Speaking Engagement

ABA TIPS 31st Annual Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Mid-Year Program

Blank Rome is pleased to be a Gold Sponsor of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (“TIPS”) 31st Annual Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Mid-Year Program, being held February 23 through 25, 2023, at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona.

Blank Rome partner Seth D. Lamden, Immediate Past Chair of TIPS Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, will serve as a panelist and panel moderator.

The program will feature a variety of timely and important insurance-related topics. Sessions will address business interruption losses under cyberinsurance policies; coverage issues and policy defenses under professional liability policies; developing issues in representations & warranties insurance market; and mediation of complex insurance disputes in the context of underlying claims.

ABOUT SETH’S SESSIONS

On the opening day of the Program, Thursday, February 23, Seth will moderate “If It Ain’t Broke, I Won’t Fix It: Coverage for Construction Damage under Builder’s Risk Insurance Policies” from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.

This panel will focus on builder’s risk insurance, which is first-party insurance that protects construction project stakeholders from losses caused by course-of-construction damage, but not for the cost of rectifying defects. The first part of this presentation will provide an overview of builder’s risk insurance, including scope of coverage and the role it plays in construction risk management and dispute avoidance. The second part of this presentation will focus on the most complicated and most-often disputed aspect of builder’s risk insurance: exclusions for design defects or faulty workmanship. Leading construction insurance professionals will discuss the various defects exclusions available in the insurance marketplace and the coverage challenges those exclusions present, including the overlapping concepts of inherent vice, defective conditions, and physical damage, as well as considering how to determine the value of what is excluded by the most commonly used exclusions.

Seth’s second session, “Trending Topics in D&O Insurance–Market, Claims & Coverage Insights,” will take place on Friday, February 24, from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.

A discussion of hot topics in the world of directors and officers (“D&O”) insurance from the varied perspectives of insurers, policyholders, brokers, and coverage lawyers. Current trends will be the focus and are expected to include SPAC-related litigation, expanding derivative settlements, board governance issues (DEI, ESG), government investigations and the impact of Delaware courts on litigation and coverage.

To register or for more information, please visit the event webpage.