July 2022

Google Ordered to Pick Up Boies Legal Fees at $2,000 an Hour (4)

A California federal judge has ordered Alphabet Inc.‘s Google to pay nearly $1 million for discovery misconduct after the company concealed employees and other relevant data in a lawsuit alleging web browser privacy violations.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represents Google in the case, while Boies Schiller Flexner represents the class-action plaintiffs.

Quinn Emanuel lawyers had urged Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen not to levy sanctions against Google, saying the company had “concealed nothing.” She ruled against them in May.

Boies Schiller’s lawyers had requested more than $1 million, but van Keulen ordered Google to pay just over $970,000 after deducting fees incurred by timekeepers billing less than 10 hours, time spent producing documents and computer research.

Though much of the original sanctions motion is redacted, Boies Schiller said Google failed to produce data that included “identifiers” associated with the named plaintiffs and their devices. The judge’s order granting the monetary sanctions is sealed.

The sanctions request from Boies Schiller earlier revealed David Boies, the famous lawyer, billed $1,950 an hour in the case.

“Google failed to comply with its discovery obligations, misled the plaintiffs and the Court, concealed the identities of key personnel, and concealed, and then destroyed,

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July 22, 2022 by LAW

Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk

Lesley Muller said her jaw dropped when she got her renewal notice from the carrier that insures her Cloverdale home. The bill increased by $700 annually to $2,200.

“When I got it, it shocked me,” said Muller, a retiree whose insurer also covers her family’s cars and a home in Arizona.

She called up her insurance broker who checked with five other carriers that all declined to make an offer and said the only other option would be the state FAIR plan, which is the state’s insurer of last resort. That option would be considerably more expensive for less coverage.

“So, what do you do? Pay the high premium!” added Muller, who declined to name the carrier to prevent any repercussions.

She’s not alone.

Greg Lucas of Santa Rosa said his bill originally went up about 50% to $2,150 annually from CSAA Insurance. He checked around but could find no better deal and ended up reducing the price to about 25% spike by upping his deductible and lowering the amount of personal property coverage.

Torben Moller of Windsor renewed his policy at a 50% increase and added he “can’t complain too loudly” because wildfires have driven risk for carriers

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July 21, 2022 by INSURANCE

Italian Supreme Court Upholds Importance of Italian Law with PoA

The Italian Supreme Court confirmed, yet again, the crucial importance of complying with certain Italian law formalities for the validity in Italy of a power of attorney granted and notarized abroad (the “PoA”).

By decision no. 2866 of 5 February 2021, the Italian Supreme Court in Joint Session (Corte di Cassazione – Sezioni Unite) held that a PoA notarized abroad shall be considered null and void if it lacks the Italian translation of (i) the PoA itself and (ii) the notarization.

THE CASE

A German individual was notified of a fine by an Italian municipality as a consequence of an infringement of Italian road circulation rules. The individual challenged the sanction before the Italian judges, alleging a number of violations of law. After the procedures before the court of the first tier (justice of the peace) and the following appeal before the Court of Florence were completed, the case was eventually brought by the individual before the Supreme Court. The lawyer assisting the individual had been appointed by means of a wide PoA executed and notarized outside Italy years before.

In this respect, the Supreme Court stated that the appeal before the Court of Florence was inadmissible due to the

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July 21, 2022 by LAW

Lawyer volunteers line up as N.Y. abortion providers seek out advice

Abortion rights protesters hold a youth rally in Washington Square Park in anticipation of Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in New York City, U.S., June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

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  • About 50 New York law firms have expressed an interest in staffing a new hotline
  • The initiative is being spearheaded by New York Attorney General Leticia James

(Reuters) – A new hotline staffed by volunteer lawyers in New York is fielding a stream of inquiries from reproductive healthcare providers in the state worried about how the end of nationwide abortion rights protections could affect their operations, organizers said this week.

“Unfortunately, what we have received is what we expected,” said Claudia Hammerman, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which is coordinating law firm participation in the effort.

The New York hotline is the centerpiece of a month-old abortion rights initiative spearheaded by state Attorney General Letitia James in conjunction with law firms and reproductive rights organizations responding to the U.S. Supreme court last month overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

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After two weeks, the hotline

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July 20, 2022 by LAW

Citizens drops Florida property insurance policies

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has started dropping policies of some homeowners across Florida because the estimated price of replacing their homes after a storm or fire would now exceed a $700,000 replacement value cap.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has started dropping policies of some homeowners across Florida because the estimated price of replacing their homes after a storm or fire would now exceed a $700,000 replacement value cap.


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Rising inflation has cost hundreds of Florida homeowners citizens-policies-dropped-due-to-700k-cap-20220713-fcr7gc6tt5bgjecikjg3efrywu-story.html”access to affordable property insurance.

New data provided by state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” shows that the company dropped 2,267 policies statewide during the 12-months ending June 30 because their homes’ replacement value exceeded $700,000.

That’s the company’s eligibility cap in all counties except Miami-Dade and Monroe, where Citizens can insure homes valued up to $1 million.The caps could be increased in Broward, Palm Beach and other counties if a new study by the state Office of Insurance Regulation finds that homeowners lack access to affordable coverage from private market insurers and have little choice except Citizens. In Broward County over the past year, Citizens sent notices of non-renewal to 617 homes with replacement values exceeding the $700,000 eligibility cap. In Palm Beach County, 454 were dropped.

Read the full story here.

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 5:35 PM.

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July 19, 2022 by INSURANCE