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Coverage Disputes Involving Multiple Insureds or Claimants
Coverage disputes may become more complicated when multiple co-insureds or claimants assert rights to coverage under the same finite set of policy limits. For instance, some policyholders have argued that when co-insureds are seeking coverage under the same policy, the insurer must reserve a portion of the available policy limits for each insured so as to ratably distribute the available funds ' even while presently pending claims remain outstanding against one of those insureds. If this were correct, however, the insurer would be placed in an untenable position. If the insurer is required to forego the reasonable settlement of presently pending claims in order to preserve shared limits for co-insureds, the insured facing outstanding claims could argue that the insurer violated its good faith duty to settle on its behalf when the opportunity arose. On the other hand, other co-insureds might later argue that the insurer violated the duty of good faith by failing to preserve adequate limits for future claims ' leaving the insurer in what is essentially a no-win situation.
How then may an insurer reconcile its duty to protect the interests of all co-insureds or claimants without being forced to pay out claims above and beyond the policy limits? Absent any policy provision governing the distribution of proceeds in these situations, courts have held that, except in very limited circumstances where there was evidence of insurer bad faith, an insurer's obligations to each respective insured are clear: Limits are to be paid out on a first-come, first-served basis until the policy limits have been exhausted.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.