In the following guest post, the guest authors examine issues relating to the Professional Services Exclusion found in many private company D&O insurance policies. This article was co-authored by Matthew Schweiger, AVP Claims, D&O Management Professional Liability, Core Specialty, Jerry Grenon, AVP, Management and Professional Liability, Core Specialty, Elan Kandel, Member, Bailey Cavalieri LLC and James Young, Of Counsel, Bailey Cavalieri LLC. I would like to thank the authors for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is the authors’ article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Professional Services: Where Do You Draw the Line?
Guest Post: Is it Time to Revisit the Scope of D&O Coverage?
In the following guest post, John McCarrick and Paul Schiavone propose that as D&O insurers seek to return to profitability by raising prices, the insurers should also revisit many of the coverage extensions that have become standard in recent years. The authors present a “wish list” of specific items they suggest insurers might want to consider; the list itself is the result of the authors’ “anonymous survey” of insurer-side professionals. My commentary on the authors’ proposals follows below. John is a partner in the law firm White and Williams LLP and leads the Firm’s Financial Lines Practice Group. Paul is a Senior Vice President at Allianz, and is the Global Head of Alternative Risk Transfer and North American Head of Corporate Long Tail Lines. I would like to thank John and Paul for allowing me to publish their article on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is John and Paul’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Is it Time to Revisit the Scope of D&O Coverage?
Thinking About Exceptions and Alterations to the Insured vs. Insured Exclusion
Among the terms and conditions typically found in a D&O insurance policy is the so-called “Insured vs. Insured” exclusion, which precludes coverage for claims brought by one insured against another insured. The exclusion often figures in D&O insurance coverage disputes, as I have frequently noted on this blog. While the exclusion broadly precludes coverage for an entire category of claims, the exclusion often also has exceptions that preserve coverage for certain types of claims that would otherwise be excluded.
In a recent case in the Northern District of California, a D&O insurance policyholder tried to argue that the underlying claim came within one of the standard coverage carve-backs typically found in this type of exclusion, a provision preserving coverage for derivative claims. In a September 26, 2016 order (here), Northern District of California Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., applying California law, held that the Insured vs. Insured Exclusion applied to preclude coverage and that the underlying lawsuit did not come within the coverage carve-back. The parties’ dispute and the court’s ruling provide a useful backdrop to think about the exclusion and alternative wordings that are sometimes available in the marketplace.
Continue Reading Thinking About Exceptions and Alterations to the Insured vs. Insured Exclusion