American College of Coverage Counsel 10th Annual Meeting
at the Intercontinental Chicago

Annual Conference Agenda
(All times listed are in the Central Time Zone)

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

5:30 – 7:00 pm Camelot Room
Welcome Reception - Sponsored by KCIC

Thursday, May 12, 2022

8:00 – 9:00 am Camelot Room
Breakfast Buffet

9:00 – 9:15 am King Arthur Court
Welcome Remarks

• Wayne Taylor, Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins, LLP; ACCC President
• Laura Hanson, Meagher & Geer, PLLP; Annual Meeting Co-Chair
• Tracy Saxe, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.; Annual Meeting Co-Chair

9:15 – 10:00 am King Arthur Court

Novel Issues and Emerging Trends in Bad Faith Litigation

• Rick Hammond, Insurance Claims and Litigation Consultants, LLC
• Hugh Lumpkin, Reed Smith, LLP
• Bryan Weiss, Selman Breitman LLC
• Angela, R. Elbert, Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
  
  

  The panel will discuss issues related to litigation immunity in bad faith actions; challenges which arise when the court bifurcates breach of contract and bad faith; and the current status of bad faith in the absence of coverage.  The panel will discuss these novel and emerging issues in the context of first- and third-party bad faith cases.

10:00 – 10:45 am King Arthur Court
Second-Level Scrutiny: How Have Appellate Courts Handled COVID-19 Business Interruption Appeals

• Michael S. Levine, Hunton Andrews Kurth
• John B. Mumford, Hancock, Daniel & Johnson, P.C.
• Christopher R. Mosley, Foley Hoag 
  
  The presentation will address the growing body of appellate decisions in COVID-19 business interruption cases nationwide and discuss the factual and legal nuances in those cases.

10:45 – 11:00 am
BREAK

11:00 – 11:45 am King Arthur Court
Hot Topics in D&O Insurance

• Barry Buchman, Haynes Boone
• James Skarzynski, Skarzynski Marick LLP
  
  This panel will discuss “Bump-up” coverage disputes; trends in securities class action litigation, the explosion of derivative settlements and related coverage issues; developments in SPAC litigation and related coverage issues; and coverage for governmental investigations.

11:45 am – 12:30 pm King Arthur Court
The Right to Choose: When Can the Policyholder Pick its Own Lawyer and How Much Does the Insurer Have to Pay?

• J. James Cooper, ReedSmith
• Suzan F. Charlton, Covington & Burling LLP
• Rina Carmel Anderson, McPharlin & Conners
  
  This panel will look at recent national trends in this area and focus on (1) the tests for invoking, and rejecting, independent counsel; and (2) “how much” is the carrier required to pay for independent counsel (always a hot-button item). We will provide practical tips and strategy considerations for both policyholders and insurers.

12:30 – 1:30 pm Grand Ballroom (7th Floor)
Lunch

1:30 – 2:00 pm
Extended Work Break

2:00 – 2:45 pm King Arthur Court
Winning and Losing Strategies Litigating the Duty to Defend

• Alex E. Potente, Clyde & Co LLP
• Raymond H. Sheen, Farella Braun + Martel LLP
• Hon. Manish Shah, United States District Court
  
  This panel of counsel for policyholders, insurers, and a federal district court judge addresses argumentative and substantive strategies and their outcomes in litigating the duty to defend under general liability and other specialty policies providing a defense obligation in a variety of types of underlying claims. The panel focuses on recent decisions and personal experience regarding litigating the duty to defend and reception of these duty-to-defend arguments by federal and state court judges. The panel addresses useful and unhelpful rhetorical devices in addressing whether the duty exists and its scope, differences between jurisdiction, and resulting issues arising from various procedural postures in which the duty to defend arises, including assessment of reasonable and necessary defense fees and costs when a duty is found.

2:45 – 3:30 pm King Arthur Court
The Scope and Limits of Discovery in Arbitration

• Clifford J. Shapiro, Shapiro Dispute Resolution LLC
• Sheri Pastor, McCarter & English
• David E. Schoenfeld, Shook Hardy & Bacon
  
  This presentation discusses the scope and limits on the ability to conduct discovery in the arbitration process.  Just like in litigation, the scope of relevant information in a complex insurance dispute often extends to documents and information that are in the possession of both the parties and others not directly involved in the dispute. But the extent to which parties to an arbitration will be able to obtain this pre-hearing discovery is quite different from what would be available in litigation. Particularly with respect to the ability to obtain pre-hearing discovery by subpoena from third-parties, the case law is currently split and often unclear, and the outcome can vary dramatically by jurisdiction. The presentation also discusses the applicable arbitral discovery rules (AAA, JAMS), as well as the interaction of these rules with the Federal Arbitration Act and state arbitration laws. In addition, it will discuss how these rules are applied in practice, including how a subpoena can be served, and determining which court can enforce the subpoena if the witness fails to comply.

3:30 – 3:45 pm
BREAK

3:45 – 4:30 pm King Arthur Court
Navigating Insurer Insolvency: When an Insurer’s Insolvency Hands You a Lemon, Make Lemonade

• Kim K. Winter, Lathrop GPM LLP
• Ned Currie, Currie, Johnson & Myers, P.A.
• Nicholas Sochurek, KCIC
  
  

  Insurance is a high regulated business, but it is still a business, and susceptible to insolvency like any other. All insurer insolvencies are subject to special proceedings. In the US, insolvencies are treated much like a typical bankruptcy but with special rules governing the submission of claims and potentially involving state guaranty associations. Join the presenters in their analysis of insurer insolvency proceedings including the issues and pitfalls every coverage lawyer needs to know about handling claims from both sides, including evaluating claims against other parties besides the insolvent carrier like brokers, guaranty associations and reinsurers.

