Insurance

Expert Analysis

• Testing The UBE: Show-Me State Benefits From Uniform Bar Exam

  

  We in Missouri do not take lightly to new trends or frothy ideas. Yet, the uniform bar exam has allowed us to meet the challenges of an increasingly mobile legal profession and the changing needs of clients, and to ensure that a newly admitted attorney has the knowledge, character and fitness to practice in the Show-Me State, says Jim Nowogrocki, president of the Board of Law Examiners in Missouri — the first state to adopt the UBE.

• Contra Proferentem Doesn't Always Mean 'Against The Insurer'

  

  It makes little sense to apply the doctrine of contra proferentem to insurers where the contract language at issue has been agreed to by sophisticated parties, and it makes no sense at all to apply the doctrine to contract language drafted by a broker working on behalf of an insured, say Paul Sullivan and Jeffrey Gordon at Zelle LLP.

• NY High Court's Ambac Decision Causes Litigation Confusion

  

  The New York Court of Appeals' recent decision in Ambac Assurance v. Countrywide Home Loans — limiting the common interest privilege — conflicts with the law of many other jurisdictions and creates significant uncertainties for commercial actors in subsequent litigation, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.

• REBUTTAL: NY Joins Everyone Else On Insurance Allocation

  

  Timothy Kevane’s recent Law360 guest article depicting the New York Court of Appeals' decision in Viking Pump as a “break” with an alleged nationwide “trend” toward pro rata allocation is totally at odds with the real trend of decisions finding noncumulation provisions incompatible with pro rata allocation, say John Winsbro and Elizabeth Sherwin at McKool Smith PC.

• How Law Firms Can Create Next-Generation Office Spaces

  

  Law firms today are recognizing that the process of creating a next-generation workplace is far more complex than relocating to a more modern space in a trendier part of town. The challenge is more significant for larger firms with multiple generations represented within their executive teams, says Tere Blanca, founder of Miami-based Blanca Commercial Real Estate Inc.

• Va. District Court Shelters Insurers From Attys' Prior Acts

  

  A Virginia district court recently enforced the validity of prior acts dates in legal malpractice policies by looking to the acts that gave rise to the liability, rather than to acts continuing the attorney-client relationship after the client’s cause of action had already accrued, say Gary Seligman and Laura Lee Miller at Wiley Rein LLP.

• As Science Evolves, So Must Political Risk Insurance

  

  In recent years, traditional political risk insurance coverage has proved insufficient to address the increasing needs and specific risk factors of life sciences companies, giving surplus lines insurance markets the opportunity to craft new and unique forms of coverage, says Zachary Lerner at Locke Lord LLP.

• NY's Latest Position On Unauthorized Insurance Co. Taxation

  

  The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance recently issued two advisory opinions determining that unauthorized nonlife insurance corporations are subject to insurance franchise tax instead of premium tax, a position that is arguably improper, says Andrew Appleby of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.

• Can Courts Review The Sandy Claims Review Process?

  

  While the statute of limitations has run for policyholders who want to litigate their initial Sandy insurance claim determinations, the unique nature of the failed Sandy claims review process may have reset the clock for legal redress in the courts, says Douglas Pepe at Joseph Hage Aaronson LLC.

• 3 Ways To Make Reinsurance Arbitrations Faster And Cheaper

  

  There is no single, perfect solution for reducing the length and expense of reinsurance arbitration proceedings, but there are a number of ways that parties to an arbitration can save both time and money, while still achieving a thoughtful resolution, says Samantha Krasner at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.