Insurer's Duty to Defend: Navigating the "Eight Corners" Rule, Withdrawal From an Ongoing Defense and More
Advocating Complex Defense Duty Issues From Insurer and Policyholder Perspectives
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
- work Practice Area
Insurance
- event Date
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will discuss three important aspects of a liability insurer's duty to defend: (1) determining an insurer's duty to defend from pleadings and other sources; (2) circumstances when an insurer can withdraw from a defense; and (3) sometimes overlooked issues where there is collusion in the insurer-insured-claimant relationship. The program will look at how various jurisdictions interpret these thorny issues and address arguments raised by both insurers and policyholders.
Ms. Khambatta has spent the last 20 years representing insurers and reinsurers in every aspect of their business, including claims counseling, litigation and arbitration, premium disputes and policy drafting. She is adept at handling coverage disputes involving commercial, primary, umbrella, excess and surplus lines policies, including providing clients with guidance on litigating bad faith, fraud and other extra-contractual claims. Ms. Khambatta has extensive experience litigating long tail environmental claims, construction defect claims and professional liability claims.
Ms. Klinger is a Partner in the Philadelphia office and has extensive experience in handling commercial litigation matters in both federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the United States.
Mr. LaBarbera's practice focuses on representing clients in all aspects of the insurance and reinsurance business, including claims counseling, litigation, and arbitration. His practice includes the handling of issues involving commercial insurance, primary, bad faith, umbrella, excess and surplus lines, professional liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and reinsurance.
A Partner in the firm’s New York office, Mr. Tricarico is a seasoned litigator who has represented a wide variety of entities and individuals, including Fortune 500 companies, domestic and international insurers and reinsurers, and domestic and international product manufacturers and distributors. He has litigated extensively in various state and federal courts throughout the United States and has argued appeals at all levels.
When deciding whether an insurer has a duty to defend, many jurisdictions follow the “eight corners” rule, analyzing the duty by comparing the "four corners" of the policy to the allegations in the "four corners" of the underlying complaint. But, some courts permit the introduction of extrinsic evidence to determine whether the insurer's duty to defend is implicated. This program will explore the approaches taken in various jurisdictions, highlight recent developments in the law and offer general guidelines for insurance professionals to consider when confronting the duty to defend.
Sometimes circumstances change after an insurer has agreed to defend its insured. If so, can the insurer terminate the defense? This program will evaluate this question in situations such as where the policy limits are exhausted by settlement or payment of the judgment and where a claimant's potentially covered claims in its suit against the policyholder are no longer an issue.
When defense under a liability policy is at issue, various parties--including the insurer, the insured, and the claimant that has made a claim against the insured--have an interest in whether the insurer will assume the insured's defense against the claimant's claim. Occasionally, two of the three parties will attempt to tip the scales to manipulate the defense obligation. Is this ever proper? What remedies does the odd party out have when the other two parties conspire to influence the defense obligation? The program will explore these questions and more.
Listen as our panel of attorneys guides in-house insurance professionals and coverage counsel regarding the scope of the insurer's duty to defend. The program will look at how courts interpret these thorny issues and address the types of arguments and defenses raised by insurers and their policyholders.
- Determining the duty to defend under the "eight corners" rule and beyond
- An insurer's withdrawal from an ongoing defense
- The role of collaborative efforts by the parties interested in a liability policy to influence defense or coverage outcomes
The panel will review these and other relevant issues:
- What standards are courts applying to determine the duty to defend? What strategies are available to the insurer and the policyholder when information outside of the liability policy and the pleadings potentially impact whether a duty to defend exists?
- Under what circumstances can a defending insurer terminate that defense if circumstances change?
- Are there any circumstances where it is permissible for an insured and a claimant or an insurer and a claimant to cooperate to influence defense or coverage obligations? What can the parties do to protect their interests if those interests will be impacted by the cooperation between other parties?
