The ongoing coverage litigation between H.J. Heinz Company and Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Company in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has yielded another important decision that is instructive in rescission matters. As a follow up to our previous report on October 22, 2015 on the court’s order that Starr must produce information from its underwriting files involving other policyholders, the court has now set guidelines for the burden of proof and jury instructions in the $25 million coverage dispute set …
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Pennsylvania Federal Judge Orders an Insurer to Produce Information from Underwriting Files Involving Other Policyholders in a Rescission Dispute
Discovery disputes in insurance coverage litigation frequently concern whether an insurer must produce information about policies issued to other policyholders or other claims against the insurer involving similar policies or circumstances. Policyholders often seek such discovery to compare the insurer’s position in the disputed claim with positions it may have taken in other claims or under other policies. Insurers typically resist such discovery as being irrelevant to issues involving the particular policy or claim at issue in the litigation. A recent decision by the U.S. …
Continue ReadingCourt Issues Decision in “20 Percent of Something is Better Than 100 Percent of Nothing” Case
Judge Thomas C. Wheeler of the U.S. Federal Court of Claims has issued a decision in one of the most watched cases directly tied with the government response to the 2008 financial crisis. In Starr International Company, Inc. v. The United States, Starr International challenged the bailout of AIG in which the federal government took shareholder equity and management control. Prior to the crisis, Starr (whose controlling shareholder is former AIG executive Hank Greenberg) was a major shareholder in AIG. The resulting bailout considerably …
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