Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Life Settlements Industry Hot And Cold On New IRS Rules

  

  Although the life settlements industry may welcome the Internal Revenue Service's final life insurance contract reporting regulations' new transitional timing and narrower reporting requirements, other aspects of the rules may disappoint, say Brian Casey and Thomas Sherman at Locke Lord.

• How To Increase Diversity In International Arbitration

  

  Halliburton v. Chubb, a case involving alleged arbitrator bias pending before the U.K. Supreme Court, spotlights the need for more diverse international arbitration panels, and offers an opportunity for the arbitration community to discuss global solutions, says Liliana Veru-Torres of Clyde & Co.

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• Pretrial Defenses For Payors Facing Quasi-Contract Claims

  

  As part of their business-collections strategy, noncontracted medical providers are increasingly using quasi-contract theories of recovery to sue payors. But before leaping to settlement, payors should consider the viability of certain defense strategies, say attorneys at Troutman Sanders.

• Texas Could Take Page From Mass.'s Judicial Selection Book

  

  As Texas and other states review their judicial election processes, they would be well served by taking guidance from Massachusetts' Governor’s Council system, which protects the judiciary from the hazards of campaigning, says Richard Baker of New England Intellectual Property.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McKeown Reviews 'Conversations With RBG'

  

  Reading Jeffrey Rosen’s "Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law" is like eavesdropping on the author and his subject while they discuss how the restrained judicial minimalist became the fiery leader of the opposition, says Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

• Developments In State Taxation Of Nonadmitted Insurance

  

  Not all states have updated their direct insurance procurement tax laws to take full advantage of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, diminishing their ability to tax some insurance transactions, as highlighted by the New Jersey Tax Court's recent decision in Johnson & Johnson v. Director, Division of Taxation, say Zachary Lerner and Stephen Anastasia of Locke Lord.

• Aviation Sector Must Confront Airport Cyber Risks

  

  While attempts to hack planes and airline databases have grabbed the headlines, aviation industry members and their insurers must also focus on the numerous serious cyber vulnerabilities presented by airports, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Where A Litigator's Advice Can Improve Agreement Drafting

  

  Transactional attorneys should consider consulting with litigation counsel when drafting certain contractual provisions — choice of law, choice of forum, attorney fees and others — that could come into play in a broad range of substantive disputes, says Adrienne Koch at Katsky Korins.

• Opinion

  Pa. Balance Billing Law Would Hurt Access To Health Care

  

  The Pennsylvania General Assembly's proposed legislation aiming to protect patients from balance billing would encourage insurers to cut emergency physicians out of their networks, driving down hospitals' reimbursements and jeopardizing patient care, says Richard Hamilton of Drexel University's College of Medicine.

• M&A 'Pure Omission' Claims Test Limits Of Securities Laws

  

  The plaintiffs in two recent federal appellate M&A cases did not successfully import so-called pure omission claims from Delaware fiduciary duty law into Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act, but plaintiffs will likely keep trying to expand federal securities law on this premise, say Matthew Kilby and Rory Collins at FaegreBD.

• Opinion

  Flat-Fee Legal Billing Can Liberate Attorneys

  

  Replacing hourly billing with flat-fee arrangements, especially for appellate work, will leave attorneys feeling free to spend as much time as necessary to produce their highest quality work, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• Spoliation Rule Remains Ambiguous Despite Amendments

  

  Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were amended to provide a uniform standard of culpability for spoliation, cases with similar facts are still reaching differing results because the rule does not specify how a court should evaluate a party's intent, say attorneys at Pepper Hamilton.

• 5 Trends Influencing RFPs For Law Firms

  

  Requests for proposals, the standard tool of companies evaluating law firms, are becoming better suited to the legal industry, says Matthew Prinn of RFP Advisory Group.

• Private Equity Wants To Buy Your Asbestos Liabilities

  

  BorgWarner's deal to sell off its asbestos liabilities this week confirms that such sales are a viable corporate strategy that can be less expensive than, and offer disclosure advantages over, prepackaged bankruptcy and loss portfolio insurance. But they still come with a cost, and can raise trust and security issues, says Stephen Hoke of Hoke LLC.