Monthly Archives: September 2011

Judy Greenwald quotes me in her Business Insurance article, “Plan ahead to tackle data breaches.”

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Data breach

In her article, Plan Ahead to Tackle Data Breaches:  Response strategy should be in place before problems arise, Business Insurance author Judy Greenwald writes about data breaches, responding to and remediating data breaches, and insurance for data breaches.

The article opens:

Establishing a data breach response plan before a problem occurs will help firms navigate the delicate issue of when they should inform those affected by a breach.

The article discusses incident response plans for dealing with data breaches.  Ms. Greenwald quotes some of the luminaries in the area of data breach responses, giving the reader insights from Jon A. Neiditz, John Doernberg, and others who handle data breach preparedness issues. Ms. Greenwald also quoted me in the article, writing:

Scott N. Godes, [formerly] of counsel at law firm Dickstein Shapiro L.L.P. in Washington, said the first thing to do when there is a data breach is “look at your insurance policies, and figure out whom you can notify and from whom you can request coverage right away.” To the extent an insurer agrees to cover the breach, “they can start providing you with resources right away,” he said.

She also put in one of the warnings that I gave.  Interested in seeing the warning?  And learning more about data breach incident response plans?  Then click on over to Plan Ahead to Tackle Data Breaches and read the whole thing.

Disclaimer:

This blog is for informational purposes only. This may be considered attorney advertising in some states. The opinions on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s law firm and/or the author’s past and/or present clients. By reading it, no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you want legal advice, please retain an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed here belong only the individual contributor(s). © All rights reserved. 2011.

“Protecting Your Company Against Loss or Liability Arising from Cyberattacks”

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My former colleague, Ken Trotter, and I recently wrote an article titled, “Protecting Your Company Against Loss or Liability Arising from Cyberattacks.”  It has been published in Hospitality Lawyer‘s September 2011 In-House Counsel Newsletter.  In the article, we discuss insurance coverage for data breaches, cyber risks, cyberattacks, and cyber events.  We discuss coverages under new cyberinsurance policies, and overlapping coverage with other insurance policies for data breaches, cyber risks, cyberattacks, and cyber events.

We provide an overview of potential coverage under:

  • First party property policies;
  • Business interruption coverage and policies;
  • Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies;
  • Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) policies;
  • Errors and Omissions policies; and
  • Crime and Fidelity policies.

We also give practical considerations when making claims for coverage.

Here is the opening paragraph to the article:

Does your company have insurance policies that will cover data breaches and cyber attacks?  The hospitality industry is particularly vulnerable to data breaches and other cyberattacks.  According to Willis Group Holdings, a British insurance firm, insurance claims for data theft worldwide jumped 56% last year, with a large number of those attacks targeting the hospitality industry.  The report said the largest share of cyber attacks—38%—were aimed at hotels, resorts and tour companies.  As just one example of these attacks, computer hackers broke into the computer system of a national hotel chain and stole the guests’ credit card information.  This summer, the Secret Service informed the owner of a family-run Italian restaurant that a thief hacked into the communication system between the cash register and the credit card processing company, stole credit card numbers, and then used them to fraudulently make purchases across the United States.  Businesses in the hospitality industry will continue to be attractive targets for hackers and data thieves, particularly since they obtain and maintain confidential data from consumers including countless credit card records.  There are risks for companies well beyond the possibility of hackers stealing consumer data.  Vital corporate data, whether it’s shared on the company’s servers or by third parties, may become inaccessible or even destroyed in a hacker attack.  Managing such risk is critical to successful business operations. Read more

Want to read more?  Then click on over to the newsletter.

Corporate Insurance Blog nominated to Lexis’ Insurance Law Community’s Top 50 Insurance Blogs for 2011!

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Insurance Law Community

I’m honored that that Lexis’ Insurance Law Community has nominated the Corporate Insurance Blog as one of its Top 50 Insurance Blogs for 2011.  Here is how Lexis describes the Corporate Insurance Blog:

Corporate Insurance Blog

https://corporateinsuranceblog.com/

Written and Maintained by Scott Godes

This blog is for corporate policyholders, risk managers, and in-house counsel who deal with insurance policies, programs, purchases, renewals, claims, and recovery. It offers a fresh perspective, top notch writing, keen insight, and tackles the tough issues head on.

Thanks, Lexis, for the kind words!

Lexis has explained the process for narrowing down the list of nominees to the 50 final top blogs for 2011.  I’d appreciate it if you’d submit a comment in support of the Corporate Insurance Blog.  Here’s how Lexis explains the process:

The Top Blogs campaign on the LexisNexis Insurance Law Community will move ahead in several phases. We will start by taking nominations during a comment period that starts today and ends on October 7, 2011.  We have gathered a group of initial nominees, which are listed below, and we welcome our Community members to make additional nominations and support their favorite blogs. We will select the Top 50 based on our review of the sites and comments from our Community members.

