Insurance Law Commons^™

Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Sandra B. Zellmer, Christine A. Klein

Faculty Law Review Articles

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a "manmade" disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This Article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …

H.R. 3355, The Homeowners Defense Act Of 2007: Hearing Before The Subcomm. On Housing And Community Opportunity And The Subcomm. On Capital Markets Of The H. Comm. On Financial Services, 110th Cong., Sept. 6, 2007 (Statement Of John D. Echeverria, Geo. U. L. Center), John D. Echeverria

Testimony Before Congress

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Insurable Interest In Marine Transportation, Lijun Shi

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Life, Health, And Disability Insurance: Understanding The Relationships, Robert H. Jerry Ii

Faculty Publications

This project focuses on the extent to which dis-ability insurers should be allowed to use genetic information in underwriting and rate-setting, but this subject cannot be completely isolated from the related questions of whether life and health insurers should also have this discretion. Federal and state laws place significant restrictions on insurers' use of genetic information in health insurance, but regulation of such use in life and disability insurance is considerably more modest. This essay examines the reasons for this disparity and discusses the implications for future proposals to regulate disability insurers' use of genetic information in underwriting and rate-set-ting. …

The Status Of The Notice/Prejudice Rule For Liability Insurance Claims In Nevada, Timothy S. Menter, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Taxing Risk: An Approach To Variable Insurance Reform, Charlene Luke

UF Law Faculty Publications

Variable life insurance and annuity contracts are susceptible to being marketed and sold to taxpayers for whom such contracts are unsuitable and to being used in wraparound insurance shelters. As a method of addressing these problems, I propose current taxation for the risky returns on these contracts but continued deferral for a deemed, risk-free return amount. The increased transparency resulting from the forced separate tax accounting of contract components should improve consumers' ability to receive adequate suitability evaluations and may also lead to lower fees. Current taxation of risk-related returns removes an apparently key shelter incentive and should make it …

A Congregation Of Vapours: Clendenin Brothers, Inc. V. United States Fire Insurance Company, Welding Rod Litigation, The Total Pollution Exclusion, The Futility Of The Judicial Search For Ambiguity In Commercial General Liability Insurance Contracts, And The Reasonable Expectations Of The Insured, Thomas Plotkin

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Howard Delivery Service, Inc. V. Zurich American Insurance Co.: The U.S. Supreme Court Resolves The Split Among Circuits Regarding Whether Workers' Compensation Premiums May Be Eligible For Priority Treatment In Bankruptcy Proceedings, Clayton Johnson

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Genetically Modified Liability Insurance Contract, Seth J. Chandler

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article uses the new technique of genetic programming to discover liability insurance contracts that, in theory, would substantially reduce the effective cost of accidents faced by potential insureds. Specifically, it suggests using formulas containing statistics about the distribution of damages in lawsuits brought against the insured as a way of customizing the per occurrence limit on a case-by-case basis. It further suggests permitting the insurer to modify the conventional duty to settle that American judges have implied into most liability insurance contracts. This modification would permit statistics regarding the distribution of damages expected in a lawsuit materializing against the …

The Economic Case For Gender-Neutral Life Insurance, Richard A. Booth

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Strengthen Pharmaceutical Patent Rights: Lowering The Cost Of Prescription Drugs By Stopping The Reckless Patent Litigation Abuse Of Generic Companies, Andrew A. Phillips

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

What Is It Worth - A Critical Analysis Of Insurance Appraisal, Timothy P. Law, Jillian L. Starinovich

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Overwhelmed: Federal Flood Insurance Act Of 1956, Henry S. Cohn, Tiffany M. Rowe

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Pension Protection Act Of 2006: An Overview Of Sweeping Changes In The Law Governing Retirement Plans, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 843 (2007), Craig C. Martin, Joshua Rafsky

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Past, Present And Future Of Health Care Reform: Can It Happen?, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 767 (2007), David Pratt

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Much Ado About The Meaning Of "Benefit Accrual": The Issue Of Age Discrimination In Hybrid Cash Balance Plan Qualification Is Dying But Not Yet Dead, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 867 (2007), Barry Kozak, Joshua Waldbeser

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Secrets, Lies & Erisa: The Social Ethics Of Misrepresentations And Omissions In Summary Plan Descriptions, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 731 (2007), Alison Mcmorran Sulentic

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Defense Counsel, Policyholders, And Insurers: Nevada Rides Yellow Cab Toward "Two-Client" Model Of Tripartite Relationship. Are Cumis Counsel And Malpractice Claims By Insurers Next?, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

