Pleading Into Coverage and the Duty to Defend: Strategies to Enhance Insurer Involvement
A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A
This CLE webinar will instruct insurance litigators on how to plead allegations that fall within a policy's coverage grant but outside the policy's exclusions when alleging the underlying claims that trigger coverage and the duty to defend. The program will identify mistakes that can get complaints dismissed although the underlying facts of the claim are within coverage. The panel will also speak to the issue of "inartful" pleading that attempts to trigger the duty to defend an excluded claim.
Outline
- Benefits of triggering duty to defend
- Strategies for identifying available policies
- Identifying and pleading facts needed to trigger coverage
- Avoiding triggering exclusions
- Remedies for "under" and "over" pleading
- "Inartful" pleading and uncovered claims
Benefits
The panel will review these and other critical issues:
- Are there ever situations where a policyholder would want to avoid coverage?
- Are there ever situations where the plaintiff would want to avoid coverage?
- What happens if the complaint fails to allege undisputed facts that, had they been alleged, would have triggered the insurer's duty to defend?
- If an extrinsic fact is relevant to determining coverage, but not liability, can it be considered by an insurer when deciding the duty to defend?
Faculty

Evan Schwartz, Esq.
Founder and CEO
Schwartz, Conroy & Hack
Mr. Schwartz is a highly skilled litigator with more than 30 years of experience litigating insurance... | Read More
Mr. Schwartz is a highly skilled litigator with more than 30 years of experience litigating insurance recovery claims and litigation, as well as complex federal and state litigation. He has expertly managed claims and lawsuits against insurance companies in courts nationwide, making insurance companies uphold their commitments to policyholders. Mr. Schwartz has a stellar reputation with clients and colleagues as part of his distinguished career handling complex insurance recovery litigation matters in both federal and state courts.
CloseEarly Discount (through 06/27/25)