The ATP World Tour is engaged in settlement discussions with an insurance company the tennis circuit earlier this month sued for $1.5M. The insurer, Pittsburgh-based National Union Fire Insurance Company, a division of AIG, insured part of the ATP’s legal expenses as part of its '08 antitrust trial. The ATP contends the company has not paid the $1.5M it owes. In a filing with a Florida federal court yesterday, the insurer said the ATP essentially agreed to suspend the case while the two sides are in settlement discussions. “The parties agree that National Union shall not be required to respond to the Complaint unless and until ATP notifies National Union that it is required to respond,” the insurer said in the filing. The ATP incurred $20M in legal fees during the trial. National Union is responsible for about half of that, and has already paid $8.3M. The ATP is still seeking to reclaim the legal fees from the Hamburg, Germany, event that sued the tour for demoting the status of the tournament. A jury ruled for the ATP. A federal appeals court recently remanded a case on the question of whether an ATP bylaw -- one that requires a tournament that loses a lawsuit against the ATP to pay legal expense -- is legal.
