Schedule/Sessions
Claims & Litigation Management - Session 1 - The Gold Standard: Employment Practices Liability Handling
Let’s talk about the nuts-and-bolts discussion of EPL claims handling, from the perspective of the claims handlers and defense counsel. EPL is a growing area, as the number of suits filed by employees against their employers has been rising and is expected to continue to do so. While many suits are filed against larger corporations, businesses of all sizes are targeted and benefit from EPL coverage. As such, the handling of these claims is an area ripe with minefields for the unwary claims handler who is not yet experienced in handling EPL matters.
Back to topClaims & Litigation Management - Session 2 - Incomplete Demands: What to Do With an Insufficient/Deficient Statutory Demand?
- Speakers:
Brandt Allen, Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP
Jeffrey Chen, Swiss Re
Jessica Mauch, AXIS Specialty US Services Inc
Sarah Smith, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP
Plaintiffs' attorneys are now serving legally deficient statutory demands with greater frequency. These demands do not comply with the statutory requirements as set out by the governing jurisdictions. However, even though these demands are legally deficient, is it advisable for an insurer to ignore them? How do various jurisdictions view legally deficient statutory demands? In the event of a subsequent bad faith litigation predicated upon the insurer ignoring such demands, will jurisdictions still give the same consideration to a legally deficient statutory demand (as it would a legally sufficient one)? The discussion will focus on the various approaches taken by jurisdictions and the consequences to insurers. In addition, it will also examine potential actions/protocols to be adopted by insurers to address these demands.
Back to topClaims & Litigation Management - Session 3 - First Party Cyber Claims: Managing Claim Expenses and Loss
- Speakers:
Nancy Aknin, Liberty Mutual
Bridget Choi, Booz Allen Hamilton
Marissa Olsen, Aspen Insurance
Marc Voses, Clyde & Co
Attendees will hear from experts on how to manage the costs associated with a first-party cyber claim, including breach counsel, computer forensics, data mining, notification and credit monitoring, ransom payments, business interruption loss, and extra expenses. The presenters will address the relevant policy language dictating the availability of such coverage and best practices on how insurers can control claims expenses and losses arising from a cyber event. Case studies will be presented with audience participation encouraged through the use of audience polling.
Back to topClaims & Litigation Management - Session 4 - What would Edison think? From Light Bulbs to Electric Vehicles
- Speakers:
Joseph Bevis, Chubb
Michael DeLonay, AXIS Specialty US Services Inc
Kimare Dyer, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A.
Michelle Kuykendal, Exponent
This session presents an overview of electric and autonomous vehicles. We will address technology and the market and climate forces driving consumer choice to purchase and invest in these transportation modes. A discussion will be teed up in regards to the risks and claims associated with electric and autonomous vehicles; applicable coverage(s) triggered; risk transfer analysis; contracts and indemnification issues; damages; expert identification and retention; litigation management strategies and best practices in managing the claim and litigation process.
Back to topClaims & Litigation Management - Session 5 - The Growth of Cybersecurity Claims
Join us as presenters describe the coverages being sought in the marketplace for cyber risk as well as the claims being paid in relation to cyber losses. Cyberattacks are increasing in both frequency and severity, making it necessary for insureds and insurers to have a plan for addressing cyber risk.
Back to topExtra-Contractual - Session 1 - The Attorney-Client Privilege and Practical Tips to Avoid a Bad Faith Set Up
- Speakers:
Michael DeLonay, AXIS Specialty US Services Inc
Mike Melendez, Cozen O’Connor
Claire Muselman, Self Employed
Jennifer Weinstein, Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions
Is there a new trend to erode the insurer's attorney-client privilege in bad faith litigation? In Travelers Property Cas. Co. v. 100 Renaissance, LLC, 308 So.3d 847 (Miss. 2020), the Mississippi Supreme Court held that the insurer impliedly waived the attorney-client privilege and ordered the disclosure of communications between an adjuster and in-house counsel, as well as the in-house counsel's deposition. This presentation will discuss certain jurisdictions that are allowing the erosion of the insurer's attorney-client privilege, and best practices to avoid bad faith liability on a national basis. Learn of strategies for handling bad faith litigation, including a discussion of discovery tactics, dispositive motions, and trial strategies. The discussion will also include how to evaluate and avoid bad faith liability, along with best practices in claim evaluation and how to protect the attorney-client privilege.
