Case Update

The U.S. Fifth Circuit issued a ruling on March 13, 2023, in Dynamic Industries, Inc., et al v. Walaa Cooperative Insurance Co., et al., Case No. 22-300033. Firm partner, Chris Teske, and Counsel, Laura Gravener, represented Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the case. Dynamic asserted in the suit that its insurance brokers (Marsh) failed to procure adequate insurance coverage from the insurer (Walaa) or, in the alternative that Walaa breached the insurance policy by declining coverage for damage to an undersea cable in the Arabian Gulf. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed the case with prejudice, finding that the claims against Pipes Miles Beckman’s clients were time-barred under Louisiana law. In the unpublished decision the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of all of Dynamic’s claims against Walaa and the Marsh defendants. The Court specifically found that the claims against Marsh were time-barred under La. R.S. 9:5606 because Dynamic received a copy of the insurance policy at issue in this case almost 18 months before Walaa denied coverage. The Court concluded that receipt of the policy put Dynamic on notice of any alleged deficiencies in the coverage it provided and, therefore, started the delays within which Dynamic was required to file suit against its insurance agent.