Insurance Coverage Issues in Sexual Abuse Claims: Defending Claims and Indemnifying Victims
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will discuss finding insurance coverage for defending claims and indemnifying victims of sexual abuse and harassment. The panel will address the existence of coverage under general liability, employment practices, D&O, and other types of policies; insurer defenses; specific coverage issues that may arise; guidance for locating historic policy documents, and tips for accessing insurance proceeds.
Outline
- Rise in claims of harassment, abuse and molestation
- The delicate nature of these important claims
- Changes regarding statutes of limitations
- Type of policies where coverage may exist
- Insurance archaeology - best practices for locating missing policies or secondary evidence
- Potential for spoliation sanctions based on purging of insurance policy evidence
- Trigger of coverage across multiple policy years
- Allocation and damages spanning multiple policy years
- Expected and intended defense (severability of interest as to perpetrator and organization)
- Definition of bodily injury and whether it includes emotional distress
- Notifying and working with your insurance companies
- Insurance company claims handling tactics
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- The coverage available under CGL and other liability policies.
- Finding “missing policies” and winning insurance company games of cat and mouse over searches for evidence in their files
- Working well with your insurance company in defending and resolving abuse claims
Faculty
Dennis J. Artese
Shareholder
Anderson Kill
Mr. Artese is a shareholder in the New York office of Anderson Kill. He is also co-chair of the firm's Construction... | Read More
Mr. Artese is a shareholder in the New York office of Anderson Kill. He is also co-chair of the firm's Construction Industry practice group. Mr. Artese's national practice concentrates on all types of insurance recovery litigation, with an emphasis on securing insurance coverage for construction-related first-party property losses and third-party liability claims as well as for property and business interruption losses stemming from natural disasters and other perils. He has substantial experience in all phases of litigation, arbitration and property insurance appraisals, and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars of insurance proceeds on behalf of policyholders in connection with a variety of property, builder's risk, commercial general liability, umbrella and excess liability, D&O, E&O, crime, and political risk insurance claims. Mr. Artese also has extensive experience in litigating insurance broker malpractice cases and other general commercial litigation disputes, including construction-related disputes.
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Marshall Gilinsky
Shareholder
Anderson Kill
Mr. Gilinsky is an experienced commercial litigator who applies his complex analysis skills with extensive... | Read More
Mr. Gilinsky is an experienced commercial litigator who applies his complex analysis skills with extensive experience in insurance coverage analysis and litigation and dispute resolution. His insurance coverage practice is focused on property insurance, commercial general liability insurance, directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance, captive insurance and reinsurance issues.
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John P. Lacey, Jr.
Attorney
Anderson Kill
Mr. Lacey is an attorney in Anderson Kill’s Newark office and a member of the firm’s Insurance... | Read More
Mr. Lacey is an attorney in Anderson Kill’s Newark office and a member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery and Corporate & Commercial Practice groups. As a member of Anderson Kill’s Insurance Recovery Group, he counsels individual and corporate policyholders on a wide variety of coverage disputes, including matters that involve first-party property damage, business interruption losses, trade credit losses, the rights of loss payees and additional insureds, cyber-crimes, criminal acts, professional liability, directors and officers liability, intellectual property, environmental liability, and general liability – namely, disputes involving alleged abuse, emotional distress, and other personal injuries. Mr. Lacey routinely represents individual and corporate policyholders in state and federal courts across the country. In 2024, Mr. Lacey was named to Best Lawyers' Ones to Watch list. He is currently a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, as well as the American Bar Association. Mr. Lacey often writes and speaks about insurance coverage and employment-related issues.
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