Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  6 Ways Financial Regulators Should Prioritize Climate Risk

  

  As the Biden administration prepares to take office, financial regulators must resolve to collaborate with each other and industries to manage the financial risks from climate change after years of obstruction by the Trump administration, says New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell.

• 4 Legal Industry Trends Litigation Financiers Are Watching

  

  Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.

• A Lawyer's Guide To Setting Well-Being Goals In 2021

  

  In the face of rising client demands due to the pandemic and the changing regulatory environment, and with remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, lawyers should invest in their well-being by establishing inspiring yet realistic goals for 2021 — one month at a time, says Krista Larson at Morgan Lewis.

• Keyword Searches To Improve Your Privilege Doc Review

  

  "Confidential" and other search terms commonly used to locate privileged documents during e-discovery are pretty ineffective, so practitioners should consider including specific types of keywords that are demonstrably better at targeting privilege, say Robert Keeling at Sidley and Rishi Chhatwal at AT&T.

• Cybersecurity Event-Driven Securities Litigation Has Arrived

  

  A recent shareholder lawsuit against First American Title Insurance Co. highlights that securities litigation prompted by regulatory actions may become increasingly prevalent in the cybersecurity context, say attorneys at Pasich.

• State AGs' 2020 Actions Offer Hints At 2021 Priorities

  

  A review of state attorney general actions in 2020 addressing consumer concerns including data privacy, product safety and marketplace competition can help companies prepare for the expected regulatory enforcement wave in 2021, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Opinion

  A Law Of The Digital Sea Could Expand Data Rights, Oversight

  

  Democracies should implement a law of the digital sea that can balance innovation with individual rights and national security by mandating personal ownership of data, rigorously enforcing antitrust law, and empowering agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to grade cyberhygiene, says Luke Schleusener at QOMPLX.

• ABA Approves Remote Practice, But Questions Remain

  

  Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

• Opinion

  Spa Virus Coverage Ruling Misses The Mark

  

  A Virginia federal court's recent decision in Elegant Massage v. State Farm held that an insurance policy's virus exclusion did not apply to a spa's COVID-19 business income claim, ignoring well-established contract interpretation principles and should be rejected by other courts, says George Reede at Zelle.

• Keys To Creating Standout Law Firm Thought Leadership

  

  Whether geared toward a global audience or a particular client, a law firm's articles, blog posts and client alerts should strive to be original by harnessing a few editorial tools and following the right distribution sequence, say Steven Andersen and Tal Donahue at Infinite Global.

• Perspectives

  Judges On Race: The Power Of Discretion In Criminal Justice

  

  Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.

• 10 Most Significant Insurance Coverage Decisions Of 2020

  

  Though COVID-19 was unquestionably the biggest insurance story of 2020, the most noteworthy decisions of the year had definitive impact on issues like injury-in-fact triggers and concurrent causation, says Randy Maniloff at White and Williams LLP.

• 2 Decisions Reveal Key To Virus Insurance Coverage In NY

  

  Though a New York federal court recently handed down two pro-insurer decisions in disputes over business insurance coverage for COVID-19-related losses, the rulings signal one strong legal basis for coverage, say Michael Scanlon and Greg Van Houten at Haynes and Boone.

• 5 Major Drug And Medical Device Developments In 2020

  

  In addition to the increased activity and scrutiny COVID-19 brought to the drug and device industries in 2020, major developments included the continued momentum of snap removal and renewed U.S. Supreme Court interest in the scope of state courts' jurisdiction, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Limiting The Severity Of Deficient Securities Fraud Claims

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's evidentiary requirements of price impact at the class certification stage — established in its Halliburton II decision in 2014 — provide an effective solution to disqualify securities fraud claims with price impact deficiencies, say Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR.