Welcome to this week's recap. The news and top producer insights you need, without the snoozefest. Today: 5 briefs, 2 pods, 1 poll… let’s roll!

ICYMI in a unanimous ruling last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to freight brokers, holding that state-law negligent-hiring claims are not shielded by federal preemption. In plain English: if a freight broker picks a carrier with serious red flags and that truck causes an accident, the broker can now be sued… in any state. The federal preemption defense brokers leaned on for decades? Gone. And it doesn't stop there… shippers who influence carrier selection through routing guides or cost-first demands could find themselves in plaintiffs' crosshairs too.

Any client who moves freight needs a talking to, now. Make sure someone has clearly documented who's responsible for picking the carriers. Spoiler: "we just went with the cheapest one" is not a great answer in court.

A Georgia appeals court just dropped a ruling that has agents and brokers reaching for their own E&O policies and a stiff drink. In Plummer v. Commercial Insurance Agency, the court decided… for the first time in Georgia history… that third parties injured at a business can be assigned the insured's claims against their broker. Translation: a carrier can correctly deny a claim, and the agent can still get sued anyway. The case stems from a 2019 shooting at an Atlanta store where the commercial GL policy had a firearms exclusion.

Note to self: Document everything in writing, every time. Whether you’re in GA or not! And while you're at it, make sure your own E&O limits are keeping pace with the litigation environment you're operating in. The best defense is a paper trail a mile long.

The DOT just became the latest federal agency to ditch its disparate impact rules, following the DOJ and EEOC as part of a Trump executive order rolling back the standard across the board. In plain English: Before, companies could get sued just because a neutral policy produced unequal outcomes, even accidentally. Now, the feds only care if someone actually meant to discriminate.

Don't let clients cancel their EPLI just yet. Private lawsuits and state enforcement are still fully loaded, especially in states like California, New York, and Illinois.

After four straight years of falling premiums and fat underwriting margins, the D&O market is showing some cracks. AM Best's newly released D&O Liability Report is waving a yellow flag as loss ratios jumped five percentage points in 2025, reserves from 2023 and 2024 are coming up short, and claims are taking longer to close. Translation: carriers got comfortable, and it's starting to show. Throw in AI disclosure risks, geopolitical chaos, DEI and ESG regulatory whiplash, and a wobbly IPO market, and you've got a recipe for a market that's about to get a lot less generous.

Why it matters to you: Your clients who've been cruising on cheap D&O renewals are living on borrowed time. This is the moment to have the conversation about limits and terms… before your competition has it for you.

According to Benefitfocus's State of Employee Benefits Report 2026 pharmacy costs now eat up nearly 30% of every employer health dollar spent, up from 27% just a year ago. GLP-1s like Ozempic are doing a lot of the heavy lifting, costing plans $7,400 per member annually and now accounting for over 20% of total prescription spend. And the concentration problem is stunning: just 1% of members are driving a third of all medical and pharmacy spend.

The bright spot? Employers who worked closely with brokers to actually read their claims data saw costs rise just 2.4% per member… versus an 8% industry average.

We’ve partnered with Element 22 to be Max Revenue’s preferred wholesale broker. If you've got accounts that need a creative P&C solution give them a shot. We’ve vetted them. They’re legit. You can send your submissions straight to [email protected] or call Brian at (843) 296-3376 and tell him Max Revenue sent you.

In this episode, Micah and Trey talk with industry expert Larry Linne. Larry shares how top insurance producers can scale their revenue from six figures to seven figures a year! Yes, $1,000,000 in revenue. You know we only talk revenue around here.

Consider this your benefits industry halftime report. In this episode, Luke Berry cuts through the noise on pharmacy costs, GLP-1 chaos, and the data gap that's quietly killing employer plans, and lays out exactly what producers need to know heading into the back half of 2026.

Today's email was written by Trey Shields

Edited by Bob Tail | Illustrated by Hall N. Freight

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