It happens constantly in civil litigation. An insurance company hires a lawyer to defend its policyholder from a third party’s claim of injury. But just who is the lawyer’s “client?” Is it the policyholder who is the named defendant in the case and is “represented” in court proceedings? Or is it the insurer who, in most cases, selected the attorney, pays the attorney, supervises the litigation, and has (by the terms of the liability insurance policy) the right to settle the case, even over the objections of the policyholder? Ordinarily, the liability insurer has both the duty to defend a …

The Health Care Choice Act: The Individual Insurance Market And The Politics Of "Choice", Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

The Health Care Choice Act of 2005 (HCCA) aims to reform perceived problems in the individual market, and is touted as part of the solution to the problem of the uninsured. It purports to allow individuals who are not eligible for or cannot afford group coverage to purchase an individual policy in and from any state. If passed, the HCCA would allow health insurers to offer individual policies of insurance from any state without being required to comply with the laws of the insured's own state. Its proponents claim that it would lower the cost of individual health insurance by …

Civil Authority Order Provisions In Business Interruption Insurance Policies: Why The Unique Circumstances Surrounding The Hurricane Katrina Evacuation Will Result In More Policyholder Recoveries Than Those Received By 9/11 Policyholders, Jennifer Cook

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

To-May-To, To-Mah-To; Act Of War, Act Of Terrorism: How Semantics In Insurance Contracts Affect The Public Insurance Adjuster, Megan Reuwer

Student Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Continuing Development Of Insurance Bad Faith In Montana, Greg Munro

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

This article adds to a previous article from the summer 2000 issue of Trial Trends, which recounted the history of insurance bad faith in Montana reviewing its common law and statutory development and attempted to set forth the status of insurance bad faith at the millennium. This article addresses court decisions and the continuing development of the tort of insurance bad faith in the intervening years since then and is designed to provide a broad understanding of the borders of insurance bad faith in Montana to date.

The Empire Strikes Back: The Insurance Industry Battles Toxic Mold, Bryan Lake

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Process Is Due In The Adjudication Of Erisa Claims?, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 811 (2007), Mark D. Debofsky

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Christine A. Klein, Sandra B. Zellmer

UF Law Faculty Publications

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a "manmade" disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This Article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …

"Acoustic Segregation" And The Hispanic Small Business Owner, Patricia S. Abril

Articles

No abstract provided.

What Does Accidental Mean?: Autoerotic Asphyxiation As An Illustration Of The Problems Affecting Accident Insurance, Gabriel Burnham

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the legal system's inconsistent interpretation of what constitutes an "accident" in the context of accidental death insurance leads to confusion and inequitable outcomes, particularly in cases involving autoerotic asphyxiation. It advocates for federal regulation to standardize definitions and reduce discrepancies in court decisions.

Rational Discounting For Regulatory Analysis, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article examines the economic basis for what is termed "rational discounting," which entails full recognition of policy effects over time and exponential discounting at a riskless rate of return. Policies often cannot be ranked unambiguously in terms of their present or future orientation. Both failure to discount and preferential intergenerational discounting generate inconsistencies and economic anomalies. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) discounting guidelines now stipulate more reasonable discount rates than earlier guidelines, but err in permitting open-ended preferential rates for intergenerational effects. This Article presents a methodology for monetizing the value of statistical life for people of different …

A Domestic Right Of Return?: Race, Rights, And Residency In New Orleans In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

This article begins with a critical account of what occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This critique serves as the backdrop for a discussion of whether there are international laws or norms that give poor, black Katrina victims the right to return to and resettle in New Orleans. In framing this discussion, this article first briefly explores some of the housing deprivations suffered by Katrina survivors that have led to widespread displacement and dispossession. The article then discusses two of the chief barriers to the return of poor blacks to New Orleans: the broad perception of a race-crime nexus …

Causation Requirements In Tort And Insurance Law Practice: Demystifying Some Legal Causation Riddles, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

Legal causation requirements, in both tort and insurance law, rank among the most pervasive yet most elusive and most misunderstood of all legal concepts in Anglo-American law for legal practitioners, the courts,' and academic scholars alike. Indeed, no less an authority than William Lloyd Prosser has stated that there "is perhaps nothing in the entire field of law which has called forth more disagreement, or upon which the opinions are in such a welter of confusion" than proximate cause issues, "despite the manifold attempts which have been made to clarify the subject."

Although some commentators have looked upon legal causation's …