Palmer House Hilton
17 East Monroe
Chicago, IL 60603
Julia Molander and Janet Davis, of the Global Insurance Department, will be presenting at the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (ACCEC) 5th Annual Meeting on food recall claims and class actions. This three-day conference allows attendees to hear from leading industry professionals on a variety of topics, such as cyber liability, Global Implications from Climate Change, D&O entity coverage, and much more.
Julia's panel is titled "Keeping Your 'Food Recall Insurance' Fresh." Food companies need to prepare for the inevitable food recall. In support of in-house prevention programs, food companies should strive for a comprehensive “food recall insurance” program with few or no gaps. The insurance program should not only provide for defense and indemnity when liability policies are triggered, but can also cover first-party property losses, give directors and officers a safety net in case of allegations of wrongdoing, provide outside crisis management experts and legal support, and even link companies with catastrophe centers designed to be ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Insurance policies to be explored are the CGL (primary/ excess), property, marine cargo, D&O, PCI and Supplier's CGL (as additional insured).
Janet will be participating on a panel titled Building Product Class Actions — Coverage Under the Roof? The trend in building product class cases is against certification, but Rule 23 creates room to certify at least a liability-only class. Duty to defend issues: is anything sought by the class beyond product replacement? How do insurers over 20-30 years share the cost? Are $1,000/hr lawyers required to defend these cases? Does a settlement class make sense? Is settlement the policyholder's or the insurers' call? How do liability insurers fit into a settlement package a court will approve? Are the costs of administering a settlement fund defense costs? Is there a way to minimize the cost — both to the policyholder and to the insurers — of these actions without motivating the class action bar to file additional cases?
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The American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (ACCEC) brings together pre-eminent lawyers representing the interests of both insurers and policyholders to improve the quality of the practice of insurance law and to increase civility and professionalism in our field. Their mission includes educating all sectors involved in insurance disputes — including the judiciary, legal and insurance professionals, and businesses — on critical topics such as best practices in policy formation and claims handling, developing trends in insurance law, and bad faith.