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Insurance Coverage Appeals: Avoiding Recurring Errors When Going From Trial Court to Appellate Court

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025 (in 11 days)

1:00pm-2:30pm EST, 10:00am-11:30am PST

Early Registration Discount Deadline, Friday, January 17, 2025

or call 1-800-926-7926
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This CLE webinar will offer insurer and policyholder counsel a detailed analysis of the issues related to appealing insurance coverage decisions, starting with the decision to appeal and offering practical tips on briefing and oral argument. The program will offer useful practice pointers on the difference between trial and appellate briefing and oral presentations, how to simplify facts and policy terms, what appellate judges think about, selecting the best authority, working with amici, certification, interlocutory appeal, and more.

Description

For both insurers and policyholders, insurance coverage appeals raise substantive, procedural, and strategic concerns not encountered in other types of appeals. Deciding whether to appeal emerging or precedent-setting issues that can have far-ranging effects requires a well-thought-out strategy. Sometimes counsel may need to seek certification to state court and in some cases it may be appropriate to seek interlocutory appeal.

Lawyers appealing coverage issues need to thoroughly understand policy provisions and industry standards on substantive issues like the duty to defend or to pay defense costs, burdens of proof, bad faith, and indemnification, and on procedural issues such as jurisdiction, arbitration, choice of law, and forum selection clauses.

The biggest mistake counsel can make whether briefing or arguing the appeal is to overlook the difference between how trial and appellate courts approach the case. Moreover, few judges are insurance coverage experts, making simplicity and clarity critical.

Listen as this panel of insurance appeals experts offers practical guidance on all stages of coverage appeals.

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Outline

  1. Deciding whether to appeal
    1. Insurer and policyholder strategies
    2. Multi-insurer cases
    3. Understanding difference between how appellate and trial courts view issues
  2. Practical briefing tips
    1. Simplifying complex issues
    2. Simplifying the policy
    3. Role of typography and visual formatting
      1. Graphs and diagrams
      2. Authority and analysis
  3. Standards of review
    1. Summary judgment and questions of law
    2. Questions of fact
      1. Bench trials
      2. Jury trials
  4. How appellate courts view the same issues differently from trial courts
  5. Selecting the right precedent
  6. Dealing with amici
  7. Seeking certification
  8. Interlocutory appeals

Benefits

The panel will explore these and other key issues:

  • How should non-controlling but on-point case law be best used?
  • What factors should be considered when deciding to appeal emerging issues?
  • How can counsel explain policies without putting the judges to sleep?

Faculty

Stern, Max
Max H. Stern
Partner
Duane Morris

Mr. Stern is the head of the firm’s Insurance Litigation Division.  As a trial and appellate lawyer, he has...  |  Read More

Taylor, Elizabeth L.
Elizabeth L. (Liz) Taylor
Attorney
Reed Smith

Ms. Taylor focuses her practice on Insurance Recovery. She has experience representing and advising corporate...  |  Read More

Attend on January 28

Early Discount (through 01/17/25)

Cannot Attend January 28?

Early Discount (through 01/17/25)

You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video