In 2025, Hinshaw’s global insurance services team authored several resources on key developments and decisions that impacted the US insurance industry. From our timely commentary just published in Mealey’s to the third...more
1/27/2026
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bad Faith ,
Business Interruption ,
Construction Defects ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Data Privacy ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
PFAS
The past year was action-packed for insurers and insurance coverage. In this commentary, we examine some of the key trends, developments, and decisions impacting the U.S. insurance industry in 2025 and forecast potential...more
1/9/2026
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Mass Tort Litigation ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Technology ,
Trump Administration
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) represent major exposures to insurers and their policyholders. Thousands of lawsuits are pending nationwide and numerous large settlements have already been reached. Insurers are...more
12/17/2025
/ Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Liability ,
PFAS ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
The past year has been an interesting and action-packed year in the world of Directors & Officers (D&O) liability and coverage. We begin by examining some of the key trends and developments impacting directors, officers, and...more
12/11/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Officers ,
D&O Insurance ,
Delaware ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration
An Overview of The Duty to Defend-
Many insurance policies issued as primary layer coverage establish two separate principal duties on the part of the insurer: the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify.
1. The duty to...more
11/18/2025
/ Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Duty to Defend ,
Duty to Indemnify ,
Excess Policies ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Liability Insurance ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Umbrella Policies
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois legislative leaders are pushing to increase regulation governing homeowners and auto insurance premiums, and multiple proposed legislative bills are pending....more
Allocation is a fundamental issue impacting every society and transcending virtually every major sector and function within a society. Economists sometimes describe this concept as society's allocation of its resources...more
Insurance professionals, risk managers, and counsel deal with it on a daily basis, plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers are driving and benefiting from it, consumers and policyholders are paying for it, litigation funders are...more
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria or standards or sustainability issues have impacted all sectors of society, including corporate and professional policyholders and their risk managers, insurance...more
3/13/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Green Finance ,
Greenwashing ,
Infrastructure ,
Insurance Industry ,
OMB ,
Policy Terms ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
Trump Administration
I. Introduction to the Evolving ESG Landscape -
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations or standards – also known as sustainability – have been impacting all sectors of society, including corporate and...more
Introduction -
As 2025 rapidly approaches, we look back at some of the key decisions, trends, and developments impacting the U.S. insurance industry in 2024 and provide a forecast of potential trends and developments for...more
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS") represent major exposures to insurers and their policyholders. Thousands of lawsuits are pending nationwide, and numerous large settlements have already been reached. Insurers are...more
11/15/2024
/ Choice-of-Law ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Forum Selection ,
Insurance Claims ,
PFAS ,
Policy Terms ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure
The results of the November 5, 2024, election in the United States will almost certainly have profound consequences within the country and across the globe. The election will surely impact policyholder exposures, insurer...more
On June 6, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision on an insurer’s standing in its policyholders’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in Truck Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., 144 S. Ct. 1414 (2024). The decision...more
10/29/2024
/ Article III ,
Asbestos ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Bodily Injury ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Duty to Defend ,
Harrington v Purdue Pharma L P ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Popular ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Reorganizations ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Truck Insurance Exchange v Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc
On October 7, 2024, the Hawaii Supreme Court, responding to questions certified by the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, determined that insurers had no duty to defend Aloha Petroleum ("Aloha") in two...more
10/18/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Claims ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hawaii ,
HI Supreme Court ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Occurrence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Pollution Exclusion
On July 11, 2024, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) adopted a final circular about the "Use of Artificial Intelligence ("AI") Systems and External Consumer Data and Information Sources in Insurance...more
8/26/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Use Policies ,
Discrimination ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Insurance Industry ,
New York ,
NYDFS ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Underwriting
In a trilogy of cases decided at the end of this term, the United States Supreme Court made significant changes to the administrative law terrain by: eliminating Chevron deference....more
7/11/2024
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Government Agencies ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statutory Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
Scott Seaman, Co-Chair of Hinshaw’s global Insurance Services Practice Group, is joined by Hilary Harmsworth and Sam Vardy of Howden Insurance Brokers to introduce a new fifty-state survey on U.S. bad faith law and to briefly...more
Insurers are impacted in many ways by the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court decisions, but very rarely does the Supreme Court wade into decisions directly involving insurance contracts or the rights of insurers. This term,...more
3/29/2024
/ Chapter 11 ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Debtors ,
Fraud Prevention ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Maritime Transport ,
Policy Terms ,
Reorganizations ,
SCOTUS
As 2024 rapidly approaches, we look back at some of the key decisions, trends, and developments impacting the U.S. insurance industry in 2023 and look ahead at some trends and cases to watch in 2024. Insurers continue to...more
12/22/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asbestos ,
Biden Administration ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Business Interruption ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Climate Change ,
Construction Defects ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
D&O Insurance ,
Damages ,
Data Breach ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Duty to Defend ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Lead ,
Litigation Funding ,
Machine Learning ,
Marine Insurance ,
Misrepresentation ,
Opioid ,
PFAS ,
Pollution Control ,
Price Inflation ,
Privacy Laws ,
Reimbursements ,
Reinsurance ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities ,
Severe Weather ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Sustainability ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Underwriting ,
West Virginia v EPA
Rulings by the United States Supreme Court profoundly impact insurers as businesses and corporate citizens. Additionally, decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court can also influence claims and policyholders' liabilities for...more
11/7/2023
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Asbestos ,
Asbestos Litigation ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bodily Injury ,
Fraud ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Industry ,
Liability ,
Marine Insurance ,
Reorganizations ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing
On October 11, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The rule requires every company that manufactured or imported PFAS for a commercial...more
"Duty to Defend: A Fifty-State Survey," examines issues of significance to insurance claims professionals and lawyers making decisions about properly responding to complaints tendered for a defense under the laws of each of...more
Scott Seaman, Co-Chair of Hinshaw’s global Insurance Services Practice Group, moderates a panel of transaction insurance professionals, including Global Co-CEO of Aon's M&A and Transaction Solutions practice Gary Blitz,...more
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent major exposures to insurers and their policyholders. Thousands of lawsuits are pending nationwide and several large settlements have already been reached. Insurers are...more
8/30/2023
/ Asbestos ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
CERCLA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
D&O Insurance ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurer Liability ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
PFAS ,
Pollution Exclusion ,
Popular ,
Settlement