Specialty Lines

Expert Analysis

• Reach Of Ohio Ransomware Ruling Limited To Policy At Hand

  

  While an Ohio appellate court's recent decision allowing the insured's ransomware attack claim to proceed in EMOI Services v. Owners Insurance may seem significant for insurance jurisprudence, it should not have implications beyond policies specifically insuring damage to software, says Jane Warring at Zelle.

• D&O Insurance Lessons From The Rise And Fall Of Theranos

  

  After the fall of Theranos and the recent criminal conviction of founder Elizabeth Holmes, startups seeking to protect their directors and officers from exposure to personal liability should consider how eye-popping company valuations and other changes to the startup landscape will affect their D&O policies, say Lilit Asadourian and Kathryn Bayes at Reed Smith.

• Flawed NY Insurance Law Needs Amendments

  

  The New York Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, recently signed by the governor, imposes a multitude of problematic disclosure obligations on defendant-insureds, which the Legislature should — and likely will — seriously consider modifying or eliminating, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

• Beyond Insurance: Mitigating Cyber Risk In 2022

  

  As insurers move to higher premiums and less coverage for cyberattacks, companies should consider restructuring their risk mitigation strategies for the upcoming year to lessen their reliance on insurance support for data security issues, say professionals at StoneTurn.

• Justices May Hesitate To Review Calif. Fraud Coverage Case

  

  In Adir International v. Starr Indemnity, the policyholders are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review their challenge of a California law prohibiting insurers from defending insureds in certain consumer protection claims, but the court may not be ready to decide the issue at this time, says Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.

• NY Case Shows Insurance Possibility For SEC Disgorgements

  

  Directors and officers insurers almost invariably deny coverage for payments described as disgorgements in settlement agreements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but the recent decision of New York's highest court in J.P. Morgan v. Vigilant demonstrates how policyholders can negotiate an insurable settlement with the SEC, say Stephen Weisbrod and Tamra Ferguson at Weisbrod Matteis.

• JP Morgan Ruling May Have Broad Insurance Implications

  

  The New York Court of Appeals' recent decision in J.P. Morgan Securities v. Vigilant Insurance — that settlement funds paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not constitute a penalty for insurance purposes — could have far-reaching application in other types of insurance litigation where plaintiffs could be characterized as seeking equitable relief, say Robert Shulman and Cristen Rose at Paley Rothman.

• Insurance Tips For Mitigating DOJ Cyber Initiative Risks

  

  For companies and executives involved in False Claims Act actions alleging cybersecurity failures like those envisioned by the U.S. Department of Justice's new cyber fraud initiative, certain insurance policies could help defray the substantial costs of defense and even settlement liability, say attorneys at Hunton.

• M&A Rulings Provide Guidance On 'Bump-Up' Claim Coverage

  

  As M&A activity continues to surge, several recent federal court decisions can guide companies in structuring their insurance programs and assessing whether so-called bump-up claims arising from particular M&A transactions may be covered, say Robin Cohen and Orrie Levy at Cohen Ziffer.

• BIPA Ruling Should Aid Insurers In Privacy Claims

  

  Massachusetts Bay Insurance v. Impact Fulfillment Services, a recent decision by a North Carolina federal court finding that a Biometric Information Privacy Act claim was precluded under an insurance exclusion, represents a potentially significant win for insurers due to its broadly applicable contract interpretation, say Joshua Polster and Conor Mercadante at Simpson Thacher.

• Insurers Should Honor Astroworld Coverage Obligations

  

  While insurers may be eager to shift blame on Astroworld showrunner Travis Scott for conditions that resulted in 10 deaths and dozens of injuries, arguments suggesting the tragedy shouldn't be covered appear baseless in light of the facts and the law, says Benjamin Massarsky at Miller Friel.

• Ransomware Case Signifies Shift In Cyber Insurers' Stance

  

  The pleadings in a recently settled California federal court case, Boardriders v. Great American Insurance, show that cyber insurers are taking an adversarial approach to ransomware-related claims in the wake of increasing attacks, so policyholders should anticipate new policy language, claim-payment avoidance and more, say Lynda Bennett and Michael Scales at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Cyber Rulings Aren't Helping COVID Biz Interruption Cases

  

  Where policyholders have recently tried to draw comparison between the loss of property use from a COVID-19 shutdown order and the loss of data use from a ransomware attack, they have found courts unsympathetic to these arguments for business interruption insurance coverage, say Jane Warring and Kristian Smith at Zelle.