Understanding Insurance Law 2009

Overview

Recently admitted NY attorneys: This program is accredited for transitional CLE credit

Why You Should Attend

Understanding Insurance Law 2009 is both an introduction to insurance law and an update on current developments in insurance law. Far from a static field with well-settled case law and longstanding regulations and statutes, each year brings new insurance regulations, statutes and cases. Moreover, with rapidly developing exposures emerging from everything from subprime lending to imports from China, insuring risks has never been more complex. At this program, our faculty will provide an overview of the recent developments in all areas of insurance law, from reinsurance to products liability and from federal chartering to the potential for significant health care changes following the election of a new President and a new Congress.

What You Will Learn

• Receive in-depth analyses and updates on the most common coverages including: general liability, property, health, life and D&O policies
• Get an important primer on the mechanics of insurance regulation
• Explore the fundamentals of reinsurance and the different types of reinsurance arrangements
• Get practical advice on:
   - avoiding the common pitfalls in litigating coverage disputes
   - procuring insurance, using intermediaries and tendering claims
• Identify the insurance products available for a variety of unique risks

Who Should Attend

This program will provide a comprehensive overview of insurance law for industry personnel, along with an update on the latest developments. Legal and claims personnel, in-house counsel, risk managers, human resource specialists, insurance brokers and intermediaries, self-insureds and third-party administrators, as well as attorneys practicing in insurance, reinsurance, litigation and corporate law, will benefit from this program.

Special Features

Live Webcast - Simultaneous live webcast of the New York session is available for individual viewing. Webcast participants will receive streaming audio and/or video of the program, view and print the Course Handbook, and have the ability to submit questions electronically.

For more information click on the Live Webcast link in the Related Items box.

Special Bonus to all Registrants

All attendees receive a complimentary copy of PLI's comprehensive Course Handbook. This softcover, bound volume was written to augment this program and to stand alone as a permanent reference. PLI's Course Handbooks represent the definitive thinking of the nation's finest legal minds, and are often the standard reference in the field.

Please Note: Webcast attendees will receive a downloadable version of the Handbook one business day prior to the program.

PLI Group Discounts

Groups of 4-14 from the same organization, all registering at the same time, for a PLI program scheduled for presentation at the same site, are entitled to receive a group discount. For further discount information, please contact membership@pli.edu or call (800) 260-4PLI.

PLI Can Arrange Group Viewing to Your Firm

Contact the Groupcasts Department via email at groupcasts@pli.edu for more details. 

Cancellations

All cancellations received 3 business days prior to the program will be refunded 100%. If you do not cancel within the allotted time period, payment is due in full. You may substitute another individual to attend the program at any time.

Schedule

Morning Session: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

9:00  Introduction and Opening Remarks

Suzan F. Charlton, Laura A. Foggan

9:15  General Liability Insurance

• Developing issues concerning the scope of, and limits to, the duty to defend
• Determining who is insured
• Defining indemnity obligations
• "Hot Topics" - key coverage issues and claim trends under CGL coverages

Laura A. Foggan

10:15  Umbrella and Excess Insurance

• What is the difference between umbrella and excess insurance?
• "Follow form"
• Special issues for long tail claims:  number of occurrences, aggregate limits, and basic allocation and contribution concepts

Bert Wells

11:15  Break

11:30  Property Insurance

• Analysis of the core first-party coverages, including property damage and business interruption, as well as common coverage extensions, such as civil authority and dependent property
• Issues surrounding burden of proof and documenting the loss
• Lessons learned from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
• Avoiding problems by selecting appropriate policy wording

Richard P. Lewis

12:30  Lunch

Afternoon Session: 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

1:30  Product Liability Insurance and Directors & Officers Liability 

• Product Liability Insurance
  - Basics of product liability insurance - forms and terms
  - What is a "product," as opposed to an "operation"?
  - How aggregate limits apply
  - Insurance coverage for product recalls
• Directors & Officers Liability
  - Common insuring agreements and exclusions
  - Severability clauses - broad and broader
  - Priority of payments provisions
  - Presumptive indemnification - issues and answers
  - "Side A Coverage" - necessary or not?
  - Current issues: subprime, financial crisis, and more

Suzan F. Charlton, Cara Tseng Duffield

3:00  Break

3:15  Errors & Omissions Coverage and State Regulation of Insurance

• Errors & Omissions Coverage
  - What is E&O insurance?
  - Defining "damages"
  - Coverage for "international acts"
  - Defense of counterclaims
  - Hot topics in E&O now
• State Regulation of Insurance
  - Solvency - financial, holding company, investments, reinsurance
  - Market conduct - product regulation, unfair trade and claims practices
  - Intermediaries - producers, MGAs and TPAs
  - Enforcement actions
  - NAIC - what it is and what it does
  - Receivership and guaranty funds

