Insurance Coverage Litigation: Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs in Declaratory Judgment Actions
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will discuss how and when attorneys’ fees can be recovered in litigation over coverage and the insurer’s duty to defend. The program will discuss how policyholders can recover costs and attorneys’ fees when they successfully prosecute coverage actions, even in the absence of bad faith claims handling. The program will also discuss the rights of insurers to reimbursement of defense costs if it is determined that the insurer had no duty to defend.
Outline
- Introduction: Recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs in declaratory judgment actions to determine insurance coverage
- American rule
- Legislative responses
- Courts’ responses
- Litigation strategies
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What legal rationale supports the insurer's right to reimbursement of defense costs for uncovered claims?
- What are a policyholder's legal arguments to defeat an insurer's claim for reimbursement?
- What exceptions exist to the "American Rule" that a party pays its own litigation costs which would allow policyholders to collect from insurers who lose the duty to defend argument?
Faculty
Eliot M. Harris
Member
Williams Kastner
Mr. Harris' practice focuses on commercial litigation with an emphasis on insurance coverage, including general... | Read More
Mr. Harris' practice focuses on commercial litigation with an emphasis on insurance coverage, including general liability coverage, intellectual property coverage, construction defect coverage, and professional liability coverage. He also is experienced defending lawsuits involving catastrophic personal injuries, environmental toxic tort, intellectual property and product liability matters. He wrote an article for the Business Litigation Committee Newsletter of the ABA, on insurer's duty to defend, The Duty to Defend: What Insurers, Insureds and Their Counsel Need to Know When Faced With a Liability Coverage Dispute.
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Katherine J. Henry
Partner
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
Ms. Henry is the Chair of the firm’s Policyholder Insurance Coverage Team. She regularly advises Fortune 10 and... | Read More
Ms. Henry is the Chair of the firm’s Policyholder Insurance Coverage Team. She regularly advises Fortune 10 and other companies on complex insurance programs involving manuscript and specialty policies and programs incorporating various risk transfer and financing mechanisms. Ms. Henry’s practice spans all aspects of policyholder insurance coverage, from initial policy placement and renewals to claims management and litigation, both in the U.S. and abroad.
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