Back to topExtra-Contractual - Session 2 - The Good, Bad, and Unethical: Avoiding Extra-Contractual Liability
- Speakers:
Dwight Geddes, Metro Claims & Risk Mgmt
Nigel Shepherd, Kingstone Insurance Company
Gary Stephen, PURE Insurance
Nicole Varisco, Brooks & Berne PLLC
John Wright, Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, LLP
Join us as we discuss the ethical obligations of insurance professionals in adjusting claims, with specific focus on New York, New Jersey, and Georgia statutory requirements. Presenters will highlight the distinctions of these very different jurisdictions and the standards applicable to each, as well as tips for claim representatives to aid in avoiding crossing any ethical lines.
Back to topExtra-Contractual - Session 3 - Whose Skin is in the Game?
- Speakers:
Susan Burns, Sedgwick
Sidney Degan, III, Degan, Blanchard & Nash
Dorothy DiFiore, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A.
Christopher Greene, Canal Insurance Company
Catherine Woodfield, Admiral Insurance Company
This roundtable will discuss strategies, ideas, and techniques to minimize the risk an insured, who has “skin in the game,” takes through deductibles, SIRs, eroding limits, or inadequate aggregates; and, from putting it back on the insurer with cries of “bad faith!”
When an insured elects a significant deductible, self-insured retention, or eroding limit policy, or when the policy aggregate turns out to be inadequate for multiple claims in a single policy year, the insured’s own finances are involved and the insured suddenly has a clear and unequivocal stake in the outcome of how the claim is handled. When it becomes apparent that insureds are going to pay a heavy financial toll, they begin to look for ways to pass the risk. Frequently, this can turn to cries of “bad faith!” as they try to shift the risk back to the insurer.
Extra-Contractual - Session 4 - Extra-Contractual Year-In Review: Part 1
- Speakers:
David M. O'Connor, O'Connor & Associates, LLC
Raymond Tittmann, TittmannWeix
Meg Weist, Employers Mutual Casualty Company
This is the first of a two-part year-in-review where presenters and participants will discuss the most significant case law, as well as any administrative and regulatory extra-contractual decisions, from across the country in 2021 to engage participants and attendees in a compelling discussion of how these decisions impact industry claim handling.
The roundtable will dissect the current state of extra-contractual law and litigation by exploring its economic costs and financial impact on insurers and policyholders, examine fresh ideas and dynamic defenses to EC claims and litigation, and discuss innovative tools to maximize successful outcomes and results.
Extra-Contractual - Session 5 - Extra-Contractual Year-In Review: Part 2
- Speakers:
Kathryn Anderson, Anderson & Truitt
Melissa Bailey, Copeland, Stair, Valz & Lovell, LLP
Mitzy Fryer, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A.
R. Wade Vandiver, Argo Group US
In this session panelists will continue a two-part year-in-review series with more significant case law, administrative, and regulatory extra-contractual decisions from across the country in 2021. Attendees will engage in a compelling discussion of industry best practices and claim handling procedures in respect to the same.
The roundtable will dissect the current state of extra-contractual law and litigation by exploring its economic costs and financial impact on insurers and policyholders, examining fresh ideas and dynamic defenses to EC claims and litigation, and achieving collaborative organizational implementation of the same to maximize successful outcomes and results. The roundtable also will address the impact of COVID-19 on claims handling and associated EC concerns.
Insurance Coverage - Session 1 - Got COVID-19 Coverage? How Insurers are Handling COVID-19-Related Personal Injury Claims
- Speakers:
Kelly Hopper Moore, Liberty Mutual
Robyn Lauber, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
Jonathan Meer, Wilson Elser
John Minett, Travelers
While the COVID-19 pandemic may be an unprecedented event in our lives, it is also just another basis for seeking coverage from insurance. Like the virus itself, it has impacted all lines of insurance. While some of the most publicized insurance claims related to the pandemic involve business interruption, those are not the only claims that are having an impact on insurers. There have been a number of personal injury claims that have been filed, impacting Directors & Officers (D&O), Employer Practice Liability (EPL), and General Liability (GL) coverage. This includes some certain newsworthy cases, including matters involving alleged serious illness and wrongful death related to an alleged company decision that exposed workers to the COVID-19 virus. While as a nation we are hopeful that the worst is behind us, personal injury claims related to COVID-19 are still out there. This presentation will address the pandemic’s impact on insurance in general, the type of personal injury claims that have been filed related to the pandemic, and what key coverage provisions in D&O, EPL, and GL policies are implicated.
