BarbriSFCourseDetails
  1. keyboard_arrow_leftBack

Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Environmental

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, December 9, 2020

  • 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

This CLE course will guide counsel to companies seeking insurance recovery for environmental liabilities. The panel will offer strategies for recovery under general liability and specialized insurance policies when environmental issues arise.

Faculty

Merrill Anthony
Shareholder
Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.

Mr. Merrill assists clients in obtaining insurance coverage for policyholders on catastrophic commercial claims. While he has extensive experience in latent or long-tail environmental, property damage and bodily injury claims, he also represents clients in connection with civil disputes involving cyber insurance coverage, D&O claims, large loss property and fire claims, insolvent insurance carriers, reinsurance, specialty risk lines, retrospective premiums and data security.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio
Horkovich Robert
Shareholder
Anderson Kill

Mr. Horkovich has obtained over $8 billion in settlements and judgments from insurance companies for his clients. He is a trial lawyer with substantial experience in trying complex insurance coverage actions on behalf of corporate policyholders and governmental entities. Mr. Horkovic’s victories include one of the top 10 jury verdicts in the United States, the top insurance recovery jury verdict in the United States, seven landmark state Supreme Court decisions, eight jury verdicts and nine bench trial decisions in favor of the policyholder including engaging on several significant projects by the United Nations as its general insurance counsel and the state of California where Anderson Kill served as lead trial in the state's suit against dozens of insurance companies over coverage for cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid Pits (what a federal court described as the most complex environmental clean-up in the world). Mr. Horkovich is a frequent author and lecturer on insurance recovery topics.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio
Scott Kennon
Shareholder
Stoel Rives LLP

Ms. Scott assists clients in various stages of complex commercial litigation and arbitration. She has experience representing clients in commercial contract and insurance coverage disputes, shareholder class and derivative actions, and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court. Ms. Scott also has experience representing clients in government investigations of alleged FCPA violations, and reviewing and assessing client compliance programs and internal control functions.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio

Description

Environmental liabilities and related costs are a significant threat to a business's bottom line, and insurance coverage is a crucial source for recovery.

Insurance recovery to offset costs of environmental liability can be difficult, and policyholders face several hurdles. Policyholders may have to determine which policy or policies may cover defense and indemnity. The number of occurrences can have a significant impact on the total recovery.

Because most policies have limits related to occurrences, the definition of occurrence may determine how many times the insurance policy limits will apply to pay for a loss. Similarly, the number of occurrences may affect the number of deductibles applicable to a given claim.

Companies and their counsel should consider factors such as occurrences, exclusions, trigger issues, and covered damages. Counsel should prepare to counter insurers that try to allocate expenditures to the policyholder, general liability policies with another insurer, or specialized policies for environmental impairment liability, pollution legal liability, and remediation cost-cap policies.

Defense costs also can be considerable. Defense costs may be covered even if indemnity is not. What consultants and defense activities qualify as defense costs and what is and is not covered as a defense cost may make a big difference in your recovery.

Listen as our authoritative panel provides tactics for policyholders of general liability insurance policies and specialized policies to maximize recovery. The panel will examine the factors that should be considered, including exclusions and triggers, when evaluating insurance policies for recovery.

Outline

  1. Considerations for companies and counsel
    • Whether cleanup costs are covered damages
    • What exclusions apply
    • What is property under the care, custody, or control of the policyholder?
    • What is an occurrence?
    • When does insurance coverage begin and end (trigger issues)?
    • What is covered as a defense cost?
  2. Strategies for recovery
    • CGL policies
    • Specialized policies

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How can policyholders maximize recovery for environmental liabilities?
  • What factors should companies and counsel consider when assessing the potential for insurance recovery?
  • What environmental costs are likely to be treated as covered damages?