Marsha Brown, Matthew L. Jacobs

5:00  Adjourn

Second Day: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Morning Session: 9:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

9:00  Life Insurance Fundamentals and Emerging Issues

• Risk transfer, insurable interest, and adverse selection
• Types of life policies and their uses
• Product design, pricing and contract terms
• Investor and corporate owned life insurance

Steven Kass

10:00  Health Insurance Fundamentals

• How healthcare insurance differs from other insurance
• State versus federal regulation of health insurance
• Overview of Medicare and Medicaid
• What employers need to know about ERISA
• Healthcare claims and litigation: tips and pitfalls

Chandra Westergaard

11:00  Break

11:15  Workers' Compensation Insurance

• Fundamentals of Workers' Compensation
• Trends in Workers' Compensation Law
• Runaway narcotics and fraud claims
• Enforcement measures to recoup fraud losses

Rudolph L. Rose

12:15  Lunch

Afternoon Session: 1:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

1:15  Reinsurance Principles and Federal Government Involvement in Insurance

• Reinsurance Principles
  - The fundamentals of reinsurance coverage
  - Economic reasons insurers seek reinsurance coverage
  - Methods insurers employ when placing reinsurance
  - Alternative structures and types of reinsurance arrangements
  - Developing trends in reinsurance dispute resolution principles
• Federal Government Involvement in Insurance
  - Proposals for Federal Regulation
  - Insurance Information Office Proposals
  - Existing federal areas of involvement

Deirdre G. Johnson, J. Stephen Zielezienski

3:00  Break

3:15  Insurance Issues in Transactions and Brokers and Agents

• Insurance issues in transactions
  - Insurance products available in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and other corporate transactions
  - 2008 update on transaction-specific coverages
  - Case studies on buyer/seller representations and warranties insurance, tax insurance, litigation buyouts and environmental insurance
  - Considerations in negotiating a transactional insurance policy
• Brokers and agents
  - Role of agent/broker in the procurement of coverage
  - Obligations of an agent to the insurance company
  - Obligations of a broker to the client/policyholder
  - Role of agents/brokers in the claims process
  - Recent case law developments involving liability claims against agents and brokers
  - Recent statutory developments involving claims against insurance agents and brokers

Mary M. Duffy, Priya Cherian Huskins, Clark Morton

5:00  Adjourn

Faculty

Co-Chair(s)

Suzan F. Charlton, Covington & Burling LLP
Laura A. Foggan, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP
Richard P. Lewis, Reed Smith LLP

Speaker(s)

Marsha Brown, Regulatory Affairs Counsel, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC)
Priya S. Cherian Huskins, Senior Vice President, Woodruff Sawyer & Co.
Cara Tseng Duffield, Wiley Rein LLP
Mary M. Duffy, Managing Director, Aon Private Equity & Transaction Solutions
Matthew L. Jacobs, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
Deirdre G. Johnson, Crowell & Moring LLP
Steven Kass, Jorden Burt LLP
Clark Morton, Vice President, Woodruff Sawyer & Co.
Rudolph L. Rose, Semmes, Bowen & Semmes
Bert Wells, Covington & Burling LLP
Chandra Westergaard, Crowell & Moring
J. Stephen Zielezienski, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, American Insurance Association

Program Attorney(s)

Stacey L. Greenblatt, Practising Law Institute

CLE Credit

Travel Information

New York City Seminar Location

PLI New York Center, 810 Seventh Avenue at 53rd Street (21st floor), New York, New York 10019. Message Center, program days only: (212) 824-5733.

New York City Hotel Accommodations

The New York Hilton & Towers, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. 1 block from PLI Center. Reservations 1-800-HILTONS or, 1-877-NYC-HILT. Please mention that you are booking a room under the Practising Law Institute Corporate rate and the Client File # is N495741. Reservations on line at www.hilton.com and enter the same Client File # in the Corporate ID # field to access Practising Law Institute rates.

The Warwick New York Hotel, 65 West 54th Street New York, NY 10019. 1 block from PLI Center. Reservations 800-223-4099 or, hotel direct 212-247-2700. Please mention that you are booking a room under the Practising Law Institute Corporate rate. Reservations on line at www.warwickhotelny.com Click reservations in menu bar on left. Select desired dates. In 'Special Rates' drop down window select Corporate Rate. In 'Rate Code' enter PLIN. Click search and select desired room type and rate plan. Or, you may email reservation requests to: res.ny@warwickhotels.com.