“I continue to believe—perhaps more so with each interaction—that LLMs have something to contribute to the ordinary-meaning endeavor. They’re not perfect, and challenges remain, but it would be myopic to ignore them.” —Judge Kevin Newsom
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance Co. will be cited often for its holdings on policy interpretation and insurance applications under Alabama law. Perhaps the most groundbreaking analysis, likely to have long-term ramifications for insurance coverage litigation, was Judge Kevin Newsom’s concurring opinion addressing the role of AI large language models (LLMs) in policy interpretation. For the first time in a federal appellate decision, a judge openly explored whether ChatGPT, Bard/Gemini and similar AI tools could help courts interpret insurance policy language. His concurrence provides a roadmap for how AI may reshape insurance disputes, and where policyholders must tread carefully.
We are on the cusp of another milestone in the decades-long Montrose Chemical litigation, which has already yielded many important precedents in California on coverage for so-called “long-tail” pollution liabilities. “Long-tail” claims arise under historical comprehensive general, umbrella and excess liability policies for alleged pollution that was in progress through multiple policy periods—such as underground tank leaks, seepages from waste disposal impoundments, and similar occurrences taking place over time. Whether the so-called “qualified pollution exclusion” bars coverage for such long-tail claims is a question that has divided courts for decades. Now the California Supreme Court has agreed to hear a critical appeal that puts the interpretation of the qualified pollution exclusion in play—with potentially seismic impacts.
The geopolitical drama unfolding with respect to Venezuela is loaded with opportunity and fraught with political risk arising from both Venezuelan and U.S. government actions. The country is still headed by a regime the U.S. government officially does not recognize, while a government that the United States does recognize stands on the outside seeking U.S. support to assume the reins. The President has stated that the U.S. has assumed “control” of Venezuela—and invites U.S. businesses to make massive investments on the ground—while the unrecognized Venezuelan government oscillates between official rejection and cooperation with U.S. political initiatives. Moreover, Venezuela has a history of expropriating assets, particularly in the oil and gas sector, and many state-owned companies have defaulted on significant payables to service companies that are essential participants in the efforts to rebuild and restore the Venezuelan infrastructure and economy.
Over the weekend of January 24-25, 2026, Winter Storm Fern struck a vast swathe of the Eastern United States and Canada. The storm is likely to have had—and for some days to come will continue to have—a vast impact on businesses, governments and a host of human activities. According to 
Companies in certain industries have years and even decades of experience in defending and resolving “long-tail” liabilities for suits, claims and other proceedings—such as for asbestos-related disease or environmental-related third-party property damage—that involve bodily injuries or property damage spanning multiple years arising out of their historical operations.
General and products liability policies are a cornerstone of risk management for businesses, providing protection against alleged liability because of bodily injury, property damage, and personal or advertising injury claims. These policies are often paired with self-insured retentions (SIRs). Although some policies with SIRs may provide “first dollar” coverage, particularly for defense costs, an SIR typically represents the amount of covered loss a company agrees to pay out of pocket before the primary layer insurer’s coverage attaches. While common, SIRs can introduce many traps for the unwary—especially if the SIR is applied on a “per-occurrence” basis (or, in some policies, a “per-claim” basis) without an aggregate cap.
