Atlantic Specialty Ins. Co. v. Allied Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. et al.

Nature of the Document

The provided text is a letter from Allied Gaming & Entertainment, Inc. and other defendants, together with Judge Schofield’s brief scheduling order. It is not a decision on the insurance-coverage dispute.

Background

Allied purchased a directors-and-officers primary policy from XL Specialty Insurance Company in 2023. Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company issued an excess policy with $5 million in limits for the period from August 23, 2024, through August 23, 2025. The excess policy follows the primary policy and includes provisions concerning claims arising from related wrongful acts and claims previously noticed under an earlier policy.

The letter states that Atlantic denied coverage for the “Yellow River Action,” a shareholder lawsuit arising from an October 2024 transaction in which Yellow River purchased Allied shares and received other rights. Atlantic allegedly contended that the action involved wrongful acts related to those alleged in an earlier “Elite Action,” which concerned a different transaction in December 2023. Allied disputes that the two lawsuits involve related wrongful acts and maintains that the Yellow River Action is covered under Atlantic’s policy.

Allied’s Request

Allied asked the court to hold a pre-motion conference regarding an anticipated motion for partial summary judgment. Allied also asked the court to stay, or pause, discovery while that motion is considered. Allied argued that the interrelatedness issue could be resolved as a matter of law by comparing the policy language with the complaints in the two underlying lawsuits, without additional factual discovery.

Allied further argued that the policy’s prior-notice exclusion does not apply because the Yellow River Action was filed on November 12, 2024, after the Atlantic policy began on August 23, 2024. These statements describe Allied’s position; the court did not decide them in this order.

Court’s Action

Judge Schofield ordered Plaintiff/Counterclaim-Defendant Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company to file a response of no more than three pages by November 25, 2025. The order does not state that the court granted or denied Allied’s request for a pre-motion conference, its request to stay discovery, or any anticipated motion for partial summary judgment. The insurance-coverage dispute therefore remained unresolved in the provided text.