Date: Friday, February 13, 2015
Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Speaker: Mr. Collin Hite, Partner - Hirschler Fleischer
Topic: Defense Costs (see below)
Place: Williamsburg Lodge, 310 S England Street, Williamsburg, VA
Cost: $25 pp
What Do You Mean I Owe My Insurer Defense Costs?
I Have a “Duty To Defend” Clause in My Policy.
Recoupment of litigation defense costs has been a raging battle for several years. Courts that have grappled with the issue are almost evenly split allowing recoupment and the other half denying it. Policyholders must be aware of which states fall into which category in order to avoid a draconian result. Of greater concern is that no court in Virginia has ruled on the issue with respect to CGL policies. Caution is the word of the day since sooner or later a policyholder will be the test case. Collin Hite, practice leader of Hirschler Fleischer’s Insurance Recovery Group, will discuss the pitfalls of insurers seeking to recoup defense costs from their policyholders for uncovered claims. He will cover which states fall into the recoupment camp, the legal basis insurers use for such claims, how to deal with reservation of rights letters asserting such a right, and where Virginia may be headed on the issue.
Collin Hite is a partner at Hirschler Fleischer and leader of the firm’s Insurance Practice Group. Collin handles insurance recovery and coverage litigation nationally in the areas of general liability, business interruption, all risk, business torts, products liability, directors' and officers' liability, employee dishonesty, cyber/data breaches, intellectual property, environmental matters and bad faith. Part of his insurance practice also involves reviewing insurance policies and programs in order to advise clients on the types of coverage required by their businesses.
Previously, Collin was the practice leader of an AmLaw 50 firm's insurance coverage team for a decade. He has been quoted in articles appearing in Insurance Law 360; Risk and Insurance; P&C National Underwriter; BNA's Corporate Accountability Report; Business Insurance; Virginia Business; Inside Counsel; Lawyers Weekly; Corporate Counsel; and The Wall Street Journal to name a few. He holds degrees from Boston College and Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.