: The Year In Review

Transcription

1 A better legal system 34 th Annual Spring 2012 INSURANCE AND CASUALTY LITIGATION SEMINAR : The Year In Review

2 Insurance and Casualty Litigation : The Year in Review Program dates & Locations Sacramento - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Woodlake Hotel (formerly, The Radisson) 500 Leisure Lane Sacramento, CA Ph: (916) San Francisco - Thursday, May 3, 2012 The Palace Hotel 2 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA Ph: (415) Los Angeles - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 The Jonathan Club 545 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA Ph: (213) Orange County - Thursday, May 10, 2012 The Westin South Coast Plaza 686 Anton Blvd. Costa Mesa, CA Ph: (714) Hartford - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 The Simsbury Inn 397 Hopmeadow Street Simsbury, CT Ph: (860) New York - Wednesday, May 23, 2012 The Harvard Club of NY 35 West 44th Street New York, NY Ph: (212) SCHEDULE 8:00-8:30 a.m Registration and Breakfast 8:30 1:00 p.m. Seminar Presentation Who Should Attend This program is geared to insurance professionals in a variety of areas. Among those who will also find the program invaluable are the following: Claims Counsel Risk Managers Claims Managers and Supervisors General Counsel Human Resource Managers CLE/ce Credit This program is CLE approved by the California State Bar; is pending approval by the New York State Bar; and is pending approval by the California Department of Insurance for Property and Casualty, Personal Lines, and Independent and Public Adjusters. Attendees are eligible for 4.0 hours of credit. Highlights of topics Restricted definition of accident; Cumis fee arbitration update (including contemporaneous bad faith claim v. insurer); Loss of marijuana plants: is it theft or accident? Is insurer allowed to intervene in default situation against insured? Rights of the defending insurer against the non-defending insurer; When insured has lapse in coverage, can insurer raise rates? Duty to defend administrative proceedings; Does health insurer have duty to tell insured how to structure policy to get lower rates? Is loss of money loss of use? The innocent co-insured and intentional acts provision Supreme Court answers question; Advertising injury, trade dress, intellectual property update; Duty to defend sexual harassment case; Effect of indecisive response to tender of defense Cumis obligations; Products completed operations coverage clarified; Duty of insurer to pick up pre-tender expenses of insured; Important decision on subcontractor s duty to add general as additional insured, and effects of failure to do so; Horizontal exhaustion and stacking; Economic loss, property damage, and E. coli problems (Taco Bell);

3 Highlights of Topics Duty to defend when insured intends to act but does not intend to injure; Class action v. life insurers sales practices; Pollution exclusion and asbestos removal; Coverage for right of publicity; Mental illness parity law; Multiple insurers and bad faith for rejecting settlement demand in excess of policy limits; Disability insurance, bad faith and undue influence by the insurer; Is there a private right of action against auto insurer regarding car repairs? Special Topic: Update on broker/agent liability in insurance and real estate situation (the famous dual agent problem with real estate brokers); ENTERTAINMENT LAW High profile defamation of celebrities: What can you do when Charlie Sheen outs you on the Internet? EMPLOYMENT TORTS; SEXUAL HARASSMENT; DISCRIMINATION; WRONGFUL TERMINATION; HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT Are isolated acts of sexual harassment enough? Age discrimination update hiring younger workers to do the same thing can get you into trouble; Are you required to rehire military personnel returning from active duty? Church employees who sue do they ever have a claim? United States Supreme Court expands claims for retaliation; Is it discrimination to require drug testing of employees? Individual liability of supervisors for employment torts; Special Topic: National Trends; Fallout from Wal-Mart; update on the difficulty in bringing class actions for employment torts; update on Concepcion issue and the increasing popularity of binding arbitration clauses in employment contracts; Expansion of after-acquired evidence doctrine; NEGLIGENCE; DUTY; LANDOWNER LIABILITY; PRIVETTE DOCTRINE Assumption of the risk update (motorcycles, horses, and bumper car rides); Major departure from personal errand creates liability; Watch out for teenagers social host liability update; Special Topic: Major new decision from California Supreme Court on OSHA liability of owners who serve as their own general contractor on remodeling their home; Sanctuary cities, undocumented immigrants, negligence per se; Duty of parents to control adult child; Construction defect update including first interpretation of new right to repair law; Coverage update on additional insured and certificates of insurance; Liability for herpes transmission; Has the Supreme Court eliminated negligent hiring/negligent retention in certain vicarious liability cases? Special Topic: Major new Supreme Court decision on OSHA liability of general contractors and right of general to delegate safety responsibility to others; confusion cleared up; Limits on airline liability; Special Topic: Liability of developers for creating buyers frenzy and for selling to unqualified buyers, resulting in foreclosures and loss of value to neighborhood; Special Topic: Our usual car developments, car news (best cities and worst cities to drive in), cars that are the most expensive to insure and other tidbits; Special Topic: Update on tort reform across the country it s growing; DAMAGES Howell update is plaintiff still limited only to discounted figure for medical bills rather than full charge? Elder abuse special problems with damages;

