The Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has rejected efforts to centralize pretrial proceedings in actions in Pennsylvania and Illinois seeking insurance coverage for business interruption losses resulting from COVID-19. The request for MDL-status was hotly contested, with insureds in more than 175 coverage actions responding to the centralization motions. Some insureds supported centralization in either Pennsylvania
Significant Result for Policyholders in COVID-19 Coverage Litigation
Judge Stephen Bough and the federal court in the Western District of Missouri entered an important order yesterday in a case brought by Studio 417, a hair salon, and several restaurants against Cincinnati Insurance Company. The order denied the insurer’s motion to dismiss, finding the plaintiffs’ COVID-19 coverage allegations were sufficient to move forward. This
Court Declines Jurisdiction Over COVID-19 Insurance Dispute
The recent procedural ruling by a Pennsylvania federal court highlights another area of uncertainty in the growing wave of insurance litigation related to COVID-19: will these cases proceed in state or federal courts? The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on its own volition remanded a Pittsburgh restaurant’s lawsuit seeking insurance coverage
Is Civil Authority Insurance Coverage the Solution for Businesses Sustaining Losses from COVID-19?
Many of the early insurance-related COVID-19 lawsuits seek insurance coverage under the civil authority coverage grant in commercial property policies. Restaurants filed the first cases (Cajun Conti LLC, et al. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al. and French Laundry Partners LP, et al. v. Hartford Fire Insurance Co., et al.) quickly followed