Back to topInsurance Coverage - Session 2 - Rate Evasion Revisited
- Speakers:
Jeanette Dixon, Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP
Cathy Gicker, Allstate Insurance Company
Melissa Hill, Sompo International Insurance
Gary Reinhardt, Kalbaugh Pfund & Messersmith PC
Learn of the impact of rate evasion on coverage in both liability and first-party claims, including various ways different states handle the issue. Techniques for identification and investigation will be covered along with contrasting the differences between this type of insurance fraud and the more “traditional” type of insurance fraud. The presenters will also examine the impact of rescission voiding compared with denial or cancelation and what claims, if any, are left to pay after each action is taken. Attendees will be able to determine potential rate evasion/application fraud and why it is important to identify and assert the right to rescind to combat fraudulent actions.
Back to topInsurance Coverage - Session 3 - Avoiding General Verdicts and Asking a Jury to Divvy Up Damages Between Covered and Uncovered
- Speakers:
Elizabeth Ahlstrand, Squire Patton Boggs LLP
Edward McKinnon, Claims Resource Management, Inc.
Alex Niederman, Liberty Mutual
Jasmina Richter, Sanders & Parks, P.C.
When a general verdict is returned by a jury, there is no way to decipher which amounts are attributed to covered versus uncovered claims. Such a general verdict impairs the insurer's ability to protect its interest and the insured's ability to prove entitlement to coverage. It often leads to subsequent litigation to accomplish an allocation which can be difficult and expensive.
The presenters will discuss issues to consider when handling a case with covered and uncovered claims that is headed to trial, including properly reserving rights, preventing a waiver argument, intervening in the underlying suit, how to intervene, which jurisdictions are more or less receptive to intervention, requesting a special jury verdict form, submitting special jury interrogatories, and working with the insured. Presenters will also address the burden of proof on allocation, different methods of allocating, and the scope of discovery if an allocation is not accomplished in the underlying suit.
Insurance Coverage - Session 4 - Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car: And Other Insurance Coverage Considerations for Ride-Sharing and Delivery Drivers
- Speakers:
Janet Foster, Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club
Shannon Harjer, Quincy Mutual Group
Sarannah McMurtry, Acceptance Insurance
Kelly Petter, Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady
Michael L. Young, Reichardt Noce & Young LLC
This roundtable will discuss the applicability of the Public or Livery Conveyance Exclusion in automobile policies to the use of a vehicle for popular ride-sharing and delivery companies, such as Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, Uber Eats, Grub Hub, etc. The discussion will include the ways in which courts across the country have interpreted the exclusion, and the factors leading to the enforcement of, or the courts’ refusal to enforce, the exclusion under various sets of facts. Presenters will provide guidance about the coverage investigation of a claim involving the use of a vehicle for ride-sharing or delivery purposes, and the factors a court may require in order to find that the carrier substantiated the claim that coverage is excluded. Learn of the various state’s statutory schemes regarding the operation of such services in the state, and the ways in which those statutes may be used to assist the carrier in its investigation of the claim.
Back to topInsurance Coverage - Session 5 - Contact to Contract: Claims, Coverage, and Conciliation
- Speakers:
Bert Dizon, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc.
Laura Gregory, Sloane & Walsh LLP
Rebekah Ratliff, JAMS ADR
This presentation will educate and inform attendees on the art of claims management when there are coverage issues and best practices for guiding a claim file to an equitable resolution. Attendees will take a walk through the minds of a coverage lawyer, a claims professional, and a mediator as they interact in a conversation to share commonly experienced, but rarely discussed, navigation tips to consider for closing cases.
