8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Top 10 Insurance Law Decisions of 2022
Adam White, Pinto Coates Kyre & Bowers PLLC, Greensboro
North Carolina courts continue to issue opinions and rulings pertaining to matters relevant to insurance law. During this segment, we review, analyze and discuss the most significant decisions from the past year in both North Carolina state and federal courts. Additionally, we look at other cases and opinions to gain additional insight regarding insurance law matters beyond our state, with a possible preview of the decisions that may impact North Carolina insurance law in the future.
9:46 Radiator Specialty Company v. Arrowood Indemnity Company: A Look at Trigger, Allocation, Exhaustion and More
Jonathan G. Hardin, Perkins Coie LLP, Washington, D.C.
Radiator Specialty Company involved multiple liability insurers with primary, umbrella and excess policies over decades. The questions on appeal asked — when the same loss spans multiple years — which policy years are triggered, how do parties allocate coverage across multiple years, and what primary policies must exhaust before umbrella/excess coverage responds? The speaker, who represents the plaintiff in that lawsuit, provides insights on the Supreme Court's decision, as well as trial court legal and evidentiary rulings that were not appealed, which could impact coverage disputes in this state.
10:35 Break
10:45 Resolution of Property Insurance Claims Through Appraisal and Mediation
Andrew P. Flynt, Young Moore and Henderson PA, Raleigh
Rebecca Huffman Ugolick, Howard Stallings From Atkins Angell & Davis PA, Raleigh
Speakers discuss options for resolving coverage disputes pre- and post-litigation, with a focus on the appraisal process, mediation and common issues that arise during both. Then delve into the scope of a court's involvement in the appraisal process. This segment provides an opportunity to gain insights from the perspectives of the insurer and the policyholder.
11:44 Sex, Unauthorized Practice of Law and Trust Accounting*
Joshua Walthall, Boerema Blackton, Raleigh
A former NC State Bar prosecutor discusses common ethical issues and how to avoid them. Topics include inappropriate relationships with clients, the unauthorized practice of law and trust accounting.
12:45 Lunch Break
1:15 Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims: When Can an Insured Stack Insurance Policies?
William F. Lipscomb, Lipscomb Law Firm, Wilkesboro
During this presentation, the speakers examine the North Carolina Financial Responsibility Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-279.21, concerning uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, and specifically address N.C. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company v. Hebert and the issue of policy stacking.
2:00 Insurance Claims: Continuing Issues Arising From COVID-Related Losses
Gagan Gupta, Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, Chapel Hill
Spencer T. Wiles, Robinson Bradshaw, Charlotte
The speakers provide an update concerning business interruption and other claims related to COVID-19. This includes a review of trends in litigation, key decisions, and a discussion of previously unanswered questions concerning COVID-19 litigation.
2:44 Break
2:54 Cybersecurity: A New Year's Resolution‡
C. Patrick F. Brown, Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of NC, Cary
Today's cyber age creates many opportunities and advantages for attorneys and clients alike. Unfortunately, bad actors leverage those same platforms to steal money and information as well. Hear about common threats facing attorneys and clients today, including phishing, ransomware, smart devices, data breaches and more. Then learn some quick and easy tips and tools to help meet your ethical obligations, foil the scammers, and keep you and your clients safe.
3:55 Adjourn
* Indicates portion providing Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit
‡ Indicates portion providing Technology Training credit
Thank you for joining us for The Continued Exploration of Insurance Law, Coverage and Litigation Issues (2023 Insurance Law Section Program).
The North Carolina Bar Association's Insurance Law Section is pleased to offer its annual CLE program exploring a number of topics in the area of insurance law.
C. Patrick F. Brown is the Vice President of Enterprise and Operational Risk Management at Lawyers Mutual as well as filling the roles of Corporate Secretary and Director of Information Security. He has also previously served in the roles of relationship manager and underwriter.
Prior to joining Lawyers Mutual in 2011, he practiced in the areas of real estate, foreclosure, creditor's rights, and insurance subrogation. He is licensed in North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the US Patent & Trademark Office.
Patrick is a NC State Bar board certified specialist in Privacy & Information Security Law and has been designated a Fellow of Information Privacy and a Privacy Law Specialist by the IAPP as well as being a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States, a Certified Information Privacy Manager, and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist. He serves on several local and state bar association committees, including the North Carolina State Bar's Cybersecurity Committee and the North Carolina Bar Association's Privacy and Data Security Section Council, and is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Patrick earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law.
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R. Steven DeGeorge is a partner at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA in Charlotte. He handles insurance, product liability, toxic tort and environmental disputes, and he counsels clients in transactions presenting these issues.
Steve represents policyholders, exclusively, in courts across the country. He is co-chair of the firm's Insurance Coverage Practice Group and co-author of "New Appleman North Carolina Insurance Litigation (2020 ed.)" the definitive treatise on North Carolina insurance litigation. He also counsels businesses relative to their coverage needs and negotiates with insurers for the most favorable coverage terms available.
