Publications

In this month’s Alert, we discuss a recent lawsuit filed by excess insurers of Transocean Ltd. and its affiliates against various BP entities, arising out of the Deepwater Horizon accident and resulting oil discharges in the Gulf of Mexico. We also report on a Georgia Supreme Court ruling regarding an insurer’s right to withdraw from a policyholder’s defense, two recent decisions addressing an insurer’s right to seek reimbursement from co-insurers under theories of equitable subrogation and contribution, and, on the property insurance front, a decision enforcing an insurer’s right to an appraisal of hurricane-related property damage. Other decisions of interest highlighted in this report include a federal court ruling regarding a D&O insurer’s obligation to pay executives’ defense costs in connection with an IRS investigation; the Ninth Circuit’s enforcement of a “Policy Territory” provision that limited coverage to occurrences that took place outside the United States; the Florida Supreme Court’s dismissal of third-party bad faith action against an insurer; the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in the Textron case, which left standing a controversial decision by the First Circuit on the scope of the work product privilege; and the Second Circuit’s determination that policyholder information is not entitled to “trade secret” or “confidential” protection. Finally, we summarize a report issued by the New York State Unified Court System regarding electronic discovery.