4 Highlights of Topics Injuries to animals your dog may be worth more than you think! Punitive damage update: Does the 9:1 ratio still govern [Bullock case]; ARBITRATION Special National Topic: In-depth presentation on the continuing fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court s Concepcion case; the explosion in binding arbitration agreements; the demise of class actions in State and Federal courts as a result; continued expansion to the consumer rights field (KPMG) and possibly to NLRB disputes. Will class action litigation survive at all?! INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Our intellectual property department in Northern and Southern California will give you an update on patents, copyright, trademarks, trade infringement, trade dress, with their usual excellent audio-visual presentation; NEW YORK UPDATE New York professional liability; coverage; and D & O update; Update on Wall Street exposure and status of financial litigation nationwide; PRODUCTS LIABILITY Restrictions on equitable indemnity doctrine; $21,000,000 rollover (Ford) update; Is there strict liability for defects in used products? Asbestos update (it s still expanding, but courts are tightening proof requirements); PRIVACY; PRIVILEGE; CONSUMER RIGHTS Is recording consumer telephone calls illegal even when warning is given that call might be recorded? Prop. 64 and standing issues; Is it illegal for stores to ask for your ZIP code when you use a credit card? Civil rights: Failure to train prosecutors; Is it a civil rights violation to turn down a felon for a loan? Excessive force and unlawful seizure update; TOXICS AND MASS TORT Update on this important area in California and nationwide; PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY An update on medical malpractice, legal malpractice, insurance agents and brokers liability and accountants malpractice; GOVERNMENT LIABILITY Update on dangerous condition of public property and new cases upholding immunities; Duty to report child abuse; DEFAMATION Statements of opinion; False claims report; Anti-SLAPP update; LATEST DISASTER AN AUDIO- VISUAL Frank Pagliaro will present his usual annual disaster report, with his fantastic audio-visual show!

5 Registration Information Registration Form Note: If you have registered by fax, or our web site, it is not necessary to return this form. Registration Fee: $50.00 Please indicate the seminar you wish to attend: Sacramento - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Woodlake Hotel (formerly, The Radisson) San Francisco - Thursday, May 3, 2012 The Palace Hotel Los Angeles - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 The Jonathan Club Orange County - Thursday, May 10, 2012 The Westin South Coast Plaza Hartford - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 The Simsbury Inn New York - Wednesday, May 23, 2012 The Harvard Club of NY I cannot attend, but please send me the materials at $25 each. Type or print the following information, or affix your business card. (Please list additional registrants on a separate sheet and attach) Mail Mail your completed registration form to: Sandra Garzona Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley 1001 Marshall Street, Suite 500 Redwood City, CA your information to sgarzona@rmkb.com Fax Fax your completed registration form to Online Name M F Register online at our website at Title Company Address City/State/Zip Telephone Ext. Fax Check enclosed payable to Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley Mail to 1001 Marshall Street, Suite 500, Redwood City, CA Check # and amount Charge to: Visa Mastercard AMEX Cardholder s Name Card Number Expiration Date Signature: (no.) $50 each Mailing Address Information We strive to keep our mailing list as up-to-date and accurate as possible. If you are receiving duplicates, or if the mailing label on this brochure is incorrect, please phone Sandra Garzona at or note corrections on the labels and fax them to us at Cancellations and Substitutions Cancellations received up to 10 working days before the program are refundable in full. After that, cancellations are subject to the entire program fee. Please note that if you don t cancel and don t attend, you are still responsible for payment. Substitutions may be made at any time. (no.) materials $25 each Total $ Please note that recording devices are prohibited.

6 A better legal system Founded in Silicon Valley 60 years ago by Harold Ropers and Eugene J. Majeski, RMKB is committed to delivering the best litigation and transactional services in a cost-effective manner. Our nationwide and recognized international presence as a premier litigation firm has evolved into a broad spectrum of business-oriented services. We solve problems, structure deals, and deliver results without unnecessary layers of staff and attorneys. You control who works on your file and who communicates with you. Together we maximize your results by providing direct access to our most skilled and experienced lawyers in the field, while using state-of-the-art information technology. Our lawyers have extensive experience in the areas of business litigation and appellate law; class actions; construction defect litigation; corporate law; directors and officers liability; employment counseling and litigation; entertainment law; environmental, Prop 65 and toxic tort liability; estate planning and wealth management; fidelity and surety bonds; insurance coverage, bad faith, ERISA, fraud, regulation and reinsurance; intellectual property; litigation management, cost control and fee disputes; mergers and acquisitions; personal and catastrophic injury litigation; product and premises liability; professional negligence; real estate; startup and emerging-growth companies formation and representation; and taxation. Redwood City 1001 Marshall St., Ste. 500 Redwood City, CA ph (650) fax (650) San Francisco 201 Spear St., Ste San Francisco, CA ph (415) fax (415) New York 750 Third Ave., 25th Floor New York, NY ph (212) fax (212) Los Angeles 515 South Flower St., Ste Los Angeles, CA ph (213) fax (213) Boston 60 State St., Ste. 700 Boston, MA ph (617) fax (617) San Jose 50 W. San Fernando St., Ste San Jose, CA ph (408) fax (408)