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Insurance Coverage Law
The Year Ahead
What lies ahead in 2023 will no doubt be driven by the FDCC’s Insurance Coverage Section members. Opioid Litigation will continue forward but with serious coverage concerns for the target defendants
as CGL policies seek declaratory judgment relief for the claims of local, state, and other subdivisions of government. Long ago sexual abuse claims will continue to be filed as more states pass revival legislation and more victims comes forward, requiring further development of the law of lost policies. As we enter year four of the Restatement of Law, Liability Insurance, more states are expected to legislatively rebuke the Restatement, but other courts may, as some have already done, rely upon it to fill the gaps and make holdings that go contrary to the majority rule. And finally, as the stability of the arguably most peaceful decades in history19 passes, we enter a time where war and state sponsored attack exclusions and the immense liability potential of cyber-insurance come to a head.
These are the sexy headlines. But coverage professionals must never forget first principles: do the allegations of the Complaint state a claim within the coverage agreement.
Contributors to this article are: Michael Aylward, a Partner at Morrison Mahoney, LLP in Boston, MA and Vice Chair – Data Breach Privacy and Cyber Insurance, contact him at MAylward@morrisonmahoney.com; Sean Griffin, a Partner with Dykema Gossett PLLC in Washington, DC, and Senior Director on the FDCC Board of Directors, contact him at: SGriffin@dykema.com; Kim M. Jackson, a Partner with Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC; and Chair of the FDCC Insurance Coverage Section, contact him at: kjackson@boviskyle.com; Dan D. Kohane, a Member with Hurwitz Fine, PC in Buffalo, NY and Past President of the FDCC, contact him at: ddk@hurwitzfine.com; and Gena Sluga, 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.
19 Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011); see also, https://www.huffpost.com/ entry/we-enjoy-the-most-peaceful-period-on-earth-ever_b_57ab4b34e4b08c46f0e47130
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FDCC ANNUAL INSIGHTS 2023