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Flood of Litigation: The Water Damage Exclusion
On Aug. 29, 2006, Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters ever to strike the United States, hit New Orleans and Mississippi. With winds recorded at over 135 mph, the hurricane caused severe damage to much of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The worst was yet to come, however. Following the storm, the levees built to protect the city, which is mostly below sea level, failed to retain the water. This resulted in more than 80% of the city being flooded. This catastrophic flooding caused billions in damages and sparked the current storm of insurance coverage litigation.
Due to the crippling costs associated with flood insurance, most homeowner policies specifically exclude damages caused by flood. See 42 U.S.C. '4001(b) ('[M]any factors have made it uneconomic for the private insurance industry alone to make flood insurance available to those in need of such protection on reasonable terms and conditions.'). Because the private insurance industry could not provide flood insurance to homeowners on an economically feasible basis, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program ('NFIP') in 1968. This program offered property owners a relatively low-cost option to cover their property in the event of a flood. See 44 C.F.R. Pt. 61, App. A. Unfortunately, these residential dwelling flood policies are capped at $250,000 for dwellings and $100,000 for contents. Many policyholders who obtained this coverage found themselves significantly underinsured for the damages to their property. Many others, inexplicably, never bought flood coverage in the first place.
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.
Compliance Officers: Recent Regulatory Guidance and Enforcement Actions and Mitigating the Risk of Personal Liability
This article explores legal developments over the past year that may impact compliance officer personal liability.