders for Same-Sex Lawyer Couples

President Obama faces a difficult decision as he weighs how to respond to judicial orders requiring the federal government to pay insurance benefits to the same-sex spouses of two lawyers. Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the orders as…

Mar 13, 2009 12:40 PM CDT

5th Circuit Strikes Attorney Fee Award in Katrina Bad-Faith Case

An award of punitive damages and attorney fees in a bad-faith case against an insurance company has been overturned by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. was mistaken when it denied coverage for wind-based damage from Hurricane Katrina, wrongly attributing the…

Mar 13, 2009 12:18 AM CDT