Insurer's Breach of Duty to Defend: Navigating Divergent Court Rules on the Subsequent Right to Contest Coverage
Insurer and Policyholder Perspectives on the Loss or Preservation of Policy Defenses After Defense Obligation Breached
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will analyze the consequences of an insurer’s breach of the duty to defend with respect to its duty to indemnify and other defenses available to the insurer. The program will look at how various jurisdictions disallow the insurer from pursuing certain defenses to those that totally bar the insurer from contesting liability and those that allow insurers unfettered right to contest liability and rely on other coverage defenses.
Outline
- Overview of insurer’s duty to defend
- Consequences of the insurer’s breach of that duty
- No limitations on insurer’s other defenses
- Limitations on conditions defenses (notice, consent to settle, and cooperation)
- Total estoppel rule
- Best practices for insurers and policyholders to argue their respective positions
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What courts have adopted the estoppel rule and what is the rationale for denying the insurer the right to contest coverage?
- What other limitations might insurers face in the finding that they breached the duty to defend?
- What are best practices for insurers to minimize risk when denying that they have a duty to defend?
Faculty
Gregory Lahr
Partner
Sedgwick
Mr. Lahr litigates complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels, with an... | Read More
Mr. Lahr litigates complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels, with an emphasis on insurance coverage matters involving first- and third-party property and casualty, environmental, professional liability, and employment practices claims. He also provides counseling and opinions for domestic and international insurers in coverage matters pre-litigation.
CloseChristopher C. Loeber
Partner
Lowenstein Sandler
Mr. Loeber represents Fortune 500 and other large corporate policyholders in a broad range of complex insurance... | Read More
Mr. Loeber represents Fortune 500 and other large corporate policyholders in a broad range of complex insurance disputes, including matters involving CGL, E&O, first-party property, D&O, fiduciary liability, marine cargo and broad-based leveraged corporate-owned life insurance policies. He frequently writes and lectures on a variety of insurance coverage and litigation topics.
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