All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mar 18 2008 // A local judge has ruled that a state law banning smoking in public places and most workplaces is constitutional.Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Fred Nelson ruled Friday in the Cincinnati lawsuit filed against the Ohio...
Mar 17 2008 // Mississippi attorney, Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, used a mix of bare-knuckle tactics and country-lawyer charm to extract billion-dollar settlements from cigarette makers, asbestos companies and other big...
Mar 17 2008 // Louisiana Lawmakers have approved sweeping interstate expansions and the repaving of miles of highways as part of their plans to pour more than half of a billion-dollar state surplus into transportation projects.During the...
Mar 17 2008 // When long-time regulator Leonard Crouse retires as deputy commissioner of the Vermont Captive Insurance Division in June, David F. Provost will step up to the post.Provost is an assistant chief examiner in the division who...
Mar 17 2008 // Here is more bad news for troubled investment bank Bear Stearns Co Inc: A New York appeals court has ruled that its insurers are not responsible for the costs of an $80 million settlement in late 2002 over the firm’s...
Mar 13 2008 // A judge has awarded civil damages of more than $881,000 in the case of a teenage driver involved in a Ransom County crash that killed another teenager two years ago.Southeast District Judge Daniel Narum ruled that Dillon...
Mar 13 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services new report -“One In Four Of Europe’s Insurers Could Face Major Strategic Decisions Under Solvency II” – concludes that the regulations, which are...
Mar 13 2008 // A California judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Robert De Niro by an insurance company that claimed he misrepresented his health for a movie role.Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. insured the film “Hide and...
Mar 13 2008 // Legislation aimed at preventing identity theft and protecting the privacy of Oklahoma’s citizens has passed the Oklahoma Senate. Senate Bill 1745, sponsored by Sen. Randy Bass, D-Lawton, won unanimous approval.The...
Mar 12 2008 // Massachusetts medical professionals are calling for reforms to the state’s medical liability system that they say will protect physicians from more lawsuits and help control insurance costs.To support their call, the...
Mar 12 2008 // Potential climate change is the greatest strategic risk currently facing the property/casualty insurance industry, with demographic changes taking priority for the life insurance industry, according to a new study by Ernst...
Mar 12 2008 // Connecticut lawmakers say it’s time to reform Connecticut’s bail bondsmen system.Legislators held a hearing today on a bill that would subject bondsmen to testing and routine training, and allow the public...
Mar 11 2008 // Kentucky lawmakers are taking steps aimed at improving the safety of amusement rides in the wake of a grisly accident last year that severed the feet of a girl at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville.A Senate committee...
Mar 11 2008 // In a victory for an insurance company accused of acting in bad faith, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a $20.7 million jury award for punitive damages in a fatal traffic accident in 1987 was excessive.The case also set...
Mar 11 2008 // Montana State Auditor John Morrison has been named chair of the Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Morrison will lead the committee’s oversight of...
Mar 10 2008 // More than two decades after the country established a uniform drinking age of 21, a nascent movement is afoot to allow 18- to 20-year-olds to legally buy alcohol under some circumstances.Proponents say the higher age...
Mar 10 2008 // Former Pa. Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce wants his federal insurance fraud trial moved out of Erie to U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. Joyce’s attorney says news coverage of the case has generated enormous...
Mar 10 2008 // The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey can collect insurance only for damage inflicted on two buildings of the World Trade Center site destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, rather than for the entire complex, a U.S. District...
Mar 10 2008 // Lawmakers in Rhode Island have proposed creating a system that would track medical errors by Ocean State doctors.The proposal comes after several well-publicized errors last year in which doctors operated on the wrong...
Mar 10 2008 // Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, the insurer of last resort for many motorists, to accept installment payments like private companies.Advocates say the proposal...