This issue of the Insurance Coverage Law Report begins with the second parts of two very special articles.
Roberta D. Anderson, a partner in the Pittsburgh office of K&L Gates LLP, leads off with “Viruses, Trojans and Spyware, Oh My! The Yellow Brick Road to Coverage in the Land of Internet Oz – Part II.” After examining the escalating threat and cost of cyber risk in Part I, Ms. Anderson now explores potential coverage for cyber and privacy-related risks under general liability insurance policies. In future issues, she will review potential coverage under property and other common types of “traditional” insurance policies and the types of coverages available under revolutionary new “cyber” insurance products.
CGL
We then have the second part of the article by Randall L. Smith, an attorney at Cohn & Lambert in Cleveland, Texas, and Justin R. Goodman, a partner at Lubel Voyles LLP in Houston, Texas, entitled, “Fundamental Curtailment of Wide Ranging Commercial General Liability Coverage? The 'Classification Limitation Endorsement.'” Messrs. Smith and Goodman explore observations that the commercial general liability insurance policy has been trending for decades toward ever more narrow cover and ask whether the classification limitation endorsement is part of a particular direction toward the contraction of coverage under this policy.
Captives
James A.J. Revels, a partner with the accounting, tax, and business consulting firm Citrin Cooperman in Philadelphia, is the author of the next article in this issue, “Understanding the Benefits and Risks of Captive Insurance Companies for Small and Mid-Size Businesses.” Mr. Revels suggests that although the tax benefits are important, there must be non-tax motivated reasons for a company to form a captive, including, but not limited to, customized insurance coverage, reduction of insurance expenses, retained and invested surplus profits, and risk mitigation.
Environmental Coverage
The final article, “Environmental Clean-Up Insurance Laws: The Situation in Oregon,” is by B. John Casey and John M. Sylvester of K&L Gates LLP. They analyze Oregon's newly amended environmental clean-up law, which they suggest will encourage quicker and less expensive resolution of environmental coverage claims.
Enjoy the issue!
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Editor-in-Chief