Defense counsel often assume that an insurer has a “duty” to fund any settlement opportunity their client wants to accept. The legal requirements under California law for triggering an insurer’s duty to settle are far more nuanced. For non-insurance practitioners, this is often a confounding and confusing topic! The fact is, an insurer doesn’t have
On October 6, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in Los Angeles Board of Supervisors v. Superior Court, a case that we have blogged about twice in the past because of its possible impact on policyholders (see posts Submitting Your Defense Bills to Insurers Could Mean Waiving Privilege and California Supreme Court Will Review Appellate Decision Holding That Attorney Bills Are Privileged). On appeal, the Court will decide whether to affirm the California Court of Appeal’s decision that legal invoices sent to the County of Los Angeles by outside counsel are within the scope of attorney-client privilege and thus exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. As this issue could have a major impact on policyholders’ ability to share defense bills with insurers, we attended the oral argument.
Continue Reading California Supreme Court Leans in Favor of Treating Defense Bills as Privileged Communications
Erica Villanueva and Tyler Gerking will be presenting to the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) on September 14 (in San Francisco) and 15 (in Palo Alto) about private company D&O liability insurance, also known as management liability insurance. Below is a description of the program, which will touch on hot issues that many companies are
When a venture capital or private equity firm invests in a portfolio company (PC) and places a general partner on the PC’s board, they typically require that the PC agree to defend and indemnify the board member in any litigation arising out of their board service, and to purchase directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. However, the D&O insurance requirements are typically quite vague, and some firms may be surprised to learn of key gaps in the PC’s coverage. These gaps are usually discovered when the VC/PE firm needs the coverage most – i.e., after a lawsuit has been filed, naming their board member as a defendant. Here are two examples I’ve come across in representing venture capital and private equity firms:
Continue Reading Do You Know What’s In Your Portfolio Company’s D&O Insurance?
Employment Practices Liability (“EPL”) insurers have been aggressive in denying coverage for “wage and hour” class actions filed in California and elsewhere. Indeed, insureds now frequently assume that their policies afford no coverage for such claims. Depending on the particular statutory violations alleged, however, such class actions often fall within the scope of EPL coverage.