Steve has represented property owners and alleged "arrangers" at several EPA National Priority List sites. He represents a public chemical company in a series of interrelated state and federal lawsuits, including class actions and MDL litigation, arising from discharges of PFAS and other "emerging compounds."
Steve serves as U.S. coordinating counsel for product liability and toxic tort litigation brought against three international product manufacturers.
Steve earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Wisconsin.
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Christy C. Dunn is an associate at Young Moore & Henderson PA in Raleigh. She represents insurers and businesses in a variety of civil litigation matters including insurance coverage, employment, electric, and long-term care claims. She also represents employers, electric membership corporations, and long-term care facilities in civil litigation and employment law matters. She is recognized among Business North Carolina's Legal Elite™ in the Young Guns category (2022).
Before obtaining her law degree, Christy spent 13 years working as a sales engineer consulting with end users, engineers, and contractors to design, sell, and install power protection and precision cooling solutions for data centers and industrial applications. This experience provides Christy with unique insight into the responsibilities of professionals whose products and services support mission-critical business operations. By working closely with decision-makers at all levels of the end-user companies, Christy developed an appreciation for the challenges faced by business leaders making major strategic decisions.
Christy earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned her law degree, magna cum laude, from Campbell Law School. While in law school, Christy interned in the Office of the Solicitor General of North Carolina and for The Honorable J. Douglas McCullough at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Before joining Young Moore, she clerked for The Honorable Allegra Collins at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
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Lenneka H. "Nikki" Feliciano is a partner at Pinto Coates Kyre & Bowers PLLC in Greensboro. Her principal areas of practice are include workers' compensation, insurance defense, insurance coverage, personal injury litigation (including motor vehicle accidents), subrogation, commercial litigation, and construction litigation matters. Nikki has handled cases throughout the State of North Carolina, including cases in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, and the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Nikki is a member of the Greensboro and North Carolina Bar Associations and the Guilford County Association of Black Lawyers.
Nikki earned her B.A., cum laude, from North Carolina State University and her J.D. from Elon University School of Law.
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Andrew P. Flynt is a shareholder at Young Moore and Henderson PA in Raleigh. He represents insurers, businesses, and individuals in litigation. His practice includes insurance coverage analysis and litigation, insurance bad faith litigation, professional liability defense, employment litigation, business litigation, premises liability and product liability.
Andrew's insurance practice includes advising insurers on third-party and first-party coverage issues, including commercial general liability policies, excess policies, auto policies, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, professional liability policies, municipal liability policies, law enforcement liability policies, and commercial and residential property policies. He frequently provides coverage opinions and litigates coverage issues in declaratory judgment actions. He has extensive experience with coverage issues involving construction defect and sexual abuse claims.
Andrew also advises policyholders on coverage issues under Directors and Officers (D&O) and Errors and Omissions (E&O) policies. His experience includes drafting insurance policies. His professional liability practice includes defending engineers, architects, brokers, and other professionals. Andrew's employment practice includes representing employers and employees in Wage and Hour Act claims and Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act claims. Andrew joined Young Moore and Henderson in September 2010 and was named a shareholder in 2016. He attended the International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy in 2018.
Andrew earned his B.S., summa cum laude, in Natural Resources with a Marine and Coastal Concentraion from North Carolina State University and his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, Andrew was a staff writer for the North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology.
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Gagan Gupta; is a partner at Tin Fulton Walker & Owen in Chapel Hill and of counsel at Paynter Law in Hillsborough, where he leads the firm's insurance disputes division. He began his legal career as a clerk to the Honorable Pierre N. Level on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan. Following his clerkship, Gagan returned to his home state of North Carolina to practice law.
Gagan's practice includes trial and appellate work in state and federal courts in broad areas of civil rights, including wrongful convictions, police misconduct, employment and housing discrimination, and personal injury. He also maintains an active commercial and class action practice in the areas of insurance and products liability.
Gagan is currently a member of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and currently serves on the board of the nonprofit North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services. He is also an active member of the NC Advocates for Justice and is an alum of NCAJ Next, the organization's leadership fellowship program.
Gagan earned his B.A. from Davidson College, his MSc. degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science and his J.D. from Stanford Law School.
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Jonathan G. Hardin is a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Washington, D.C. An experienced litigator and trusted advisor, he represents companies in complex insurance coverage claims, environmental litigation, and other commercial disputes. He has recovered more than $300 million for insurance policyholders and has successfully defended clients against liability for damages alleged in excess of $500 million in environmental and other commercial litigation. His clients span all industries and range from startups to Fortune 100 companies.
Jonathan also maintains an active insurance counseling practice—advising on policy renewals and insurance provisions in commercial contracts—to help clients maximize coverage and minimize risk. With more than 15 years of experience, he has developed practice depth in virtually all commercial lines of coverage. In 2021, Law360 named Jonathan as a "Rising Star," recognizing him as one of the top attorneys under 40 nationwide
Jonathan earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Ouachita Baptist University and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. In law school, where he was an editor on the Vanderbilt Law Review. He then clerked for Judge Bobby Shepherd on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. After clerking, he joined the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling, where he spent four years as an associate before leaving to join the Insurance Recovery practice at Perkins Coie.
