The insurance industry has been swift to adopt artificial intelligence (“AI”). According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, 76% of insurers surveyed have already begun using generative AI in their day-to-day operations. [1] This adoption spans the different facets of insurers’ work cycles, including claims, underwriting, legal, and risk management. Policyholders and their attorneys must remain aware of the potential pitfalls of AI implementation, particularly as it pertains to claims management.
Continue Reading Insurance Industry’s Use of AI: A Fair or Unfair Claim Settlement Practice?
Emma Leonelli
Emma Leonelli advises corporate policyholders and deal participants in complex insurance recovery and transactional risk matters. Her practice centers on representations and warranties insurance (RWI) placement and claims, as well as high-stakes insurance recovery litigation and pre-litigation counseling.
When Geopolitic Events Disrupt the Cloud: Insurance Coverage for Data Center Supply Chain Losses in a New Era of Conflict
A New Risk Landscape for AI Infrastructure
Escalating tensions involving Iran—including maritime incidents affecting oil transport and alleged cyber and physical targeting of digital infrastructure in the Middle East—highlight a growing and underappreciated risk for AI-driven data centers: disruption that originates far beyond the insured’s own operations. These developments are not occurring in a vacuum. They come at a time when hyperscale data center expansion has become a central driver of economic growth in the United States, as well as a national security priority, underpinning everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence development.
Continue Reading When Geopolitic Events Disrupt the Cloud: Insurance Coverage for Data Center Supply Chain Losses in a New Era of ConflictThe Breach That Won’t Die: Navigating Post-Closing Conduct and RWI Coverage Disputes
Representations and warranties insurance (RWI) has become a fixture in today’s M&A landscape, offering buyers and sellers a mechanism to shift risk and streamline negotiations. Yet, as the RWI market matures, certain recurring disputes highlight the friction between deal economics, coverage intent, and post-closing realities. One common dispute arises when a pre-closing breach continues after the Closing date, raising the thorny question: when does loss stem from a covered pre-closing breach, and when is it attributable to post-closing conduct that falls outside the policy?
Continue Reading The Breach That Won’t Die: Navigating Post-Closing Conduct and RWI Coverage DisputesThe New Frontier: Data Centers, AI & Insurance Implications
Amazon’s recent announcement to invest at least $20 billion in cloud computing and AI data center campuses across Pennsylvania—a record‑breaking private investment in the Commonwealth—marks a turning point in digital infrastructure build-out. Spanning sites in Luzerne and Bucks counties, the project promises 1,250 full‑time roles and thousands more in construction, while pairing with high‑demand energy sources like a nearby nuclear plant. The rapid expansion of AI data centers poses a unique set of risks—ranging from construction hazards to power and environmental challenges— and highlights the need those involved in these large infrastructure projects to close potential insurance coverage gaps and to explore alternative risk transfer solutions.
Continue Reading The New Frontier: Data Centers, AI & Insurance ImplicationsThe SEC’s Cybersecurity Incident, Governance, and Management Reporting Requirements: What you Need to Know to Avoid Cyber and D&O Coverage Gaps
The SEC public company cyber disclosure rule raises issues that companies should consider in reviewing existing insurance coverage and in assessing overall risk.
The SEC recently adopted a new cybersecurity disclosure related rule (the “SEC Cyber Disclosure Rule”)[1] in response to increasing risks associated with cyber incidents and a perceived need for investors to receive more fulsome corporate disclosures about cybersecurity risks, governance, and material incidents. In prior efforts to improve consistency and accuracy of public company cybersecurity risk disclosures, the SEC issued interpretive guidance explaining how cybersecurity risk and incidents should be communicated based on long-standing requirements to periodically—and as needed—disclose material information to shareholders.[2] But in spite of this guidance, in the SEC’s view corporate disclosure practices remained inconsistent, under-disclosure persisted, and investors lacked consistent information by which they could evaluate public companies’ cybersecurity risk. In July 2023, the SEC adopted the SEC Cyber Disclosure Rule, which mandated new disclosures among other things, and which became effective in December 2023.
Continue Reading The SEC’s Cybersecurity Incident, Governance, and Management Reporting Requirements: What you Need to Know to Avoid Cyber and D&O Coverage GapsNavigating Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Regulations in the Insurance Industry
Following record-shattering data breaches, there has been a major push for increased transparency and regulation in the insurance industry regarding consumer data privacy. With an increase in consumer data collection, the threat of ransomware attacks can expose companies to potential litigation or regulatory action if not handled properly.
Read on to learn about the National…
Insurance Recovery for Businesses Impacted by the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse
On March 26, a containership struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, resulting in the collapse of the highway infrastructure and tragic loss of life.[i] As communities grieve the loss of their loved ones, businesses around the world are grappling with the economic fallout, including significant supply chain disruptions. The closure of I-695, which provides an alternate route for hazardous materials and oversized vehicles that are prohibited from going through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, has created a gridlock for companies with distribution warehouses nearby.[ii] The many ships stuck at the Port of Baltimore blockage, which is the top port in the nation for automobile shipments, is likely to create a ripple effect for other ports worldwide.[iii]
Continue Reading Insurance Recovery for Businesses Impacted by the Francis Scott Key Bridge CollapseThe Appraisal Clause: What It Is, and When to Enforce It
The Appraisal Process
Even when an insurer agrees to cover an insurance claim, disputes often arise between the insurer and the insured as to the valuation of the loss, particularly for claims under commercial property and business interruption policies. In these circumstances, policyholders should consider whether and to what extent the dispute could be resolved through an appraisal process before resorting to litigation.
Continue Reading The Appraisal Clause: What It Is, and When to Enforce ItWhat You May Not Know about The Supreme Court’s Ruling in SFFA—Insurance Coverage Implications for All Industries
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a pair of cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA). The Court in SFFA found the universities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, holding that the diversity-focused admissions programs “lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points.”
Continue Reading What You May Not Know about The Supreme Court’s Ruling in SFFA—Insurance Coverage Implications for All Industries