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Insurance Coverage Law
Developments & Trends in Insurance Coverage
By Michael Aylward, Sean Griffin, Kim Jackson, Dan Kohane; and Gena Sluga1
Michael F. Aylward Sean Griffin Kim Jackson Dan Kohane Gena SLuga
While society continues its struggle to return to normal in the post-2020 environment, insurance coverage issues continue to evolve at the same rapid pace that they did pre-pandemic. While Covid coverage claims dominated the coverage news cycle for a while, the end result was a largely consistent and boring holding that the Covid-19 virus did not cause physical impairment to property like restaurants and other business locations, a fact that even Dr. Edward Jenner knew.
But coverage litigation, like Covid, continues to evolve. The coverage practitioner must be ever vigilant to be prepared for the variants of coverage decision throughout our web of 50 states’ appellate courts and their Erie doctrine guessing Federal counterparts. In an effort to assist that preparation of the coverage lawyer and claims professional, the Insurance Coverage Section of the FDCC has prepare its review of developments and trends in this dynamic area of the law. Below, the Section discusses five topics that reflect significant trends in the law, as reflected by both case law and coverage opinions.
We begin by pointing out that, sometimes, trends in the law that have nothing directly to do with insurance coverage, end up becoming quite important.
1 Contributors to these articles are: Michael Aylward, a Partner at Morrison Mahoney, LLP in Boston, MA and Vice Chair of the Data Breach Privacy and Cyber Insurance Section. Contact him at MAylward@morrisonmahoney.com. Sean Griffin, is a Partner at Robinson & Cole in Washington, DC, and Senior Director on the FDCC Board of Directors. Contact him at: sgriffin@rc.com. Kim M. Jackson, is a Partner with Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC in Atlanta, GA and Chair of the FDCC Insurance Coverage Section. Contact him at: kjackson@boviskyle.com. Dan D. Kohane, is a Member with Hurwitz Fine, PC in Buffalo, NY and Past President of the FDCC. Contact him at: ddk@hurwitzfine.com. Gena Sluga, is a Shareholder with Christian, Dichter & Sluga, P.C., in Phoenix, AZ, and Past Chair of the Insurance Coverage Section. Contact her at: GSluga@cdslawfirm.com.
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FDCC ANNUAL INSIGHTS 2023