In-Person Event at Lloyd’s Old Library One Lime Street, London, EC3M 7HA
Join Angus Rodger, Chris Paparella, Elise Haverman and Natalia Gofman of Steptoe LLP.
They will discuss the main arguments parties have made in the UK courts to avoid agreements to arbitrate, and the general lack of success of such arguments. They will also discuss a unique arbitration problem that has arisen for insurers in the United States. A number of US states have statutes that invalidate arbitration clauses in insurance contracts. Such statutes conflict with the US’s treaty obligations under the New York arbitration convention when applied to international insurance agreements. The problem is the individual US states regulate insurance but the federal government signs treaties. A number of courts have ruled that the New York Convention trumps the state anti-arbitration laws, but the US Supreme Court will ultimately have to weigh in to resolve the issue for good. The question is complicated by the fact that US federal law provides generally that state laws take precedence over federal law when it comes to insurance regulation.
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Virtual Lecture
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We’re pleased to invite you to an upcoming lecture with Professor Matthew Taylor Raffety, a distinguished historian of American and Atlantic history, with a focus on maritime law, diplomacy, and legal history.
In this thought-provoking session, Professor Raffety explores the legal, moral, and financial complexities surrounding the payment of ransoms to marine pirates. He challenges the enduring English legal perspective that views piracy as apolitical “sea robbery,” and warns of the real-world risks this poses—particularly in the context of modern anti-terrorism legislation.
The lecture will address:
- The historical basis for legal ransom payments
- Legal grey areas insurers and negotiators face today
- How ideological motivations by pirates may trigger anti-terror laws
- The need for updated legislation and use of self-insuring P&I Clubs
About the Speaker:
Matthew Taylor Raffety is Professor of History at the University of Redlands, California. He holds a PhD from Columbia University and a law degree from Cambridge University, and is a student member of Gray’s Inn. His research spans legal, gender, and maritime history, with current projects including The Republic Afloat (University of Chicago Press) and a study of the illegal slave trade through Havana in the 1830s.
Don’t miss what promises to be a fascinating and timely discussion on piracy, law, and the complex realities of ransom in the 21st century.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Please Register your place here
VIRTUAL LECTURE – REGISTER YOUR PLACE HERE.
Join us for a talk by Jonathan Scragg, who will be exploring recent insurance contracts law reform – and the resulting newly enacted legislation – in New Zealand.
Jonathan is a partner at Duncan Cotterill in New Zealand and a former president of BILA’s sister organisation, the New Zealand Insurance Law Association Inc.
Jonathan will discuss:
- The politics of insurance law reform in New Zealand;
- The key features of the new legislation – the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024; and
- Some comparisons between the New Zealand legislation and the approach in the UK.
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This event will be held in the auditorium of Clyde & Co, The St Botolph Building, 138 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7AR on 29 April 2025, 2.00 pm – 5.45 pm. To be followed by drinks. The event will also be viewable live online.
PROGRAMME
Opening Address by BILA’s President, James Davey (Professor of Law, University of Bristol)
Panel: Reinsurance wordings – where things go wrong and how they can be avoided, chaired by Özlem Gürses (Professor of Commercial Law, King’s College London)
with:
Sushma Ananda (Barrister, 7KBW)
Peter Wedge (Wordings Director, Gallagher Re)
Jake Fisher (Vice President – Reinsurance, Gard AS)
Panel: ART (cat bonds, industry linked securities, captives, parametric) – perspectives on a changing market, chaired by Dr Caroline Bell (Head of Wordings, QBE Europe)
with:
George Belcher (Partner – Mayer Brown)
Peter Dunlop (Co-founder and General Counsel, Radix ILS)
Carlo Magnani (Managing Director, Aon Securities)
Wynne Lawrence (Partner – Clyde & Co)
Drinks
The event is free to join
REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND VIRTUALLY ONLY – By registering for this event you agree to Clyde & Co processing your personal data for the purposes of facilitating the event. Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with Clyde & Co’s Privacy Policy
REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND IN PERSON ONLY – NOW CLOSED
Navigating the AI Revolution: Professional Liability & Negligence in Insurance
Laura Wright and Rebecca Keating of 4 Pump Court
The increasing adoption if AI is transforming industries. As AI adoption accelerates, it brings with it a complex landscape of new challenges and opportunities.
