2020's Extraordinary Developments and the Anticipated Impact on Agent/Broker E&O

We live in a world in which disasters and catastrophic exposures are increasingly present in our lives. Storms, floods, uncontrollable fires, pandemics. Storms of a magnitude previously seen once every 100 years repeated in far more rapid succession – with so many hurricanes originating off the southeastern US coast they had to switch to the Greek alphabet to name them. Fires that were once problematic irregular events, now annual nightmares, impossible to control, literally wiping out towns, with historic fires now raging in not just California, but Oregon and Colorado as well. And this is just natural disasters. Added to this list are huge catastrophic cyber events regularly arising from data breaches, or ransomware attacks. And, of course, the pandemic. For each of these exposures, insurance agents and brokers are actively and aggressively seeking to sell insurance. Yet when they hit, there will invariably be hundreds if not thousands (or even tens of thousands) of insureds who will be confronted with liability exposures beyond their coverage limits or uninsured in their entirety. Just as invariably, they will be looking to pass the uninsured liability on to their agents and brokers and have them act as catastrophic loss insurance. This session will discuss the special risks presented to insurance agents and brokers by disasters and catastrophic risks, whether a wave of E&O claims can be expected, the relevant practical and legal issues, and the steps that can and must be taken to defend against these claims and the potentially enormous exposure presented.

Featured Speakers

	Peter J. Biging of Goldberg Segalla, LLP in New York, NY is an accomplished trial and appellate attorney with more than 30 years of experience as a litigator in the state and federal courts of New York. His practice focuses on litigation involving directors and officers, financial institutions and defense of management and professional liability claims, including the defense of a variety of professionals against errors and omissions claims, labor and employment practices litigation, commercial litigation, municipal liability litigation, and professional liability coverage work. His E&O work includes defending insurance agents and brokers, securities brokers, lawyers, and miscellaneous professionals. Peter regularly handles complex, high-stakes commercial litigations and claims involving allegations of fraud or malfeasance, as well as litigations of non-solicitation/non-compete disputes. A partner in the firm's Manhattan offices, he heads up the Goldberg Segalla metro area Management and Professional Liability practice, and is Co-Chair of the M&PL practice group nationally. Peter is widely recognized as an authority on D&O, management and professional liability, E&O, EPL, and coverage issues. In addition to regularly writing and presenting to national audiences on these topics, he is a past chair of the ABA's Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Professional Liability Insurance Committee, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Liability Defense Federation (PLDF). He is also a former chair of PLDF’s Corporate Governance Committee and its Insurance Agents Defense Committee. He is regularly recognized as a New York metro area Super Lawyer in Professional Liability Defense, and he is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell as having the highest levels of skill and integrity.
	Nicholas A. Gumpel is Senior Vice President, Director of the Executive and Professional Liability Specialty Practice Group at Gallagher Bassett Specialty (GB Specialty). He is responsible for the technical, operational and administrative functions of the claims department including developing corporate controls, standards and department policies in accordance with client objectives and underwriting strategies to ensure effective claims handling practices. He has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and became part of the Arthur J. Gallagher family in 2014 managing the claim department for RPS Plus Companies – a MGA specializing in professional liability insurance. Prior to joining Gallagher, Nick held claims management positions at various other insurance companies operating in the professional liability arena including Liberty International Underwriters, Inc. and Fireman’s Fund/Interstate. He is a licensed attorney who began his career with the firm of Meagher & Geer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and received his law degree magna cum laude from Hamline University School of Law.
	Lisa Doherty is a Founder and CEO of Business Risk Partners a specialty underwriting firm based in CT. BRP underwrites professional liability, management liability and cyber coverages. Launched in 2000 BRP serves agents and brokers nationally. Prior to BRP, Lisa spent several years underwriting at AIG and Executive Risk, as well broking at Marsh. Lisa has a BA from Brown University with a dual concentration in International Relations and Economics.
	James Redeker is a Vice President and Claims Manager at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in Kansas City, MO, with 22 years of experience working in and for the insurance industry. Jim graduated from Washburn University School of Law with honors, while earning a Juris Doctorate and went on to practice insurance defense law in Kansas and Missouri before joining ERC/SwissRe in 2002. He worked for 13 years in the US Agents E&O book, first as a claim specialist and then as a claim consultant. For the last 4+ years Jim has been one of two team leaders, whose teams handle US Agents E&O claims in all 50 states. In 2020, Jim also became the team leader for the Lawyers E&O book.

Continuing Legal Education

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Mission Level Sponsor

Our sincere thanks to our mission level sponsor, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company. We are very thankful for their continued support of and involvement in the association.