Law360 Reports on Scott Seaman Webinar on Insurance Coverage Disputes Over Environmental Liabilities

September 20, 2022

Law360 reported on a recent presentation by Hinshaw partner and Chicago-based co-chair of Hinshaw's Global Insurance Services Practice Group, Scott Seaman, and Anderson Kill PC's Robert Horkovich. The pair discussed the history and outlook for the future of litigating coverage disputes over environmental liabilities.

In the presentation, Seaman and Horkovich examined how ESG factors are impacting the insurance industry. Seaman stated that the focus on ESG is impacting businesses as well as insurers in their underwriting capacity. "It has already been yielding various types of claims. Some of them are claims of greater severity and some are brand-new claims, including greenwashing," he added.

The pair also discussed PFAs or "forever chemicals," predicting that coverage litigation over PFA contaminations will continue. Seaman believes insurers are on "solid footing" and " under the traditional definition of pollutants, forever chemicals are just that."

Seaman concluded by stating that despite the more novel claims coverage disputes, "traditional environmental liabilities remain large."

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"Panelists Parry Environmental Liability Coverage's Evolution" was published by Law360 Insurance Authority on September 13, 2022.

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