Insurance

Expert Analysis

• 3 Attorney Ethics Considerations For Litigation Funding

  

  The growth of the litigation finance industry has generated questions on the obligations of counsel when their clients are seeking outside capital to fund litigation, which litigators must understand when providing information to a third-party funder and discussing legal strategy with a client, says Matthew Oxman at LexShares.

• Benefits Ruling Raises Jury Trial Question For ERISA Cases

  

  An Ohio federal court's recent ruling in Phillips v. Sun Life Assurance has reopened the debate over the utility of jury trials in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefit denial cases, highlighting how the law’s silence on the issue leads courts to make up rules that lack statutory support, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.

• Opinion

  Ruling Rightly Sends COVID Biz Interruption Question To Jury

  

  After a string of insurer coronavirus coverage wins on dispositive motions, a Missouri federal court's ruling this week in favor of the policyholder in K.C. Hopps v. Cincinnati Insurance places the decision-making responsibility about the facts and science in COVID-19 business interruption cases back where it belongs — with a jury, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

• How ABA Opinion Shifts Alternative Biz Structure Landscape

  

  A recent American Bar Association opinion approving lawyers' passive investment in nonlawyer-owned firms eliminates a hurdle for law firms wishing to scale their practice through alternative business structures, but aspiring investors should follow a few best practices, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Deepika Ravi at Harris Wiltshire.

• Policyholder Outlook Following UK Biz Interruption Test Case

  

  In the nine months since the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in favor of policyholders in the Financial Conduct Authority’s test case on insurance coverage for COVID-19 businesses interruption claims, similar lawsuits filed against insurers show that a positive outcome for insureds is not guaranteed, say Peter Sharp and Paul Mesquitta at Morgan Lewis.

• 5 Buyers' Counsel Tips For R&W Insurance Underwriting Calls

  

  With representations and warranties insurance becoming more popular than ever, buyers' counsel participating in underwriting calls for such insurance should follow certain best practices to secure contracts with minimal exclusions, say Bryan O'Keefe and Gena Usenheimer at Seyfarth.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: HPE Counsel Talk Effective Board Oversight

  

  Governance teams can more effectively shape board oversight of environmental, social and governance issues by ensuring organizationwide agreement on the most relevant issues, building a materiality framework that reflects stakeholder input, and monitoring the integration of ESG into operations, say Rishi Varma and Derek Windham at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

• Opinion

  Justice Gap Demands Look At New Legal Service Models

  

  Current restrictions on how lawyers structure their businesses stand in the way of meaningful access to justice for many Americans, so states should follow the lead of Utah and Florida and test out innovative law firm business models through regulatory sandboxes, says Zachariah DeMeola at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.

• Lessons From 3rd Circ. COVID Biz Interruption Ruling

  

  The Third Circuit's recent DiAnoia's v. Motorists Mutual Insurance decision, directing district courts to reevaluate their remand of three pandemic-related business interruption cases to state courts, holds a lesson that determining Declaratory Judgment Act jurisdiction requires a rigorous analysis of all factors, says Regen O'Malley at Gordon Rees.

• When A Denial Of Recovery-Based Insurance Claim Is Invalid

  

  Two recent court decisions show that policyholders should not accept denials of coverage based on the uninsurability of restitution or disgorgement-based losses without a detailed, two-part analysis of the specific state's law and the particular facts of the loss, say Stephen Raptis and Emily Buchanan at Haynes and Boone.

• What 5th Circ. Ruling Means For Insurers' Post-Award Liability

  

  The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Randel v. Travelers, holding that an insurer's timely preappraisal payment did not extinguish its liability to its insured, highlights the importance of thoroughness and accuracy in initial loss inspections, says ​​​​​​​Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.

• Bankruptcy Eligibility Is Expanding For Small Biz Debtors

  

  A Florida bankruptcy court's recent decision in Vertical Mac Construction expands the scope of "just enough" commercial or business activity for Subchapter V eligibility, and potential debtors should consider this evolving boundary, says Nicholas Koffroth at Fox Rothschild.

• Imposing Insurance Surcharges On Unvaccinated Workers

  

  Employers that are not covered by President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 action plan or that want to further encourage vaccination may consider imposing a health insurance premium surcharge on unvaccinated workers, but compliance with myriad federal, state and local laws must be addressed before raising rates, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Series

  Insurance Commissioner's Agenda: Del. Tackles Mental Health

  

  Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro highlights the state's efforts to achieve insurance coverage parity for mental health care by confronting systemic stigma and penalizing disparate and restrictive insurance determinations.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Leidos GC Talks Social Responsibility

  

  Recent criticisms of corporate commitments to stakeholders such as employees and communities — implicitly opposing environmental, social and governance initiatives — are fundamentally flawed and display a serious misunderstanding of contemporary investor priorities and dynamics, says Jerald Howe at Leidos.