All companies routinely review their insurance coverage programs, usually through risk management talking to a trusted insurance broker. Today I came across this excellent “Sound Advice” podcast from Tonya Newman, a colleague at Neal Gerber & Eisenberg in Chicago, about the reasons that companies should involve counsel in discussions at renewal time. It is of course fairly self-serving to say so, but insurance coverage counsel can provide a perspective on what insurance to buy that brokers often cannot. If coverage counsel have recently represented the company in coverage disputes they may be more intimately familiar with how standard-form exclusions intersect with the company’s products or business practices. And because insurance procurement decisions should involve a good deal of candid self-assessment, and review of prior claims, it may be worth while to consider doing that kind of assessment inside the attorney-client privilege rather than having the conversations strictly with an insurance broker who may be subject to subpoena in a later claim. The presentation is very well done and I commend it to other policyholder counsel, brokers, and risk managers.
