Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Reps And Warranties Insurance Earns Spot In M&A Toolkit

  

  In this brief video, Eric Schwartzman at Cooley discusses what representation and warranty insurance is, when it’s used in M&A and private equity transactions, what it covers, what it doesn’t cover, and what it costs to put in place.

• Strategies To Maintain Privilege In Crisis Response Scenarios

  

  In several recent cases, courts have overridden claims that attorney-client privilege applies to communications with public relations firms in connection with litigation and to documents generated in internal investigations, but businesses can use several best practices to avoid the potential risk of waiving privilege, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• US Strengthened And Expanded Economic Sanctions In 2019

  

  Stateside regulation of economic sanctions continued at a breakneck pace this year, with new rules targeting Venezuela, Cuba, Turkey and Iran, expanded guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and one of the most active enforcement years on record, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How To Ward Off Nonclient Suits Over Lawyers' Speech

  

  Because lawyers are often sued by nonclients based on public statements they have made, lawyers should be trained to avoid potentially actionable statements when speaking and writing, and they should also understand the overarching defenses against such lawsuits, says Matthew O’Hara at Freeborn & Peters.

• State Net

  What State Lawmakers Will Be Focused On In 2020

  

  A number of issues are expected to figure prominently on state legislative agendas in the coming year, including subjects as diverse as election reform, 5G technology, online marketplaces and insurance fraud, says Korey Clark of State Net Capitol Journal.

• Ill. Ruling Clarifies Wrongful Incarceration Insurance Triggers

  

  The Illinois Supreme Court's ruling in Sanders v. Illinois Union resolves a split in state and federal decisions applying Illinois law on trigger of coverage in the context of wrongful incarceration, but courts will continue to grapple with the issue, say Benjamin Eggert and Karen Toto of Wiley Rein.

• What Is A 'Reasonably Useful Form' For Production Of ESI?

  

  While federal rules require production of electronically stored information in its native format or a "reasonably useful form," recent court rulings offer guidance on avoiding production of ESI in its native format when it would be unduly burdensome, say Matthew Hamilton and Donna Fisher at Pepper Hamilton.

• 5 Tips For Maximizing Insurance Claims In A Hard Market

  

  As policyholders experience increases in premiums, reduced capacity and more restrictive terms in all lines of insurance coverage, many are turning to new strategies to increase claims recovery, says Micah Skidmore of Haynes and Boone.

• Patent Decision Highlights Cross-Appeal Considerations

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in IPR Licensing overruled precedent to hold that the cross-appeal rule is not jurisdictional, demonstrating the complexity of this seemingly simple rule and its various applications within the circuit courts, says Michael Soyfer at Quinn Emanuel.

• Wash. Ruling Offers Key Safeguards For Additional Insureds

  

  In T-Mobile USA Inc. v. Selective Insurance Company of America, the Supreme Court of Washington recently strengthened the protections for so-called additional insureds relying upon inaccurate certificates of insurance — a win for both policyholders and entities named as additional insureds on others' policies, say Catherine Doyle and Brian Scarbrough at Jenner & Block.

• Urban Air Mobility Needs Policy Support To Achieve Liftoff

  

  Urban air mobility — an on-demand air transportation service in metropolitan airspace — needs a sympathetic regulatory framework in which the emerging technology can develop, says James Jordan of Holman Fenwick.

• Perspectives

  Book Review: Who's To Blame For The Broken Legal System?

  

  The provocative new book by Alec Karakatsanis, "Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System," shines a searing light on the anachronism that is the American criminal justice system, says Sixth Circuit Judge Bernice Donald.

• 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 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.