Defense attorney Ellen Greiper reported receiving more than the usual number of phone calls from plaintiffs attorneys earlier this month, suggesting that the call dynamics could be signaling a COVID-driven change in social inflation trends. “I have had a flurry … Source: Claims Journal

Conservation groups in South Carolina are challenging a 3,000-acre (12,100-hectare) development project in Charleston over concerns that a loss of wetlands could worsen flooding in an already flood-prone area. The Sierra Club and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation argue that … Source: Claims Journal

A city in northern Alabama will pay a ransom worth $300,000 in Bitcoins in response to a hack of its computer system. Florence City Council voted unanimously at an emergency meeting Wednesday evening to make the payment from the city’s … Source: Claims Journal

Pandemic threats were once on the list of potential emerging risks facing the insurance industry and society. Now that this risk has materialized with the COVID-19 crisis, it is perhaps a good time to take a look at the latest … Source: Claims Journal

One nearly empty passenger jet “climbed like a rocket,” prompting the pilots to exceed their assigned altitude. Others have scraped their tails on takeoff, gone off course or strayed close enough to other aircraft to prompt mid-air collision alerts. The … Source: Claims Journal

A lawsuit has been filed against the owners and operators of a World War II-era airplane that crashed at a Connecticut airport last October, killing seven people. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in state Superior Court by survivors of the crash … Source: Claims Journal

Global insurance companies linked to Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia are distancing themselves from the controversial development, as pressure mounts on financial institutions to cut their ties to the fossil fuel industry. A growing global consensus has seen financial … Source: Claims Journal

Google filed a lawsuit accusing home speaker maker Sonos Inc. of infringing five of its patents, escalating tensions between the partners that have already led to a U.S. International Trade Commission probe. In a complaint filed on Thursday in San … Source: Claims Journal

Atlanta-based global insurance claims management firm McLarens reported it has acquired London-based Lloyd Warwick International (LWI), a provider of global specialty loss and insurance adjusters. McLaren purchased the firm from LWI employees and Crawford & Co. Financial terms of the … Source: Claims Journal

Nebraska potentially faces nearly $3.7 billion in agricultural losses from the coronavirus pandemic if economic conditions do not improve, the Nebraska Farm Bureau said. Its estimate projects revenue losses for this year’s commodities, including corn, soybeans, wheat, beef cattle and … Source: Claims Journal