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Policyholders Hit With Ransomware, Then Strike Insurance Coverage Oil in Indiana

June 30th, 2021|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, HB Risk Notes, HB Tort Notes, Insurance, Journal, News|Tags: , , , , |

Policyholders Hit With Ransomware, Then Strike Insurance Coverage Oil in Indiana Abstract The cost of ransomware to businesses is estimated to have doubled since 2019 to $20 billion, according to Coveware. Policyholders turn to their insurance policies to recover losses that average more than $230,000 per incident. In the case discussed, the carrier denied a policyholder’s claim as being outside the computer fraud provisions of the commercial crime portion of the policy. Two lower courts sided with the carrier, but the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of coverage. This is a significant win for policyholders seeking coverage for losses under policies not sold as “cyber insurance.” The article discusses the decision and the precedents cited in an area of litigation that only promises to expand as ransomware and similar digital crimes proliferate. Author Scott Godes and Andy Detherage were counsel to United Policy-holders, which submitted an amicus brief in favor of granting transfer and reversing the lower court decision, in the Indiana Supreme Court decision referenced in this article. Messrs. Godes and Detherage are partners in Barnes & Thornburg LLP. About The Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation is a co-production of HB, Fastcase, and Law Street Media. You can also hear the complementary (and complimentary) Emerging Litigation Podcast wherever podcasts appear. For questions, contact Tom Hagy, Editor [...]

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Melicent Thompson on Coverage for Covid-19 Business Income Losses

March 23rd, 2021|Categories: Complex Business Litigation, HB Risk Notes, HB Tort Notes, Insurance, Journal, News|Tags: , , , , |

Melicent B. Thompson on COVID-19 Coverage Abstract COVID-19 indisputably has taken an enormous economic toll. Governmental shutdown orders early in the pandemic and ongoing restrictions on business’ operations have resulted in a flood of claims for insurance coverage for business income losses attributable to those orders and restrictions. This article reviews the litigation and legislative developments directed at attempting to find insurance coverage for such losses and the reasons why those efforts have been unsuccessful for the most part. Author Melicent B. Thompson (mthompson@gllawgroup.com) is a Partner with the law firm Gfeller Laurie, LLP, in West Hartford, Connecticut. She thanks her fellow Gfeller Laurie, LLP attorneys who contributed to this article. Melicent has close to 25 years of experience in litigation and corporate counseling. She actively practices in Connecticut and Georgia courts in insurance coverage, business disputes, professional liability claims, defense of educational and financial institutions and general liability. Her insurance coverage practice encompasses all areas of first and third party claims and related litigation services, including declaratory judgment actions, defense of bad faith claims and reinsurance matters. Melicent has substantial appellate court experience, having briefed and argued appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts. Her pro bono work includes serving as General Counsel to the Board of Directors of Gifts [...]

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Financial Services Cyber Risk Information Sharing

September 26th, 2018|Categories: HB Risk Notes, Insurance, Technology Law|Tags: , , , , |

Why We Need to be More Like Apes, Less Like Seagulls By Tom Hagy Featuring Craigg Ballance, Director of Canadian Member Services, FS-ISAC Even before we can walk we are encouraged to share. We’re told to share our things even when we barely have any. Even some wild animals share food and resources – even when those resources are scarce. Some creatures are better at it than others, of course. Apes and lions? Absolutely. Seagulls? All you have to do next time you’re on the beach is toss what’s left of your ham sandwich into the air and see how generous gulls are. People fall into sharing -- and not-fond-of-sharing -- groups, too. Sharing is particularly critical in the financial sector where, while privacy and security regulations command a tight lid on data, global financial institutions are successfully sharing data about cyber risk, says Craigg Ballance, Director of Canadian Member Services for FS-ISAC in Toronto. But, he says, sharing has to take place across a broad landscape. “Information analysis sharing has to cut across the various subsets of the financial sector,” says Ballance. “While banks share local data, they are trying more and more to share globally, but,” he says, “banks need to share with other institutions, like insurers, investment funds, pension funds, and other types of financial institutions, for this [...]

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Insurance Coverage and GDPR: What’s Your Financial Exposure? –Linda Kornfeld, Blank Rome

May 28th, 2018|Categories: Corporate Compliance, HB Risk Notes, Insurance|Tags: , , , , |

In her recent article -- GDPR Is Finally Here: It’s Time to Make Sure Your Current Cyber Policy Will Protect against New Financial Exposures -- Blank Rome insurance coverage partner Linda Kornfeld wrote: Companies can face large financial exposure for GDPR “fines or penalties.” Are they covered under currently worded cyber policies? The answer is, maybe not if your policy, e.g., covers regulatory proceedings addressing only failures to protect private information, as opposed to GDPR proceedings that may address broader noncompliant data collection and use practices. Additionally, coverage for GDPR fines or penalties may be more restricted under the laws of many European countries than the laws of certain states in the United States. Your insurer may agree to choice of law language in your policy that will increase the chances of coverage. On behalf of all of us at HB -- Congratulations to Linda on her move to Blank Rome!  Now Vice Chair of the firm's Insurance Recovery Practice Group, Linda is one of the nation’s most prominent insurance recovery attorneys, representing corporate policyholders in high-stakes litigation for more than 25 years. Using strategic, creative approaches in her trial and appellate practice, Linda assists her clients in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance assets. She is a strategic adviser to senior executives and in-house counsel on mitigating risk [...]

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