New York Marriott Downtown
85 West Street
New York , NY 10006
Michael Handler and Irene Yesowitch of the Global Insurance Department will be presenting at this interactive conference, which give attendees an opportunity to network with their peers in detailed discussions from both claims and legal perspectives on a broad range of essential and timely topics. CLM New York brings together industry professionals and thought leaders for sessions in three tracks — Insurance Coverage, Extra-Contractual, and Claims/Litigation Management. Top insurance leaders and outside counsel will share their insights on challenges and issues on important industry topics.
Michael will be presenting on Insurance Coverage - Enforceability of Forum Selection and Choice of Law Clauses in Coverage and Extra-Contractual Disputes:
Insurance contracts increasingly contain bargained-for forum selection provisions addressing whether disputes between the insurer and insured must be resolved in a designated state’s courts, or whether the parties must enter into binding or non-binding dispute resolution. Although supported by US Supreme Court authority, forum selection agreements are nevertheless often subject to challenges or even competing proceedings, for which insurers’ claims representatives and their counsel must be prepared. Similarly, one of the first questions for a claims representative to answer, upon receiving notice of a claim, is which state’s law will apply. Here too, ostensibly clear contractual choice of law provisions are challenged and the results can vary, depending at times on the type of claim involved and whether claims handling or contract interpretation alone is at issue.
Our panelists will draw from their experiences with insurance policies and endorsements. They will point out the importance of key differences in policy language and fact situations. They will identify both supporting and challenging case law that claims representatives need to be aware of, to anticipate and efficiently resolve Choice of Forum clause, Alternative Dispute Resolution clause and Choice of Law controversies.
Irene will be presenting on Insurance Coverage - Can't We Agree to Disagree and Save Money? A New Approach to the Use of Intercompany Dispute Resolution Agreements
The costs associated with transferring the risk to other insurers as well as enforcing rights and obligations as between primary and excess insurers are continuing to skyrocket without any “game changer” in sight. This panel, after briefly acknowledging the legal duties owed between and amongst insurers, will propose a model utilizing intercompany dispute resolution agreements that could save insurers literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. The panel will then facilitate a discussion, through the use of case studies, soliciting opinions, comments, and criticisms from the claims, litigation and legal professionals in the room. The goal would be to identify the necessary elements to implement the “game changer.”