Kari A. Timm is a panelist for “The Impact of Cyber Terrorism on the Insurance Process: What Is It, How Do You Recognize It, and What Impact Does It Have on the Lifecycle of Insurance?” at the 2016 CLM Cyber Liability Summit.  The summit will be held on October 5, 2016 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York, New York. The Claims and Litigation Management...

BatesCarey LLP is pleased to announce that partners Robert J. Bates, Jr., Scott L. Carey, and Mark G. Sheridan were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© in the field of Insurance Law. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best...

BatesCarey LLP is pleased to announce that Who’s Who Legal, an independent London-based publishing group, has listed Robert J. Bates, Jr. in its 2016 International Guide as one of the five “Most Highly Regarded Individuals” in the United States in the area of Insurance and Reinsurance, and among the top 15 legal practitioners worldwide. Bob is a founding partner of...

Jason P. Minkin and Dominic Spinelli highlight four recent professional liability decisions. The topics addressed are: whether breach of contract and wage and hour claims allege injury arising out of “any negligent act, error or omission” necessary to trigger employee benefits liability coverage; whether third-party negligence claims by an insured against an insurance...

The international research firm, Chambers and Partners, has announced that BatesCarey LLP is ranked as one of the elite eight law firms in Illinois in the area of  Insurance: Dispute Resolution.  Chambers’ worldwide research also awarded individual ranking recognition for attorneys Robert J. Bates, Jr., Scott L. Carey, and Adam H. Fleischer. The USA 2016 Rankings describe...

The Superior Court of Georgia for Fulton County has ruled in favor of a BatesCarey LLP client, holding that a contract exclusion in a D&O Policy unambiguously excluded coverage for Subscription Agreements valued at $1.7 million. An insurer issued a duty-to-defend, Private Company Management Liability Insurance Policy to the insured.  The policy contained a Directors,...

BatesCarey LLP partner Adam H. Fleischer will be a featured presenter at the upcoming 2016 Swiss Re Americas Claim Conference, “Navigating the Future.”  Adam’s topic “Autonomous Vehicles: Will The Coverage and Claims Issues Drive You Crazy?” is sure to be informative and dynamic.  Other topics will include 3D Printing, Hydrofracking, Medical Marijuana, and more!

Pollution claims continue to increase in number and complexity, as do the coverage issues they raise.  In particular, courts across the county have struggled to determine whether the standard pollution exclusion should only apply to actual harm to environmental resources, or whether it may also apply to harmful contaminants in a basement or scents across a neighbor's land.  Click Here for our most recent 50-state survey addressing these issues!

In recent months, courts have issued numerous decisions impacting both the liability exposures frequently seen on the professional liability front, as well as the insurance coverage issues arising from those liabilities. To keep you abreast of these developments, we provide here a summary of those recent professional liability decisions.

In recent months, courts in various jurisdictions have been expanding the traditional "four corners" rule to determine whether an insurer must defend a complaint against the insureds.  Those courts have taken great liberties in assuming that certain facts could have been pled, which then triggers coverage. David J. Buishas takes a look at these recent cases and summarizes them here for your consideration.