Insurance litigation procedures and challenges are as diverse as they are extensive. Do you have the all the knowledge you need to effectively navigate the system? This engaging overview will walk you through the litigation process step-by-step and simplify some of the more confusing issues of coverage and settlement strategy. Order today!

1. Insurance Coverage Contract Language 101
2. Case Evaluation and Pre-Litigation Steps
3. Initial Pleadings/Motions - Filing the Suit
4. Discovery of the Insurance Case - Quantifying Damages/Loss
5. Settlement Strategies
6. Taking Your Insurance Claim to Trial and Further
7. Ethical Considerations

1. INSURANCE COVERAGE CONTRACT LANGUAGE 101
   9:00 - 9:45, Jeffrey R. Lerman
   1. Common Terms, Coverage Limits and Exclusions
   2. Spotting Red Flags – Clauses to Look out For
   3. Insurer's Duty to Defend Standard
   4. Insurer's Duty to Indemnify
   5. Triggers of Coverage
   6. Insured's Rights and Protections – Standard Policy Provisions
   7. Insurance Coverage Case Law Update
2. CASE EVALUATION AND PRE-LITIGATION STEPS
   9:45 - 10:30, William H. Pillsbury
   1. Case Intake and Informal Investigation Tactics
   2. Finding Sources and Limits of Coverage
   3. Negotiating the Claim With the Claimant/Insurance Company
   4. Tendering a Claim for Defense
   5. Insurance Company Claim Investigation
   6. Denial of Coverage and its Potential Consequences for Both Sides
3. INITIAL PLEADINGS/MOTIONS – FILING THE SUIT
   10:45 - 11:30, Stephen P. Chawaga
   1. Venue, Jurisdiction, Choice of Law
   2. Notice of Suit to the Insurance Company
   3. What to Include With Your Initial Filing
   4. Filing a Dispositive Motion (Summary Judgment or Dismissal)
   5. Action for Declaratory Relief
4. DISCOVERY OF THE INSURANCE CASE – QUANTIFYING DAMAGES/LOSS
   11:30 - 12:30, Stephen P. Chawaga
   1. Statutory Standards
   2. Obtaining Records – What, Where and How
   3. Preservation and Spoliation of Evidence
   4. Witnesses – Lay and Expert
   5. Insurer's Right to the Documents of the Case in Which its Insured is the Defendant
   6. Using Experts to Calculate Past and Future Losses
   7. Punitive Damages
   8. Proving the Presence or Absence of Bad Faith
5. SETTLEMENT STRATEGIES
   1:30 - 2:30, William H. Pillsbury
   1. Mandatory Mediation/Arbitration and Weighing the Pros and Cons of Optional Arbitration/Mediation
   2. Settlement vs. Mediation Tactics
   3. Effective Motion Strategies
   4. Arguing “Actual Controversy”
   5. Arguing “Ambiguity in Policy”
   6. Settlement Conference Tactics
   7. Subrogation of Recoveries to Medical and Third Party Liens
6. TAKING YOUR INSURANCE CLAIM TO TRIAL AND FURTHER
   2:30 - 3:15, Jeffrey R. Lerman
   1. Jury Selection
   2. Effective Opening Statements
   3. Testimony – Whom to Choose for Your Side and How to Handle the Cross-Examination
   4. Introducing Evidence and Expert Reports
   5. Objections – Substance, Timing, Phrasing
   6. Closings
   7. Appeals
7. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
   3:30 - 4:30, Robert J. Foster
   1. Conflicts of Interest
      1. Representing Adverse Interests
      2. Loyalty to a Client vs. Conflicts of Interest That Arise After Engagement Agreement's Signed
      3. Consultation and Consent
      4. Ethical Traps in Representing the Insured at the Insurer's Expense
      5. Conflicts of Interest With Former Clients – Defining “Substantially Related” Matters
      6. Principles of Imputed Disqualification
      7. Conflicts Arising From Witness Contacts
      8. Resolving Conflicts of Interest
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Ethical Traps When Lawyers Change Firms
   4. When a Lawyer May Testify (The Dangers of Combining the Roles of Advocate and Witness)
   5. Communicating With Unrepresented Interested Parties
   6. Attorneys' Fees

STEPHEN P. CHAWAGA is of counsel to the firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, where he practices in the area of commercial litigation. Mr. Chawaga focuses on breach of contract, insurance, employment, environmental and securities matters. He earned his B.A. degree from Yale University and his J.D. degree from Columbia University. Mr. Chawaga is the author of articles published in the Tort & Insurance Law Journal and the Journal of Insurance Regulation. He has led seminars in insurance coverage and insurance bad faith. Mr. Chawaga is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia bar associations, and the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He also is admitted to the federal courts of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

ROBERT J. FOSTER is a partner in the law firm of Reger Rizzo & Darnall LLP, where he practices in the areas of litigation; including personal injury, truck litigation, employment disputes, insurance contract litigation, insurance defense liability, subrogation, general liability, business and appellate work. He is an adjunct professor at Temple University, where he teaches legal and ethical issues in sports and recreation. Mr. Foster has been a frequent speaker and online moderator on advanced issues in legal technology, trial practices, bad faith litigation, and legal research and writing. He earned his B.A. degree, with distinction and honors, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University.

JEFFREY R. LERMAN is a senior partner in the litigation department at Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP. His practice emphasizes business litigation, with particular expertise in the representation of insurance carriers in coverage and bad faith cases, and in the insurance representation of a wide range of professionals. Mr. Lerman is chairman of the firm's commercial and professional insurance defense practice. For more than 30 years, he has chaired Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP's professional liability insurance defense practice. In this capacity, Mr. Lerman has been lead trial counsel and supervising attorney in hundreds of cases. He has frequently lectured before lawyers and other professionals on matters including the representation of professionals, insurance coverage litigation, trial practice and ethics. Mr. Lerman is listed in Who's Who in American Law and The Best Lawyers in America. He earned his B.A. degree, with distinction, from Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. degree from Columbia University Law School in New York.

WILLIAM H. PILLSBURY is an attorney at the law firm of Offit Kurman, PA. Mr. Pillsbury practices in the areas of insurance law and commercial litigation. He is a member of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey State, and American bar associations. Mr. Pillsbury earned his B.A. degree from Rutgers University and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Temple University.

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