I attended a large legal conference (DRI’s Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium) in person last week for the first time since the pandemic, and not only learned a lot, but had a great time (shout out in particular to the kitchen staff at Capital Grill and props to the bartender at the Whitby
Exclusions
How to Trigger Insurance Coverage for an ERISA Claim
Well, how can I not comment on this, given the focus of both this blog and my practice? The Second Circuit was just presented with the question of whether an insurer has to provide a defense to a company and its officer, under the employee benefits liability portion of a policy, for an ERISA claim…
Insurance Coverage for Disgorgement or other Equitable Remedies
You say disgorgement, I say damages. Sorry, I couldn’t, try as I might, make that fit into the old lyric “you say tomato, I say tomahto, lets call the whole thing off,” but the sentiment fits. In this recent Sixth Circuit decision, reported on here, the Court addressed the question of…
Cyber Insurance for Cyber Risks
I have maintained a healthy interest in cybercrimes, cyber risks and related liability exposures, for at least two reasons central to the topics of this blog. The first is that, other than credit card companies, probably no one holds more protected personal information than the entities involved with ERISA plans, from health insurers to mutual…
Liability Seen Through a Looking Glass, or Determining Insurance Coverage After the Fact
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Coverage Litigation, Exclusions
I have written before and no doubt will again that one of the most interesting aspects of insurance coverage law is that all the flotsam and jetsam of American economic life eventually washes up on its shores; by this, I mean that whatever issues of liability are working their way through the court system will…
Then and Now: Proving a Duty to Defend By Using Evidence Outside of a Complaint
You know, this is actually of more personal interest to me than it is probably of importance to insureds, insurers and their lawyers with regard to determining whether a duty to defend exists in a given case. That is because the rule reflected in the case I am about to tell you about is sensible…
Directors and Officers Coverage, Exclusions and the Magic Words “In Fact”
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Directors and Officers, Exclusions
Here is a terrific article on the lessons about directors and officers insurance that should be taken from a series of rulings that eventually ended coverage for the Stanford Financial executives. I have said many times that because the scope of D & O insurance is so dependent on the scope of the exclusions, it…
A Good Reason to Read Your Insurance Policy
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Wow. This is a fascinating insurance coverage story – I know, people who don’t practice in that area will email me in droves to tell me there is no such thing, but still – that illustrates some important points. It is the story of the corporate officer of a juvenile facility that was involved, apparently…
Climate Change Litigation and Insurance Coverage
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have posted in the past about how everything eventually makes its way through the insurance industry, in terms of any types of new lawsuits or liability theories, and as this article makes clear, litigation over climate change will be no different. The suits are coming, and while their viability is yet to be determined…
Deconstructing the Language of Insurance Policies
I have been thinking a lot recently about the development and history of particular aspects of insurance policy language, and how they reflect the continuing efforts of drafters to take language that can often be imprecise and refine it to more accurately reinforce what the insurer actually intends to take on as a covered risk.