Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

A recent Ninth Circuit decision—Las Vegas Sands, LLC v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 2025 WL 3754348 (9th Cir. Dec. 29, 2025) —reversed a Nevada district court’s ruling in favor of a D&O insurer that had refused to cover a lawsuit asserting both contract and tort claims under the policy’s contractual liability exclusion. The ruling is a timely reminder for policyholders about why they should carefully scrutinize coverage denials, especially overbroad readings of contract exclusions, and consider pursuing insurers who wrongfully deny coverage.

A Florida district court recently held that an insurer wrongfully refused to defend a Miami-based strip club in a lawsuit filed by 17 models claiming that the club used their images to promote its business without their authorization. The insurer was required to defend the club for allegations of defamation under the policy’s personal and advertising coverage even though 16 of the 17 plaintiffs’ claims alleged conduct outside the covered policy period and no plaintiffs brought a cause of action for “defamation.” The decision highlights the broad duty to defend, in Florida and elsewhere, that policyholders should emphasize when pursuing coverage.