6:00 – 6:30 pm Empire Ballroom (7th Floor)
New Fellows & First Time Attendees Reception

6:30 – 7:30 pm Empire Ballroom (7th Floor)
General Reception – Sponsored by BDO

7:30 – 9:00 pm Grand Ballroom (7th Floor)
Dinner

• Recognition of 2022 Thomas F. Segalla Service Award Recipient
• Recognition of 2022 New Fellows

Friday, May 13, 2022

8:00 – 9:00 am Camelot Room
Breakfast Buffet

9:00 – 9:45 am King Arthur Court
Do You Really Know What Hat You’re Wearing? Identifying & Protecting Against Ethics Faux Pas and (Gasp!) The Loss of Privilege Disputes (2.0)

• Neil Posner, Much Shelist, PC
• Rikke Dierssen-Morice, Maslon
• Debra T. Varner, Varner & Van Volkenburg, PLLC
• Hon. Jerome Abrams, JAMS
  
  The fact that one is a lawyer does not always mean that, in a particular matter or situation, she is practicing law. This concern has spawned numerous discovery and ethics disputes throughout U.S. courts and disciplinary boards. The situation is particularly significant in the insurance-coverage context, where policyholders seek insurers' internal information, and vice versa. Whether such information is protected under the attorney-client privilege and/or the attorney-work-product doctrine is a question that arises frequently. This panel will explore the case law, with the intention that the audience will leave with a better understanding of the issues and how to "get ahead" of them.

9:45 – 10:30 am King Arthur Court
NFTs: What Are They, What Goes Wrong, and Are They Insured?

• Christine Haskett, Covington & Burling LLP
• John Bonnie, Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial
  
  This panel will discuss the emergence of NFTs as a means of representing digital assets and the insurance considerations around this particular type of intangible property, including the types of losses that might befall owners of NFTs and whether and how property, cyber, and crime policies may cover those losses. The panel will also discuss new types of products that are being developed to cover NFTs and how those products differ from traditional insurance products.

10:30 – 11:15 am King Arthur Court
Floods, Fires, Hurricanes: Emerging Issues in Climate Change Insurance Coverage

• Robert Chesler, Anderson Kill
• Laura A. Foggan, Crowell & Moring LLP  
• Scott DeVries, Hunton Andrews Kurth
  
  Climate change is producing annually natural disasters that raise new insurance coverage issues under first party property insurance policies. Insurance companies are responding by adding new restrictions and exclusions to these policies. This panel will discuss case law and insurance industry developments affecting coverage for this new generation of climate related disasters.

11:15 am – 11:20 am King Arthur Court
Closing Remarks

• Wayne Taylor, Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins, LLP; ACCC President

Please Note: April 26, 2022

To all 2022 ACCC Annual Meeting registrants:

The ACCC Board of Regents has updated COVID protocols for the 2022 Annual Meeting according to the latest CDC guidelines as of this date.

The following attendance requirements are in place to protect the health, safety and well-being of our ACCC members and staff.

All ACCC 2022 Annual Meeting attendees must show proof of being up-to-date on their vaccination, as defined by CDC (primary dose(s) of vaccine and at least one booster) or a negative test result administered by a licensed healthcare professional, taken within 72 hours of arrival at the conference. Masks are optional and anyone who wants to wear one is welcome to do so.

Please be prepared to show a copy of your vaccination record or test result documentation to ACCC Account Director, Pearl Ford-Fyffe, upon check in at the meeting registration table at the International Chicago. To preserve your privacy, vaccination and test results will be held in strict confidence by this ACCC staff member only.

In addition, the following protocols will be in place:

• KN95 masks will be available (you may also provide/wear your own).
• Hand sanitizer will be available.
• Socially distant seating will be set in all meeting rooms to allow for appropriate and safe space among attendees.
• Tables for all meals will be limited to no more than 6 people. We ask that all attendees refrain from moving chairs to add seats to any table.
• We ask anyone who has a fever, feels sick, or has recently been exposed to COVID-19 prior to the meeting refrain from attending.

We hope you are comfortable with these measures intended to protect the health, safety, and welfare of you and those you are closest to.

These protocols may be modified further if local, state or federal regulations change prior to the conference dates. Any new modifications will be shared with all conference attendees. 

Conference Registration Rates:
Fellows - $675 per person.
Emeritus & Honorary Fellows - $500 per person.
Guests - $300 per person.

Register Now for the ACCC 2022 Annual Meeting

Registration Closes 5/4/2022.

Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations received prior to 5:00pm ET on Friday, April 29th may be refunded, less a 25% processing fee. No refunds can be issued for cancellations received after this deadline.

Hotel room reservations for the conference are being accepted at this link. The conference special group rate starts at $269 per night plus taxes and fees. You may also contact the Reservations Department toll free at 888-465-4329 and identify yourself as an ACCC 2022 Annual Conference attendee to receive the discounted rate. This rate is limited and will be available until Monday, April 18, 2022 at 5 PM ET, or when the block has been filled. Please Note: In the event of a cancellation, hotel guests must cancel their room reservations with the hotel at least 72 hours prior to arrival, or the 1st night’s room and tax will be charged.

Attention: DO NOT make room reservations for the upcoming ACCC Annual Meeting with anyone who calls or emails, representing themselves as agents of the ACCC or the InterContinental Chicago hotel, offering discounted rooms during the meeting. The ONLY legitimate way to reserve your room at the InterContinental Chicago is by using the booking link provided above, or calling 1-877-666-3243 and requesting the ACCC group rate.

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Thank you to our 2022 Annual Meeting Sponsors: