Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Captive Insurance May Help In A Pandemic, But Caution Is Key

  

  Although captive insurance can help address some of the traditional coverage gaps exposed by the current COVID-19 crisis, three Tax Court cases from recent years illustrate the Internal Revenue Service's hostility toward the entities, says Patrick McCann at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

• Ill. Insurance Considerations For Losses Caused By Riots

  

  On the heels of the Illinois Department of Insurance's recent call for leniency for policyholder claims related to recent riots, vandalism and civil commotion, insurers should expect heightened scrutiny of coverage disputes and policyholders should be prepared to submit extensive proofs of claims, say attorneys at Neal Gerber.

• COVID-19 Telehealth Boom Demands Better Privacy Practices

  

  With demand for telemedicine skyrocketing during the pandemic, health care providers should not be lulled into complacency regarding data privacy simply because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has relaxed its standards, as pre-pandemic practices may be inadequate, says Geoffrey Lottenberg at Berger Singerman.

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• Opinion

  Regulatory Estoppel Does Not Invalidate The Virus Exclusion

  

  Some policyholders seeking coverage for losses stemming from COVID-19 are arguing that virus exclusions are invalid due to regulatory estoppel, but this theory lacks substance and threatens to undermine formal clarifications of insurance policy intent, say Jonathan Schwartz and Colin Willmott at Goldberg Segalla.

• 'Settle And Sue' Malpractice Cases Have New Clarity In Calif.

  

  A California state appellate court's recent decision in Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen provides a road map for proving causation and damages in settle-and-sue legal malpractice cases — an important issue of long-standing confusion, says Steven Berenson at Klinedinst.

• How Discovery Is Evolving In ERISA Benefits Litigation

  

  While courts have been reluctant to grant discovery in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits cases in the past, textual-minded judges questioning the legitimacy of judicially created doctrines are increasingly allowing more discovery, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.

• Reinsurance Implications Of COVID-19 Biz Interruption Laws

  

  In light of legislative and public pressure in the U.S. and U.K. on insurers to cover business interruption losses related to COVID-19, reinsurers will face new questions regarding their obligation to cover claim payments, say Robin Dusek at Saul Ewing and Susie Wakefield at Shoosmiths.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• Contract, IP And Employment Claims Increase In A Downturn

  

  As a result of current market trends, companies should be prepared for more commercial, intellectual property and employment claims, which can make a downturn even more challenging, says Charlene Morrow at Fenwick.

• 2 Takeaways From Ill. Biometric Class Action Insurance Ruling

  

  An Illinois appellate court's recent decision in West Bend v. Krishna provides clarity into the legal definition of publication in insurance contexts and highlights the importance of policy language in Biometric Information Privacy Act lawsuits, say Deepthika Appuhamy and Brian Scarbrough at Jenner & Block.

• Opinion

  Calif. Must Clarify Independent Counsel Rates For Insurers

  

  California law provides little predictability on the hourly rates that insurers are required to pay independent counsel selected by the insured in disputes, but a few amendments to Section 2860 can help, say attorneys at Covington.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• UK Appellate Rulings Clarify Arbitral Choice Of Law

  

  Two recent U.K. Court of Appeal decisions have changed the operation of the choice-of-law test for arbitration — a resolution as significant as changing the test itself because it affects the implied choices of the contracting parties, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.