Claims & Reserving
Top Jury Awards in 2013
U.S. juries awarded three verdicts of $1 billion or more for the third straight year in 2013, topped by a $1.2 billion award against Dow Chemical Co., the largest ever in a price-fixing case. Second ...
Rotting Wood in New Homes Built After Katrina May Spark Legal Action
Actor Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, which has built 100 energy-efficient new homes in the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, is considering legal action against the ...
WCRI Studies Link Fee Schedules to Lower Payments
States that do not have a fee schedule in place are likely to pay more for workers compensation-related medical services, according to two Workers Compensation Research Institute studies that ...
Carriers Cut Coverage as ‘Storm Chasers’ Fuel New Roof Demands, Actuaries Report
Homeowner insurers reacting to a growing industry problem, being referred to as "neighbor-itis," has carriers reducing coverage in some regions, actuaries reported recently. Speaking at the Casualty ...
Nine-Month Results Show P/C Industry Headed for Best Post-Crisis Year
With a combined ratio of 95.8 through nine months translating into $10.5 billion of underwriting profit, the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry is on track to report its best year in the ...
Appeals Court Reinstates Alien Tort Lawsuit Against Multinational Firms
A lawsuit against a unit of Nestle SA and two other companies alleging children were forced to work as slave labor on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast was reinstated by a federal appeals court. The ...
Lead Paint Verdict May Set Dangerous Precedent: McArdle Viewpoint
A California judge has just ruled that manufacturers of lead paints and pigments have to pay 10 cities in California $1.1 billion to remediate lead paint used in homes there. I wrote about this last ...
Paint Manufacturers to Pay $1.1B to California Municipalities in Nuisance Liability Case
Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and ConAgra Grocery Products LLC have been ordered by a judge to pay $1.1 billion to replace or contain lead paint in millions of homes after losing a ...