Directors & Officers (D&O) liability insurance protects the board members and officers of organizations against certain specified claims. Insurance defense law firms that defend insureds and their insurance carriers in management liability, corporate law, and employment practices liability (EPLI) claims often ask themselves “how can I get on a D&O insurance panel?” The challenge many […]
Auto Liability Panels & Car Safety
Defense counsel on auto liability panels for automotive insurance carriers may already be noticing the favorable impact of recent car safety advances. New automotive safety features—such as lane-keep assist, automatic emergency braking, and sensors that alert drivers to surrounding threats—are helping motorists avoid collisions that might otherwise have occurred. U.S. roadway deaths have decreased for […]
Amazon Shifts Liability to Contractors
Amazon “delivery service partners” are required to sign agreements that “defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Amazon” in the event of an accident, according to a September 5, 2019 article jointly published by ProPublica and the New York Times. Contractors must assume the responsibility for “all loss or damage to personal property or bodily harm including […]
Sedgwick Acquires York
Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. just strengthened its position as a leader in claims and productivity management solutions to major employers with its acquisition of York Risk Services Group. The acquisition was completed on September 4, 2019. Current and past Sedgwick clients include Fortune 100 companies such as Target, Kroger, FedEx, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, […]
Lyft Insurance Strategy Revealed in IPO Filing
Lyft allots $863.7 million to a subsidiary for restricted reinsurance trust investments used to protect the company against liability claims. The disclosure is found in one short section of the S-1 initial public offering (IPO) document filed by Lyft with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2019. The securities filing sheds some […]
Payless Panel Counsel Program Ends in Bankruptcy
Payless Holdings LLC, parent company of Payless ShoeSource Inc., filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years on February 18, 2019. The company plans to close all 2,500 stores in North America and lay-off most of its 16,000 employees. Locations in Latin America are not included in the bankruptcy and will reportedly remain […]
Scooter Liability and Insurance Coverage
Startups such as Bird, Lime, Skip, Spin, and Scoot offering electric scooter-rental services have grown in popularity this past year, giving rise to scooter liability concerns. A scooter is classified as a light two-wheeled, open motor vehicle with a low-powered gasoline (or electric) engine that powers the device. The rider stands or sits on the […]
Top 10 Causes of Insurance Claims and Loss
Fires, explosions, aviation, and faulty workmanship top the list of insurance losses as measured by total value, according to a new Global Claims Review published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) which addresses more than 75 percent of the financial losses in over 200 countries from 2013 to 2018. The report identifies five major […]
Law Firm Cybersecurity Risks
Foley & Lardner revealed the existence of a cyber-attack in October 2018, and worked quickly to assure clients that no confidential data was compromised. As this incident illustrates, law firms are not immune to cyber threats. To prevent unauthorized access to client information, law firms are protecting themselves by adopting strict law firm cybersecurity policies […]
The Case for Business Development
Marketing and business development campaigns are often a low priority at many insurance defense law firms. The day-to-day demands of an insurance defense caseload come first, as they should. The risk, however, is that the managing partner and other shareholders never find sufficient time to devote to identifying and cultivating new accounts. This approach works […]
