7686. Liability Insurance

This course provides a detailed examination of the legal principles associated with liability insurance, with major emphasis on commercial general liability, homeowners, commercial and private auto, and umbrella/excess coverage. The course will focus on several subtopics within these areas, such as environmental impairment liability, coverage for intellectual property claims and employment liability, insurer use of litigation management guidelines, and common exclusions to coverage, such as "intentional acts". The course will also examine the varying perspectives of the interested parties to an insurance liability dispute, as well as the tactics these parties utilize to maximize or minimize insurance payouts. Note: This will be an entirely online class and there will be no scheduled class meetings aside from an introductory session at the beginning of the term. The course is offered for 3 credits and will follow the Law School's 14-week format. Assigned readings will be similar to those in other insurance law classes. Instead of a final exam or live class meetings or discussions, students will complete a number of short written exercises and through the use of TWEN's discussion forum, engage in substantive discussions on the readings and class exercises. The final project will be drafting a judicial opinion on a current liability insurance dispute.