N.Y. Court Dismisses Reinsurers' Lawsuit, Condemns 'Procedural Fencing'

NEW YORK -- The New York Supreme Court has dismissed a reinsurers' action in which the plaintiffs sought a declaration that they owed no coverage to an insurance company for an underlying $1.5 billion asbestos settlement. Underwriters at Lloyd's, et al. v. Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co., et al., No. 600608/04

In an Oct. 18 order, Judge Richard B. Lowe III of the Supreme Court of New York for New York County found that a similar lawsuit filed in Connecticut would address the same disputes as the instant action and condemned the reinsurers for what the court likened to 'forum …