Specialty Lines

Expert Analysis

• 6 Ways To Avoid Compounding Errors When Practicing Law

  

  For lawyers and law firms, inevitable human error can lead to claims of malpractice or ethical violations, but the key is to avoid exacerbating mistakes by adding communication failures, conflicts of interest or insurance coverage losses, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.

• More Stringent Calif. Claim Law Could Benefit Policyholders

  

  Although a new California statute that imposes additional requirements for policyholder presuit demands — effective Jan. 1 — was ostensibly passed as a bad faith liability shield for insurers, used correctly it may provide a more specific road map for plaintiff recovery, says Shanti Eagle at Farella Braun.

• Sandbagging Issues To Watch In Deal Documents

  

  Attorneys at Kramer Levin explore how transactional practitioners address sandbagging in acquisition agreements, the default rules that courts may apply when deal parties are silent on the issue, and how sandbagging comes up in the context of representation and warranty insurance policies and any related special indemnities in acquisition agreements.

• Ky. Ruling Shows Need For Consistent Insurer Claim Replies

  

  The Kentucky Supreme Court's recent ruling in Ashland Hospital v. Darwin Select Insurance, allowing a hospital to continue seeking coverage for a medical malpractice claim, warns insurers against invoking a prior-notice exclusion to bar coverage after previously rejecting a notice of potential claim as insufficient, say Chet Kronenberg and Lindsay DiMaggio at Simpson Thacher.

• Check This List Twice: 4 Steps To Abate Coverage Concerns

  

  This holiday season give your company the gift of following easy administrative steps to avoid the far-too-common clerical errors that could lead to forfeited insurance coverage, say Vivek Chopra and Mattison Kim at Perkins Coie.

• Lessons On Notice From 7th Circ. Claims-Made Policy Ruling

  

  The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Hanover Insurance v. R.W. Dunteman contains broad lessons for policyholders — as many claims-made policies include similar aggregation and claims notice provisions as the one at issue — on how to preserve coverage, say Brian Scarbrough and Maura Smyles at Jenner & Block.

• A Recovery Option For Lenders With Planes Stuck In Russia

  

  For aircraft lessors considering insurance coverage litigation to recover for losses of equipment leased to Russian airlines, negotiating an assignment of rights may provide a faster pathway to recovery, say David Klein and Jose Lua-Valencia at Pillsbury.

• Trends And Opportunities In Canada's Insurance M&A Market

  

  Laurie LaPalme and Derek Levinsky at Dentons discuss the results of a survey regarding Canada's insurance mergers and acquisitions market, and their expectations for the next year in this space — including an increased focus on accident and sickness insurance, and technology-focused assets.

• Breach Cases Hint At Liability Coverage For Mobile Losses

  

  Although federal courts haven't ruled on whether commercial general liability insurance covers companies' revenue losses when customers cannot use their mobile devices, recent cases involving Target and Home Depot payment card data breaches suggest that coverage may be available, says Morgan Churma at Farella Braun.

• Insurance Perils For Health Providers Using 3D-Printing Tech

  

  As the medical polymer market quickly grows amid burgeoning demand for the 3D printing of medical devices, a recent case involving liability for a 3D-printed dental implant surgery exposes the potential gap in medical malpractice and product liability coverage for health care professionals designing and using these products, says Paul Farquharson at Semmes.

• Insurance Ruling Provides Lessons On Cyberattack 'Twofers'

  

  A recent Minnesota federal court decision, SJ Computers v. Travelers, illustrates how an insurance policy with separate limits for computer fraud and social engineering fraud applies to a cyberattack with both components, say Joshua Polster and Laurel Fresquez at Simpson Thacher.

• D&O Insurer Challenges Amid Market, Economic Turbulence

  

  The decline of record market capitalizations, compounded by high litigation and securities class action exposure, leaves directors and officers insurance carriers and issuers facing economic contraction as companies grapple with the institutionalization of environmental, social and governance investment priorities amid a new Cold War, say Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR.

• Risk Mitigation In Face Of Rising Legal Malpractice Claims

  

  As the recent rise in frequency and cost of legal malpractice claims is expected to continue amid global high inflation and economic uncertainty, law firms and insurers would be wise to evaluate key risk areas and consider six steps to minimize exposure, say Nicole Shapiro and Cory Stumpf at Atheria Law.