Most states and U.S. territories have now begun reopening at least parts of their economies.  The reopening efforts purport to follow a three-phase White House plan, even though not many states have met the plan’s benchmarks, including a “downward trajectory” in coronavirus cases.  The White House guidelines are not mandatory.  Rather, they advise governors to take a state-wide or county-by-county approach to analyzing the progress made in combating the coronavirus hotspots and permitting economic and social…

The announcement from HM Treasury on May 13 2020 to support trade credit insurance has to be very welcome news for many UK businesses and their supply chains.  It is a very significant announcement because trade credit insurance plays a vital role in supply chains, oiling, as it does, the wheels of domestic and global trade. In the UK and the world over, supply chains have been under very significant strain and distress over recent…

This is a Cross-post from the Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes Blog.  Please contact Larry P. Schiffer and Aaron C. Garavaglia with any questions.  Back in March, when the novel coronavirus was spreading and local and state governments were issuing stay-home orders, we published a blog post on Civil Authority Orders and COVID-19 Coverage.  Since that time, there have been over 125 lawsuits filed by insured businesses, many of them arguing that the economic…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we often are asked what our clients should do if a business counterparty (such as a vendor, customer or other contract counterparty) is suffering distress and may be contemplating filing for bankruptcy.  It is, of course, impossible to anticipate every possible scenario, but our colleagues in the Restructuring and Insolvency group, Stephen D. Lerner, Karol K. Denniston, Christopher J. Giaimo, Nava Hazan, Norman N. …

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency has changed life as we know it, including by severely disrupting business on a nationwide scale. In some cases, employers have been forced to temporarily close their doors and cease operations, while others have had to make radical changes to the workplace in order to maintain operations. For nearly two months, employers have had to make these adjustments in response to the unprecedented circumstances the pandemic has…

Businesses have been adopting unusual and novel practices to ensure their operations can continue during the period of the COVID-19 outbreak.  The lockdown has forced many businesses to temporarily (or in some cases permanently) close down offices and other premises, and divert attention to remote working and the utilization of workforces predominantly working from home. Whilst these efforts to adapt to the current situation are extremely commendable, still it cannot be ignored that these changes…