Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Where Insurance Coverage For Condo Collapse Gets Murky

  

  Property and casualty coverage for the Champlain Towers tragedy may be complicated, since different versions of collapse coverage are found in different policies, both for the individual condo owners and the condominium association, say Glenn Jacobson and Mark Binsky at Abrams Gorelick.

• Rebuttal

  Courts Should Heed Contract Law In COVID-19 Physical Loss

  

  While a recent Law360 guest article urged courts to adopt the particle theory of coverage in deciding COVID-19-related property loss and damage claims, this approach ignores the intent, function and language of commercial insurance policies — not to mention the science itself, say Adam Fleischer and Elisabeth Ross at BatesCarey.

• Law Firms, Know Who's Responsible For Your Cloud Security

  

  Lawyers generally know that files go into the cloud and that the files are then secured and protected, but it's necessary for firms to take a closer look at their cloud supply chain and then come up with a responsibility matrix that helps mitigate any potential risks or weaknesses, says Martin Ward at iManage.

• Benefits For Law Firms Venturing Into New Services

  

  By offering more services, law firms can deepen and strengthen their client relationships and truly become an extension of their clients' teams while generating new revenue streams, and while there are risks associated with expanding into consulting, they may be worth it, says Lou Ramos at Major Lindsey.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Exelon GC Talks Diversity Initiatives

  

  Executing a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion programming, through recruitment, inclusive legal pipelines and community empowerment via pro bono efforts, can ensure a strong environmental, social and governance proposition, says Gayle Littleton at Exelon.

• Insurance Brokers Should Expect Wave Of E&O Claims

  

  Policyholders' unsuccessful COVID-19 business interruption suits and the pandemic-related move to remote work will likely result in a plethora of errors and omissions claims brought against insurance agents and brokers, as evidenced by recently filed cases, says Peter Biging at Goldberg Segalla.

• Opinion

  COVID Insurance Rulings Are Misinterpreting 'Physical Loss'

  

  Recent court decisions interpreting "direct physical loss" clauses to deny COVID-19 business interruption recovery where the subject property has not been structurally altered contradict the purpose of all-risks insurance, the ordinary meaning of the operative policy language and pre-pandemic case law, says ​​​​​​​Lee Epstein at Flaster Greenberg.

• Revamping Law Firm Marketing Lists — With Partner Buy-In

  

  Jackson Lewis’ Paige Bowser shares lessons from the firm's recent overhaul of an outdated email marketing database, including tips for getting partners on board, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and augmenting outreach strategies.

• Courts Should Defer To Science On COVID-19 Physical Loss

  

  As litigation of pandemic-related business interruption claims continues nationwide, the insurance carriers and courts adopting the most conservative interpretation of "physical loss or damage" — the basic trigger for business interruption coverage — are making erroneous assumptions about a complex physical phenomenon, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes and Boone.

• The Murky World Of Legal Rankings Gets Some Clarity In NJ

  

  New Jersey's new, stringent approach to legal rankings will make accolade advertising more transparent, benefiting both attorneys and clients and offering legal marketers a new set of best practices amid evolving standards, say Penny Paul at Lowenstein Sandler and Susan Peters at Greybridge.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Cigna Counsel Talks Employee Wellness

  

  Building employee well-being into corporate environmental, social and governance priorities required our legal team to focus more closely on cross-functional collaboration within the company and increased communication with our board of directors and shareholders, says Julia Brncic at Cigna.

• Courts' Clashing Standards For Evidence At Class Cert.: Part 2

  

  While federal circuits continue to split on whether to approach fact and expert evidence differently at class certification, and there is no sign of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to resolve the issue, applying an admissibility standard to one and not the other appears illogical, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

• Hybrid Work Models Are Key To Gender Parity In Law Firms

  

  To curb the historically high rates of attrition among female lawyers, Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan and Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks suggest firms must normalize hybrid work schedules, and they recommend best practices to promote engagement among all attorneys, regardless of where they work.

• Surprises May Lurk As 'No Surprises Act' Meets State Law

  

  The No Surprises Act, which takes effect in January, introduces federal requirements to protect consumers from surprise medical bills, but also defers to certain state laws, which will present significant operational challenges for providers and payors determining whether the federal law, state law or both will apply to a course of treatment, say Alexandra Lucas and Christian Martin at Reed Smith.

• Courts' Clashing Standards For Evidence At Class Cert.: Part 1

  

  The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling in Lyngaas v. Ag highlights an ongoing circuit split on whether plaintiffs moving to certify a class must use admissible evidence and whether fact and expert evidence should be treated equivalently in this regard, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.