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Daniel J. Knight is an associate attorney with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP in Raleigh. He is a litigator who focuses on construction law. He has represented owners, general contractors, and subcontractors in a broad range of construction litigation claims, including over breaches of contract, defective construction, delay, enforcement of lien claims, and bond claims. He has also represented insurance companies in litigation over property and casualty (P&C) insurance related to product liability, automobile negligence, and defective work claims.
Daniel has experience in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration.
Daniel earned his B.A., cum laude, in History and Political Science from North Carolina State University and his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law. In law school, he was a member and officer of the Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, which was actively involved with the Food Bank of Central, and Eastern North Carolina, the Campbell Law Innocence Project and the Military Law Student Association.
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William F. "Bill" Lipscomb is owner of Lipscombe Law Firm in Wilkesboro. He has practiced in the areas of insurance defense and coverage disputes for forty-two years. He investigates his cases thoroughly, researches the law and develops a plan and strategy for every case in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the client.
Bill has tried to verdict more than one hundred jury trials and also has extensive appellate experience. Thirty-seven of his appellate cases have resulted in a published decision, including twenty involving uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Bill is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys and the Defense Research Institute.
Bill earned his B.A. from Wake Forest University and is J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.
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Rebecca Huffman Ugolick is a partner at Howard Stallings From Atkins Angell & Davis PA in Raleigh, and part of the firm's personal injury and insurance law practice. She is an experienced civil litigator that represents plaintiffs in state and federal court with claims for personal injury, wrongful death, serious injury, sexual assault, and complex residential and commercial insurance coverage issues.
In addition, Rebecca has represented churches, numerous commercial entities from small businesses to large financial institutions, and corporations in matters ranging from breach of contract to intellectual property disputes. She also has extensive experience in other areas of litigation, such as trusts, estates, and employment discrimination.
Rebecca has been inducted as a Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has been named to the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 by The National Trial Lawyers.
Rebecca is a member of her local and state bar associations and an active member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Rebecca serves as regional coordinator for NCAJ's high school mock trial competition and is the Verdicts & Settlements Editor of the Trial Briefs magazine. Rebecca serves on the committee for the Insurance Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Rebecca earned her B.A., cum laude, in Political Science from West Virginia University and her J.D. from North Carolina Central University.
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Joshua T. Walthall is a professional licensing attorney at Joshua Walthall Attorney at Law in Raleigh. He focuses his practice on representing lawyers, physicians, nurses, dentists, land surveyors, engineers, real estate agents, accountants, and other professionals in legal proceedings before administrative licensing boards. He assists clients in navigating issues related to highly regulated professions, including the unauthorized practice of law and issues before the Board of Law Examiners.
Joshua also provides confidential, practical advice to lawyers and law firms facing professional ethics dilemmas, including Bar or criminal investigations, employee theft, unfair competition and business practices, firm dissolutions, and other risk management. He can also audit or investigate trust account records and provide guidance on how to correct trust accounting errors and maintain best practices.
Joshua was formerly with Nelson Mullins in Raleigh. Before entering private practice, Josh spent nearly a decade at the North Carolina State Bar prosecuting attorney misconduct and the unauthorized practice of law.
Joshua earned his B.A. from the College at Southeastern and his J.D. from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.
Prior to law school, Joshua worked in the land surveying, banking, and construction industries and was a middle school teacher and soccer coach.
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Adam White is a partner at Pinto Coates Kyre & Bowers PLLC in Greensboro. He currently handles matters in many areas, including insurance defense, personal injury, premises liability litigation, construction litigation, motor vehicle accidents, subrogation, and employment law. He handles cases throughout North Carolina, Virginia, and in federal court.
Adam has been named a North Carolina Rising Star the past several years and authored two chapters in the Lexis Nexis Practice Guide New Appleman North Carolina Insurance Litigation; one on disability insurance and the other on life insurance.
Adam is a member of the Greensboro and North Carolina Bar Associations.
Adam graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received his J.D., cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was an Executive Editor of the Wake Forest Law Review.
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Spencer T. Wiles is an attorney with Robinson Bradshaw in Charlotte. He is a business litigator who represents clients in the litigation and arbitration of complex disputes focusing on matters in construction, insurance coverage, land use, and sports and entertainment. He routinely advises owners and contractors on a wide range of construction-related disputes, including defect cases, delay cases and payment disputes.
In his insurance coverage practice, Spencer represents policyholders, exclusively, in insurance coverage disputes and counsels clients with respect to their coverage needs. He also maintains an active sports and entertainment practice and has successfully resolved disputes between motorsports teams, drivers and sponsors.
Spencer has experience in various stages of arbitration and litigation in federal and state court, including the North Carolina Business Court.
Spencer earned his B.S., summa cum laude, from Hampden-Sydney College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law.
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