In the last few years, the video game industry has been hit with lawsuits accusing certain games of fostering addictive behaviors, especially among younger players. These lawsuits often cite features like loot boxes, microtransactions, and reward systems, which are designed to enhance player engagement, as in-game mechanisms that push players…
In the aftermath of two powerful hurricanes the process of assessing the damage and rebuilding begins. Businesses suffered billions of dollars in losses during hurricanes Helene and Milton, both in physical property damage and disruption of their business (i.e., lost profits). That is precisely why businesses purchase property and other…
Hurricane Helene struck Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane on September 25, 2024, and continued to move northeast. The storm caused widespread power outages and catastrophic damage across Florida, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia and other states. It has brought life-threatening storm surges in its aftermath. Now, less…
The below checklist includes essential considerations and steps to take for property owners and businesses that stand to be affected by hurricanes. Make an inventory of risk pathways that could affect your business. Identify essential supply chains, raw materials or parts providers and service providers to assess impact of potential…
A recent decision by a California appellate court in Practice Fusion, Inc. v. Freedom Specialty Insurance Company, denying the policyholder more than $118 million in Directors & Officers liability coverage based on an expansive professional services exclusion, is a sobering reminder that this nettlesome exclusion—when over-broadly applied, as was the…
In what was likely a shock to coal-fired electric utilities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held on June 28, 2024, that proposed decisions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in January 2022—prohibiting coal-fired power plants from closing coal ash impoundments where coal ash is…
When is a claim “brought” against an insured? A Delaware bankruptcy court’s answer to this seemingly innocuous question turned into a nightmare for the estate of a bankrupt insured. The insured was deprived of coverage under a claims-made D&O policy for a claim filed three years after the retroactive date…
In a recent win for policyholders, the Supreme Court of Colorado handed down a pair of decisions that extended the notice-prejudice rule to first-party property policies. Colorado law now requires an insurer to demonstrate that it was prejudiced by the insured’s late notice of a claim before it can deny…
In the early morning of March 26, 2024, a cargo ship estimated to weigh more than 100,000 tons catastrophically struck the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge while departing the Port of Baltimore. This led to fatalities and interruptions to the major maritime artery into and out of the port city.…
Yemeni-based Houthi forces have attacked more than two dozen vessels transiting the Red Sea since the October 7, 2023, start of the current Israel-Hamas conflict, leading to a surge in marine war insurance premiums. Houthi elements have attacked commercial shipping with the stated goal of destroying America and Israel, although…