Back to topCyber - Session 1 - How the Cyber Insurance Market Will Survive Ransomware and Other Incidents
- Speakers:
Kelly Castriotta, Markel Service, Incorporated
Mitchell Gootnick, Resilience
Joshua MacDonald, Elpha Secure
Richard Reiter, Wilson Elser
Antonio Trotta, QBE Insurance
The market is hardening and underwriters are increasing rates due to the magnitude and severity of claims. This presentation will discuss how increased rates is one component to the survival and growth of the cyber insurance market. In addition, improved applications for insurance that identify vulnerabilities and risks, utilization of vulnerability testing, and other tools will improve the value of the risk.
Back to topCyber - Session 2 - Anatomy Of A Breach Response
- Speakers:
Jamie Berry, Integreon
Erika Nelson, Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd.
Sameer Ponkshe, Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP
Carla Silva, Sedgwick
Our expert panel will discuss the importance and benefits for having an integrated incident response plan once a cyber breach incident occurs. Beginning with the insurance carrier’s initial assessment of the cyber policy and specific coverage, including the importance of immediately arranging and holding a scoping call with breach counsel, insured, insurance carrier, and relevant forensics/collection and document review service providers. Presenters will discuss the critical issues to be addressed during the initial scoping call to include necessary steps, timeline, deadlines and entities to be notified of breach (different regulations by state, etc.). Discussions that need to be held up front with all parties regarding costs associated with and the process involving collection of data, data analysis, selection of appropriate vendor partners for handling of data analysis, review of data and notification process. The panel will also discuss the plan that should be put in place surrounding proper process and communications when your breach response involves a public entity. Additionally, if HIPPA laws are applicable depending on insured, if notification to FINRA is applicable and notification to local FBI agencies. How this varies for both domestic and international.
Cyber - Session 3 - The Need for Speed and the 5G Revolution: Balancing Innovation and Risk
- Speakers:
Gail Arkin, Berkley Cyber Risk Solutions
Lars Daniel, Envista Forensics
Kelly Geary, EPIC
Theodore Schaer, Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer & Toddy
The 5G revolution has arrived and it is changing the world. The relentless demand for speed fuels the rush of technologies into the market without considering risk. 5G technology provides more speed, connectivity, and power enhancing IoT devices and in turn creates greater reliance on IoT for just about anything imaginable. With 21 billion IoT devices worldwide, Jackware is the weapon of choice for ransomware attackers. Jackware gives hackers the power to “brick” anything from home security and robotics to critical infrastructure, operations of companies can be brought to a halt. Presenters will discuss the changing landscape of a claim in a 5G-powered, Jackware-threatened world. How can businesses take advantage of the potential for innovation brought by 5G technology, while protecting themselves and others from the vulnerabilities that high connectivity can create? And how can insurers evaluate this emerging risk to develop innovative insurance products?
Back to topCyber - Session 4 - Handling Cyber – An Insider Look at the Real World of Managing the Resolution of a Cyber Claim
- Speakers:
Christine Flammer, AXA XL
Lisa Jaffee, GB Specialty (Division of Gallagher Bassett)
Joseph Niemczyk, Markel Service, Incorporated
Stuart Panensky, FisherBroyles, LLP
The cyber insurance business is no longer a small niche of insurance, but an essential aspect of nearly every insurer’s selection of product offerings. What separates one cyber insurance policy from another is no longer just a matter of examining competing insuring agreements or definitions. More than ever, policyholders demand to know about the readiness, depth, and sophistication of the people that will actually be handling a cyber claim in the event of an occurrence. There is great value in a prepared cyber claim unit. An efficiently and appropriately handled cyber event reduces costs and mitigates future harm from regulatory investigations and third-party liability.
Back to topCyber - Session 5 - Cyber Insurance Market Trends and Risk Challenges
- Speakers:
Anthony Dolce, The Hartford
Peter Hedberg, Corvus Insurance Holdings, Inc.
Rachel Patrizzo, Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company
Christopher Seusing, Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP
The increase in cyber claims frequency and severity, especially ransomware claims over the past year, has significantly affected how insurance carriers approach cyber risks. The presenters will discuss the various types of cyber claims seen over the past year and the effect on the cyber insurance market, including increased scrutiny of data and information security safeguards and compliance with evolving industry and privacy regulations.
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