Sixth Circuit Archives - The Insurance & Reinsurance Report

November 13, 2017 Cyberinsurance

The Modern Fraudster: How Courts Are Responding to Social Engineering Fraud

In an article for Insurance Journal, Goldberg Segalla partner Jonathan L. Schwartz and associate Colin B. Willmott, members of the Global Insurance Services Practice Group in the firm’s Chicago office, write about social engineering fraud (SEF) and questions over availability of insurance coverage for SEF under commercial crime policies — an issue the Second and Sixth Circuit Courts of Appeals are set to clarify in 2018.

SEF includes now-common types of fraud involving digital communications: phishing/whaling, spoofing, and impersonating or pretexting. “A common …

February 9, 2017 Duty to Defend

Engineering Firm Gets Soaked By Professional Services Exclusions in Water Treatment Plant Claim

In an unpublished decision, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision judgment in favor of two insurers. Specifically, the Sixth Circuit broadly construed professional services exclusions to preclude coverage.

As background, the Village of Dexter in Michigan hired an engineering and architecture firm, Orchard, Hiltz, & McCliment, Inc. (OHM), to oversee the upgrade of a wastewater treatment plant. The project included both the design and construction phases. Notably, Dexter approved three OHM proposals for professional engineering services. In addition, during the construction phase, OHM …

September 8, 2015 Life, Health, Disability & ERISA

Sixth Circuit: SPD is Binding Plan Document, Subrogation Clause Enforceable

The central question in this appeal before the Sixth Circuit was whether the summary plan description (SPD) — the only document in the record that contained a subrogation provision — was a binding plan document with enforceable terms.

In this case, Bd. of Trs. v. Moore, U.S. Ct. Apps., Sixth Cir., Aug. 25, 2015, there was a Trust Agreement that authorized the Board of Trustees to adopt a written welfare benefits plan, to administer the plan, and to act as plan fiduciary. Central to the …