Neb. Federal Judge Stays Reinsurance Action Pending Outcome of New Hampshire Case

OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge has stayed a declaratory judgment action filed by National Indemnity Co. in a dispute over reinsurance for the settlement of asbestos exposure claims filed against the State of Montana, pending the outcome of TIG’s own declaratory judgment action in New Hampshire.

In a Nov. 22 order, Judge Brian C. Buescher of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska ruled that “no compelling circumstances warrant a departure from the first-filed rule.”

The judge explained that a stay, rather than dismissal, of the action is appropriate because he will not have to decide …