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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Insurance

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, January 26, 2021

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will educate counsel for insurers and policyholders on how courts have split on coverage issues and exclusions impacting business interruption coverage related to the 2020 pandemic. The program will guide counsel through emerging rationales for both extending or denying coverage or applying specific exclusions.

Faculty

Michael S. Levine
Partner
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Mr. Levine has more than 20 years of experience litigating insurance disputes and advising clients on insurance coverage matters. He represents and counsels policyholders in insurance recovery and business disputes. Mr. Levine also assists clients regarding claim evaluation and strategy, policy placement and endorsement and broker liability issues. In recent years, he has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients in matters involving virtually every type of insurance policy, including property, D&O, E&O, general liability, employment, environmental, and representations and warranties coverages. Mr. Levine has extensive experience with property damage, business interruption and extra expense claims in the U.S. and abroad, as well as reinsurance claims.

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Jeffrey S. Raskin
Partner
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Mr. Raskin is head of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Practice in the San Francisco office. He has represented clients involved in litigation, arbitration and mediation in matters related to insurance coverage, environmental disputes, and IP disputes, among others. Mr. Raskin has handled insurance matters seeking recovery for catastrophic losses in environmental, asbestos, silica, toxic tort, product liability, and securities cases.

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Joann M. Lytle
Partner
McCarter & English

Ms. Lytle represents corporate policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. She handles disputes involving commercial general liability, umbrella/excess liability, errors and omissions liability, directors and officers liability, and employment practices liability policies. She represents policyholders in litigation, arbitration and mediation and provides insurance coverage advice and counseling to her clients. She also handles commercial litigation matters.

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Description

Insurers everywhere have denied claims for business losses related to the 2020 pandemic or the governments' response. Policyholders have responded by filing suit. The result is a split among state and federal courts nationwide over what types of policies offer coverage and what plaintiffs must allege and prove to survive motions to dismiss or for summary judgment.

Since most policies require that a covered event involve "direct physical damage," the first hurdle policyholders must clear is proving that coverage is triggered. Plaintiffs have developed some compelling arguments in their favor.

Assuming coverage is triggered, then both the insurance company and the policyholder must navigate several exclusions, such as those for "viruses," "pollution and contamination," and "communicable diseases."

Listen as this experienced panel discusses the split among state and federal courts nationwide over what types of policies offer coverage and various exclusions based on the type of policy, specific policy language, and even policy considerations.

Outline

  1. First-party property insurance policies
    • Business interruption coverage
    • Contingent business interruption coverage
  2. Exclusions and exceptions to exclusions
    • Virus
    • Pollution, contamination, microbe
    • Biologic agents
    • Communicable disease
    • Public policy objections to virus exclusion

Benefits

This panel will explore these and other key questions:

  • What is "direct physical loss" that will trigger business interruption coverage?
  • How are courts interpreting the language of relevant exclusions?
  • Are a communicable disease coverage grant and a contamination exclusion mutually exclusive?
  • Does the virus exclusion apply if the "virus" is only one of several concurrent causes of loss?
  • Does the virus exclusion apply if a business is closed to prevent contamination?
  • Are there any public policy arguments against a virus coverage exclusion?