Amy Elizabeth Stewart has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas.

Ms. Stewart, whose practice was profiled in last year’s Texas Super Lawyers magazine (see ‘She’s Got You Covered’), represents insurance policyholders in commercial insurance coverage disputes, including insurance coverage litigation and arbitration, bad faith litigation, pre-suit advice and negotiations, and other complex insurance litigation matters. In July, The Dallas Morning News highlighted Ms. Stewart’s work for clients in the market for cyber insurance coverage (see ‘Digital-disaster insurance is taking off’).

In the first appellate case of its kind, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit released its opinion in Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., No. 14-3514, Aug. 24, 2015 (slip op.), holding that the FTC has the authority to assert watchdog claims against private companies under the “unfairness” provision of the Federal Trade Commission Act for failure to implement cybersecurity safeguards, resulting in a data breach.

Kudos to our own Amy Elizabeth Stewart, who was recognized by the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America based on her successful work for clients in insurance law matters. This is the fourth consecutive year she has been recognized by Best Lawyers, one of the nation’s premier guides to the country’s top lawyers.

The California Supreme Court recently ruled in Hartford Casualty Insurance Company v. J.R. Marketing, L.L.C. that an insurer may seek direct reimbursement from independent defense counsel (referred to as Cumis counsel in California) for allegedly excessive and unreasonable fees.

When an insurance company fails to act in accordance with deadlines established by the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act, it faces stiff consequences—specifically, 18% penalty interest on amounts owed to the insured.

Recently, Lloyd’s of London and the University of Cambridge co-authored a report forecasting that a major cyberattack on the East Coast of the U.S. could result in $70 billion in claims, stressing potentially gaping deficiencies in both traditional and cyber policies to respond to such an event.

This week Tarron Gartner-Ilai's and Whitney Warren's in-depth article on what constitutes a material breach was published in The Journal of Texas Insurance Law, a State Bar of Texas publication. 

As cyber attacks make almost daily news, the attorneys at Amy Stewart Law are spending an increasing amount of their time making sure the firm’s clients have adequate coverage from this constantly evolving threat. The firm’s work with cyber insurance was featured in a column by the Dallas Morning News’ Cheryl Hall.

Please join Amy Elizabeth Stewart along with the rest of the panel for this two-hour webcast on Friday, August 7^th. The course will contain an in-depth discussion of the fundamentals of M&A insurance as well as updates surrounding Insurance needs of D&Os, businesses, and selling stockholders that arise in connection with public and private mergers and acquisitions.

Cyber Insurance  ::  The Future is Now Webcast

From nearly 20 million security incidents detected in 2011 to more than 40 million in 2014, cyber breaches are dominating headlines.  As corporate America attempts to stay ahead of its cyber exposures, the insurance industry is scrambling to create solutions to meet the risk-transfer demand.

After cyber breaches have dominated the headlines for more than a year (e.g., Target, Sony), experts now say there are two types of businesses in today’s world –  those who know they have been hacked, and those who have not yet discovered the breach.

Imagine a situation in which the employee of your company’s vendor is injured while performing work for your company under a service agreement. The employee, likely unable to sue his or her own employer due to the exclusive remedy provisions of an applicable state’s workers compensation act, sues your company.

In late May, the Fifth Circuit decided Robert and Kerry Spong’s case against their insurer, Fidelity National Property and Casualty Insurance Co., holding that state law rights relating to an insurer’s claims handling are preempted by federal law, but those concerning the sale of the policy itself are not.

Sony and Zurich recently reached a settlement in an insurance coverage dispute over the April 2011 hacking of Sony’s PlayStation network, resulting in the release of personal information of over 77 million user accounts. At the time, it was the largest data security breach in history, costing Sony roughly $178 million in lost profits.

Failing to make the cut for the May 26^th House calendar, Senate Bill 1628 is dead.