The American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance

The American Law Institute’s “Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance” aimed, as former Director Lance Liebman said, to seek “the efficient and fair rules that should govern the insurer/insured relationship.” The project sparked spirited debate, and this conference assessed the work midstream, with the aim of reflecting on and influencing the project going forward. The conference sponsored by the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at Rutgers Law School engaged academics and practicing lawyers in discussion of the issues raised by the Restatement. 

Papers presented during the conference are published in the Rutgers University Law Review

Welcome

Interim Dean John Oberdiek

ALI Deputy Director Stephanie Middleton

The Defense of Claims

William Barker (Dentons) & Charles Silver (Texas), The Treatment of Insurers’ Defense-Related Responsibilities in the Principles of the Law of Liability Insurance: A Critique

George Cohen (Virginia), Vicarious Liability of Insurers for Defense Counsel Malpractice

Laura Foggan (Wiley Rein), Section 21, Consequences of Ordinary Breach of the Duty to Defend: The Existing Case Law and Policy Considerations

Timothy Law (Reed Smith), Reserving the Right to Contest Coverage Under the Proposed Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance

The Duty to Settle

 Kenneth Abraham (Virginia), The Liability Insurer’s Duty to Settle Uncertain and Mixed Claims

 Bruce Hay (Harvard), A No-Fault Approach to the Duty to Settle

Kim Marrkand  (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and  Popeo), The Duty to Settle: Why Proposed Sections 27 and 30 of the Former Principles of the Law of Liability Insurance Have No Place in the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance

Leo Martinez (Hastings), The Duty to Settle Revisited

Jeffrey Thomas (UMKC), The Standard for Breach of a Liability Insurer’s Duty to Make Reasonable Settlement Decisions

Tom Baker (Penn), Reporter’s Comment

Insurance Contract Interpretation

Michelle Boardman (George Mason), Contra Proferentem

Mark Geistfeld (NYU), Interpreting the Rules of Insurance Contract Interpretation

Erik Knutsen (Queens), Patchwork Conceptualism in the Anglo-Canadian Law of Insurance Interpretation: Implications for the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance

Patricia Santelle (White and Williams), A Practitioner’s Perspective on Rules of Insurance Contract Interpretation

Policyholders, Brokers, and More

Jeffrey Pollock (Fox Rothschild), Why the Principles of Liability Insurance Fail in Embracing the Myth of the Sophisticated Insured

Victor Schwartz & Christopher Appel (Shook, Hardy & Bacon), Encouraging Constructive Conduct By Policyholders in the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance

Heather Steinmiller (Conner Strong & Buckelew Companies), The Process of Purchasing Insurance: The Real Focus of the Insured

Kyle Logue (Michigan), Reporter’s Comment