To “talk up” or nominate your favorite Insurance Law blog, you will need to be a registered Community member and be logged in. If you have not registered previously, follow this link to create a new registration or use your sign in credentials from your favorite social media site. Registration is free! Once you are logged in, scroll all the way to the very bottom of this page. You should see a comment box similar to this one:

 

Add a Comment

Add a comment in the box at the bottom of the page to vote or nominate your favorite blog, and that’s it! If you are having problems registering, click here, or please contact us at ted.zwayer@lexisnexis.com.  As a Community Manager, I want to make sure that everyone gets to vote!

We would also appreciate your help with spreading the news about our Top Blogs campaign. Please tell your colleagues and your online groups and networks that our Insurance Law Community is seeking nominations and comments for the Top 50 Insurance Law Blogs so that they can participate in our recognition event.  After all, it’s only through input from others that we can continue to maintain the value and quality that our Community relies upon when it searches our Top Blogs for insight and information.

Disclaimer:

This blog is for informational purposes only. This may be considered attorney advertising in some states. The opinions on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s law firm and/or the author’s past and/or present clients. By reading it, no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you want legal advice, please retain an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed here belong only the individual contributor(s). © All rights reserved. 2011.

Other People’s Money? Learn About Additional Insured Issues And Indemnification Agreements Teleconference And CLE.

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Is your company an additional insured under another company’s insurance policies? Does your company issue certificates of insurance? Do you deal with indemnity agreements? Do you know whether indemnity agreements are covered by insurance? Would you like to learn the answers to these questions? Of course you would.

You’d like to hear about this from a commercial litigator and insurance coverage attorneys, wouldn’t you?

Plus, you’d like CLE credit for listening, wouldn’t you?

Well, say no more!

If you’re looking for all of that and more, organized and hosted by my good friends at HB Litigation Conferences, please join me for the:

Additional Insured Issues & Indemnification Agreements Teleconference

Date: October 12, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:40 PM, ET
Price: $169*
CLE Credit: 1.5-2 CLE Credits

  • Indemnification Agreements
    • May a company be indemnified for its own negligence?
  • Additional Insured Coverage
    • How does a company become an additional insured?
    • What is the scope of additional insured coverage?
    • Who pays the deductible?
    • Is there insurance coverage for contractual indemnity agreements?
  • Assumption of Liability
    • How does it differ from an indemnity agreement?
    • Does it survive a bankruptcy?

3:30 Question and Answer Session

3:40 Adjourn

Faculty
Timothy Delahunt, Esq., Kenney Shelton Liptak Nowak LLP, Buffalo, NY
Scott Godes, Esq., [formerly] Counsel Dickstein Shapiro LLP, Washington, DC
Adam Shienvold, Esq., Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Harrisburg

Register Now!

Click to Register.

*This is valid for only one connection per firm/company location. Multiple attendees can listen in to the conference on that one connection for no additional charge (an additional CLE fee of $25 per additional listener will apply for those pursuing CLE credit, names required in advance). If more than one connection is used, you will be billed after the conference $169 per each additional connection used.

Disclaimer:

This blog is for informational purposes only. This may be considered attorney advertising in some states. The opinions on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s law firm and/or the author’s past and/or present clients. By reading it, no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you want legal advice, please retain an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed here belong only the individual contributor(s). © All rights reserved. 2011.

Note:  as a speaker at the conference, I will not be charged a fee related to the conference.

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Interested in learning more about insurance for technology firms’ outsourcing relationships?

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Julie Davis of Risk Communities asked me to speak with her again about insurance coverage issues for high tech firms.  In this video, we talk about insurance coverage for outsourcing relationships, particularly for technology firms.  Here is how Risk Communities described the video interview:

The technology industry is rich in its outsourcing relationships.  The industry outsources R&D, manufacturing, supply chain management, logistics, product servicing and more.

Due to changes in the economy, many technology firms are in the process of reviewing and re-evaluating their outsourcing contracts.  RiskCommunities had the opportunity to interview counsel, Scott Godes, [formerly] Dickstein Shapiro LLP, Washington D.C. on risks associated with outsourcing.

The full video interview, on risk management and outsourcing risks for technology firms, can be found at:  http://youtu.be/K1BEz8zPSME

Disclaimer:

This blog is for informational purposes only. This may be considered attorney advertising in some states. The opinions on this blog do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s law firm and/or the author’s past and/or present clients. By reading it, no attorney-client relationship is formed. If you want legal advice, please retain an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed here belong only the individual contributor(s). © All rights reserved. 2011.

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