Notable Professional Liability Insurance Decisions of 2024

This session examines how courts address prejudice requirements when insurers deny coverage based on late notice. Key cases from Massachusetts, Michigan, and West Virginia illustrate varying approaches to timely notification obligations and the burden-shifting frameworks courts apply.

Explore how courts determine whether claims are related, including Delaware’s meaningful linkage standard from the Alexion case. Learn how factors like identity of claimants, timing, and procedural grouping influence relatedness determinations and policy period allocation.

This session covers the two-part subjective-objective test courts apply to prior knowledge exclusions. Through legal malpractice and other professional liability cases, discover why an insured’s subjective belief that no claim would arise is rarely determinative.

Examine how retroactive dates and prior litigation exclusions affect coverage for wrongful acts spanning multiple policy periods. This session addresses the interplay between prior acts provisions and claims that straddle key policy dates.

Review how courts interpret exclusions for dishonest acts and improper personal profit in D&O and professional liability policies. Understand the conditions precedent that must be satisfied before these exclusions bar coverage.

The Beasley versus Foster Poultry Farms case demonstrates how unjust enrichment claims may be excluded through antitrust exclusions rather than loss definitions. Learn to analyze restitutionary damages by examining multiple policy provisions beyond the definition of loss.

This session addresses when individuals qualify as insureds under D&O and professional liability policies. Explore how the capacity in which an insured acts affects whether coverage applies to specific claims.

Examine how courts apply exclusions for claims between insureds, including the Divina Water and Walker County Hospital cases. Learn how bankruptcy contexts and technical arguments about insured status affect the exclusion’s application.

Review how contractual liability exclusions operate in D&O and professional liability contexts. This session covers the distinction between claims arising from breach of contract versus those involving independent tortious conduct.

Through cases involving law firm billing practices and trust account management, explore what constitutes professional services. Learn how courts distinguish between activities requiring professional skill and those incidental to professional practice.

This session covers when insureds are entitled to independent counsel at the insurer’s expense. Examine the conflicts of interest that trigger independent counsel rights and applicable fee limitations.

Review insurer obligations to advance defense costs during ongoing litigation before coverage determinations are final. This session addresses the tension between prompt defense funding and preservation of coverage defenses.

Examine how courts allocate defense costs and settlements between covered and uncovered claims or parties. Learn the various methodologies courts apply when claims involve both insured and uninsured elements.

Through California, Florida, and Massachusetts decisions, discover the varying requirements for insurers seeking reimbursement of defense costs. Learn why specificity in reservation of rights letters and adherence to jurisdictional procedures is critical.

This session covers limitations on consent provisions, including Indiana’s rule permitting post-loss assignment without insurer consent. The Hawkins case illustrates how non-defending insurers may challenge settlement reasonableness while being barred from relitigating the merits.