About the Course
Introduction
This CLE webinar will discuss what ethical and practical duties policyholders’ appointed counsel has to preserve coverage for the policyholder when defending the underlying case. The speakers will address what appointed counsel is expected to know about coverage issues, how appointed counsel could structure discovery to avoid coverage issues in various types of cases, and ABA Formal Opinion 08-450 and related Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. The program will also consider whether an insurer can deny coverage if appointed counsel—wholly unaware of its relevance—provides information that supports denying coverage, or whether the insurer would be estopped on legal or ethical grounds. and how it would be asserted.
Description
Appointed counsel owes duties of competence, loyalty, and confidentiality to the insured it is defending. Appointed defense counsel can share with insurance carriers information about the cases they have been retained to defend, but that authority is not unlimited. The policyholder must be advised of these limits, and consent obtained to share potentially negative information.
Counsel must recognize information that could affect coverage, regardless of the source, and take proactive measures to keep it confidential, while still complying with obligations owed to the insurer. If assigned counsel unwittingly provides the insurer with information that it could use to support denying coverage, the insurer may be estopped to use it.
Appointed counsel may need to employ discovery plans and strategies that avoid coverage issues. Special difficulties can arise if the policyholder, after full disclosure, wants to pursue coverage to which it is not entitled.
Listen as this experienced panel discusses the ethical and practical duties and obligations of counsel appointed to defend the policyholder with respect to preserving coverage for the policyholder.
Presented By
Mr. Bowen has been litigating and arbitrating complex insurance claims for some fourteen years, focusing on professional, directors and officers, and general liability insurance. He graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for the Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals. Mr. Bowen spent the first four years of his private practice at Munger, Tolles & Olsen in Los Angeles, focusing on complex commercial litigation. He co-chairs the firm’s professional lines practice.
Ms. Gallozzi has helped for-profit and nonprofit policyholders develop and execute efficient and practical insurance recovery strategies. As lead counsel, she has helped secure over half a billion dollars for high-value first-party losses and third-party liabilities. In addition to representing policyholders in insurance claims, Ms. Gallozzi also advises policyholders in placing and tailoring insurance coverages for unique risks, transferring risk in contracts and transactions, and preparing for and managing crises.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.
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Date + Time
- event
Thursday, November 12, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. How the issue arises
II. Relevant Model Rules and opinions
A. ABA Formal Opinion 08-450
B. Model Rules: 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7
III. Obligations and options if appointed counsel has information:
A. Possibly affecting coverage
B. Almost certainly vitiating coverage
IV. Avoiding coverage issues in discovery
V. Estoppel to deny coverage using information defense counsel did not know affected coverage
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What level of knowledge must appointed counsel have about coverage issues under the Model Rules?
- What is the best strategy if the policyholder seeks coverage to which the policyholder is not entitled after defense counsel has explained the matter?
- How can and should defense counsel take affirmative steps to preserve and protect coverage in discovery and throughout the case?
Related Courses
Ethical Duties of Insurance Defense Counsel to Preserve Coverage
Thursday, November 12, 2026
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
