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Bad Faith Litigation and Ignorance of the Law: Meeting an Insurer's Duty to Know the Law Without Losing Privileges

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

1:00pm-2:30pm EDT, 10:00am-11:30am PDT

Early Registration Discount Deadline, Friday, August 1, 2025

or call 1-800-926-7926

This CLE webinar will discuss an insurance company's duty to know the law, the duty to explain denial of claims, what an adequate and proper claim denial looks like, how these duties affect the assertion of privilege, and how to stem erosion of evidentiary privileges in bad faith litigation.

Description

Claim adjusters must have at least a baseline understanding of the relevant state's law necessary to perform their duties of reviewing claims and explaining the reasons for denying a claim. Ignorance of the law will not save an insurer from a bad faith claim for improper denial. But adjusters must be careful not to engage in the unlicensed practice of law.

If adjusters lack this basic understanding of the law, they must seek out those with the requisite tools and knowledge, who are frequently claims coverage counsel. Current trends and decisions, however, have eroded insurers' ability to assert attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine for coverage counsel's files, making them discoverable in the most mundane of cases.

Insurance companies should understand—and make sure their claims handlers and counsel understand—the boundary lines between privileged legal work and discoverable claims handling. Policyholder counsel should likewise understand when it makes sense to challenge insurer attempts to protect ordinary course claims handling documents or communications using the attorney-client privilege (or work product protection).

Listen as this experienced panel discusses the insurance company's duty to know the law, the duty to explain denial of claims, what an adequate and proper claim denial looks like, and how to stem erosion of evidentiary privileges in bad faith litigation.

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Outline

  1. Claim adjuster's duties with respect to legal precepts
  2. Defensible claim denial letter
    1. Explanation of facts
    2. Explanation of law
  3. Role of coverage counsel in claims adjusting
  4. Erosion of evidentiary privileges in bad faith litigation

Benefits

The panel will review these and other pivotal issues:

  • What constitutes "ignorance of the law"?
  • Do non-lawyers writing claim denial letters that explain the law engage in the unauthorized practice of law?
  • What does a complete and defensible claim denial letter look like?
  • Are evidentiary privileges less likely to be upheld in bad faith cases?
  • What types of deposition questions can imperil evidentiary privileges?

Faculty

Boone, Richard
Richard W. Boone, Jr.

Partner
Wilson Elser

Mr. Boone focuses his practice on a wide range of corporate, executive and professional liability matters as both...  |  Read More

Dinneen, Susan
Susan E. Dinneen

Founding Member
Strauss Massey Dinneen

Ms. Dinneen is a founding member of Strauss Massey Dinneen llc. She is an experienced litigator and advisor,...  |  Read More

Korde, Rukesh
Rukesh Korde

Partner
Covington & Burling

Mr. Korde has helped policyholders recover over $1 billion for first party, business interruption and contingent...  |  Read More

Attend on August 26

Early Discount (through 08/01/25)

Cannot Attend August 26?

Early Discount (through 08/01/25)

You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video