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NFL sues insurers over defense of player lawsuits

Posted On: Aug. 17, 2012 12:00 AM CST

NFL sues insurers over defense of player lawsuits

The National Football League has filed a lawsuit alleging that nearly three dozen commercial general liability insurers refused to defend the organization against at least 143 lawsuits filed by former players.

The underlying lawsuits, filed by former players and their spouses, seek to hold the NFL liable for bodily or personal injuries.

In its lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, the NFL says that since 1968 it has paid millions of dollars in premiums for CGL policies. Therefore, the NFL is seeking to recover attorney fees and other costs it incurred because the issuers of those policies breached a duty to defend, according to the lawsuit.

The NFL, along with NFL Properties L.L.C., is also asking for a judicial declaration stating its insurers are obligated to defend the organization.