Author: completebodyneeds

National The Automobile Insurance Plans Service Office (AIPSO) appointed Executive Vice President Les Willis as president and CEO. Willis succeeds President and CEO Charles Kwolek, who is retiring after a 32-year career with the organization. Prior to joining AIPSO, Willis …

Last year, a jury in Oregon awarded a $15.8 million verdict against Topgolf after the sports and entertainment complex was found negligent for a young child’s skull fracture and traumatic brain injury at its Hillsboro facility. It became one of the latest examples of how premises liability is becoming a significant driver of nuclear verdicts above $10 million and losses for businesses. From 2015 to 2020, in fact, the median cost of a jury award over $10 million increased from $20 million to $27 million, according to Advisen’s loss database. Even non-nuclear premises liability cases are stretching well into the…

AM Best upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B+ (Good) from B (Fair) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings to “bbb-” (Good) from “bb+” (Fair) of The California Casualty Indemnity Exchange in Palo Alto, California. The upgrade includes its wholly owned subsidiaries: California Casualty General Insurance Company of Oregon, California Casualty & Fire Insurance Co. and California Casualty Insurance Co., all of which comprise California Casualty Group. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect California Casualty’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile…

Insurtech bolt launched an AI-powered insurance distribution platform the company says enables access across all lines for distribution partners. Connected Distribution is a new operating model that combines customer data, workflows and integrated market access into a single AI-powered connected system. The platform is designed to help distribution partners like independent agencies, brokerages, carriers and consumer reduce manual work, move faster and connect the distribution lifecycle. Conversational AI is designed to engage customers across voice, SMS, chat and email, capturing structured data from interactions, and combining it with customer, risk and account history. An AI-driven workflow execution enables customer conversations…

A federal jury in Maine has handed New Hampshire-based gun manufacturer Sig Sauer a victory over claims its P320 handgun is defective. The case involved a complaint by David Alan Cole, a detective with the Somerset County Sheriffs Department, who claimed he was injured when his Sig Sauer handgun unintentionally discharged a bullet into his thigh when his hands were not on the gun or the trigger. The bullet penetrated his right calf and reached his right ankle and had to be surgically removed. Cole was executing a search warrant at the time. Cole sued the gunmaker for product defect,…

Multiple individuals face federal and state indictments in connection with a multi-state organized retail-theft ring that impacted Prince George’s County and other areas in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office jointly announced, the indictments. Cyan Simone Rocke and Marco Pernell Morgan of Washington, D.C. and Daryl Michael-Lashon Jackson of Laurel, Maryland have been charged in federal court with conspiracy to violate federal law, namely, the interstate transportation of stolen goods. Additionally, Rocke; Tia Courtney, Chyna Parker, and Quasaan Parker of Capitol Heights, Maryland, are further…

For an establishment to be sued on liquor liability grounds in Florida, plaintiffs must show that the bartender knew the over-served, drunken driver was an addict. The plaintiffs also cannot expect to prevail if an amended complaint—naming a different driver—is substantially different from the initial lawsuit and was filed years later, a Florida appeals court said this week in a case that involved a Tampa bowling alley, a 2014 crash that killed a 27-year-old, and court proceedings that were complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and lost evidence. The plaintiffs were the father of victim Larry James Sillaway, who died in…

The US is doubling down on its efforts to quash European environmental and human rights rules it says unfairly impact American companies. The Trump administration “will take any actions necessary to address unreasonable burdens on US commerce” if the European Union doesn’t rein in its ESG regulations, according to a letter addressed to the EU by the US government. The comments were accompanied by a post on X by US ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, who said “it’s time for the EU to deliver” on what he described as an earlier commitment by the bloc to ensure American companies…

Epic Systems, a healthcare database company that holds the medical records of hundreds of millions of Americans, is facing an antitrust investigation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Epic runs the patient web portal MyChart along with other electronic health record systems. Its products are used by healthcare providers that collectively treat more than 280 million people in the U.S., according to the company’s website. The FTC has sent investigative demands to others in the health technology industry seeking information about how Verona, Wisconsin-based Epic grants or withholds data access, the sources…

By Andrew G. Simpson Insurance companies cannot invoke “overriding public policy” in order to refuse to defend insured hotel owners and managers accused of enabling and profiting off of sex trafficking of minors, even though the state has criminalized such trafficking. “[N]either an insurer’s duty to defend nor its duty to indemnify is abrogated on the basis of public policy when the insured is alleged to have enabled or profited from sex trafficking,” the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared last month. The state Supreme Court said that insurers could have created exclusions in their insurance policies for such behavior but did…