Join us for an talk by Laura Wright and Rebecca Keating of 4 Pump Court (authors of the Professional Liability chapter of the Law of Artificial Intelligence) exploring the critical intersection of AI, professional liability, and negligence within the insurance sector.
Laura and Rebecca will focus on:
– Professional liability risks: The implications for insurers and professionals when AI-driven decisions lead to adverse outcomes.
– Defining negligence in the age of AI: Establishing accountability and responsibility in cases involving AI systems.
– Practices for mitigating risks: Strategies for insurers and professionals to navigate the evolving legal and regulatory landscape.
This presentation will focus on the developments in English insurance (including marine insurance) and reinsurance law in the last 12 month period. This period has witnessed a sheer number of insurance and reinsurance disputes many of which brought questions before the courts that had not been judicially determined before. In a reinsurance dispute the courts for the first time clarified the meaning of ‘catastrophe’ and the application of the ‘hours clauses’ in the context of Covid-19. The care that must be observed in the selection of the standard market wordings was also illustrated through a reinsurance dispute. The courts also clarified whether an excess of loss cover could be regarded as ‘underinsurance’, reiterated the meaning of ‘seizure’ and brokers’ duties to their clients and ruled that the damages against the brokers can be assessed on the loss of chance basis. Moreover, the enforcement of conditions precedent to insurer’s liability under the Insurance Act 2015 was discussed. The marine insurance disputes included the assured’s duty of disclosure and the duty to mitigate the loss, the assured’s knowledge when the assured is a company, fortuity, the enforcement of the ‘pay first’ clause in the P&I club rules, damages for late payment by the insurers, ransom, general average and physical v pure economic loss. Numerous cases continued to discuss the business interruption losses suffered due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The courts reiterated the causation test applied by the UK Supreme Court in the FCA test case in assessing such claims as well as the meaning of the word ‘occurrence’ and how the losses will be aggregated in composite policies.
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Please join BILA YP at their Winter 2024 Casino Night
Enjoy all the thrill of a Casino along with drinks, nibbles and networking with your peers in the insurance market
10th December 2024
Timings: 17.30 until 21.00
Location: Steam Wine Bar, 1 St George’s Lane, EC3R 8DJ
Tickets £10.00 per person
The full cost of this event is kindly sponsored by Clyde & Co LLP. Proceeds from ticket sales will fund future BILA Young Professionals activities.
Please Note
If you need to cancel your attendance at this event a full refund will be available until Wednesday 4 December. After this time, refunds will not be available but tickets can be transferred into alternative attendees free of charge.
BOOKING FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED
Virtual Lecture
Four members of Crown Office Chambers will explore and discuss key insurance issues that arise from the fire safety and cladding claims that are ultimately being made against insurers under various types of policies following the Grenfell Tower Tragedy in 2017. Ben, Isabel, Ivor and Elizabeth will consider the various remedies that are now being sought in such claims and whether they neatly fit within the scope of cover available under various insurance policies. They will focus in particular on professional indemnity policies and the various limits that have been placed on cover by insurers in recent years.
The BILA Charitable Trust has arranged with the kind support of BILA a Memorial Lecture to be delivered on Wednesday 6 November 2024 in the Old Library, Lloyd’s of London to mark the passing and lifelong contribution made to insurance law, BILA and to the BILA Charitable Trust by Professor Malcolm Clarke, who died on 5 April 2024 at the age of 81.
No registration fee is being charged to attend the Lecture, but all are encouraged to make a donation to the Trust, either as a one-off gift or by way of a regular annual payment, to help the Trust maintain its work over future years. To assist with any donating this BILA Charitable Trust – Donation and Standing Order Form_has been created for your kind use.
In-Person Lecture to be held at Lloyd’s Old Library, 1 Lime St, London, EC3M 7HA
Please ensure you bring photographic ID or Lloyd’s Pass
Booking for this event is now closed.
Professor Kenneth Abraham (University of Virginia) will analyze the ways in which insurance and insurance law act as a gatekeeper to certain activities (e.g., driving, homeowning, handling of hazardous chemicals) and how the devices insurance uses to combat moral hazard (e.g., risk-based pricing, partial insurance, coverage exclusions) do and do not function effectively.