Past events

David Mortlock is a partner and chair of the Global Trade & Investment Group at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in Washington. David provides clients with guidance on compliance and enforcement on national-security related issues, including sanctions and export controls, anti-money laundering, and CFIUS. He helps clients build and implement compliance programs, conduct internal investigations, respond to government inquiries, and address with enforcement actions. From October 2013 to November 2015, David was Director for International Economic Affairs at the White House National Security Council, where he was responsible for coordinating interagency work on sanctions, anticorruption, and other illicit finance issues. From August 2009 to October 2013, he held a number of roles at the Department of State, including Attorney-Advisor for Sanctions and Terror Finance and Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy. David was centrally involved in developing and/or easing the sanctions programs for Russia, Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela, among other programs.

David will discuss the U.S. economic sanctions regime and its implications for the global insurance industry.  In recent years, U.S. authorities, particularly the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), have shown increased interest in insurance providers, brokers and re-insurers and have brought a number of enforcement actions based on prohibited coverage, claims, and even related payments involving U.S. financial institutions.  David will address these shifting risks for the insurance industry in the midst of an expanding U.S. regime and the transition to the Biden-Harris Administration.

10th December 2020
1pm – 2pm
BILA Virtual Lecture
Brexit & Insurance : Where to From Here?
BBILA welcomes Bill Batchelor, George Belcher, Rob Stirling and Eve-Christie Vermynck of Skadden Arps to lecture on Brexit & Insurance: Where To From Here? While the industry gets to grips with the implications of Brexit and EIOPA’s Recommendation 9 for their own organisations, we look to the future of the EU/UK relationship. What next for equivalency, data protection rules and future trading arrangements post-Brexit, and how will this affect insurance

Edward W. (Bill) Batchelor has 20 years of EU and U.K. competition law experience and focuses his practice on conduct investigations, including abuse of dominance, cartels and vertical agreements. Mr. Batchelor also regularly represents clients on EU and global merger control matters and litigation, and provides counsel on distribution and collaboration agree¬ments in complex and highly regulated industries, such as health care, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment, and gambling, among others.

George Belcher focuses on insurance-related public and private acquisitions and private
equity investments, as well as regulatory issues in the insurance sector. He also frequently
advises on matters related to Lloyd’s of London. Mr. Belcher is a member of and attends a
number of industry bodies, including City Lawyers’ Solvency II Group, City of London Law
Society (Insurance Sub-Committee) and the Financial Markets Law Committee (Insurance
Sub-Committee).

Robert Stirling focuses on insurance and asset management matters, as well as the
regulatory tory issues involved in transactional work and the insurance sector generally. He
advises on public and private acquisitions, private equity investments, portfolio and other
risk transfers, share offerings and asset disposals. Mr. Stirling also has handled numerous
representations for clients such as Phoenix Group, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co.,
Endurance Specialty Holdings, Prudential plc, Marsh and TDR Capital.

Eve-Christie Vermynck focuses her practice on technology, data protection and
cybersecurity matters. She assists a wide range of international clients across various
industries on technol¬ogy projects, including in connection with technology transfer deals,
outsourcing, services and licensing arrangements, and cloud contracts. Working closely with
lawyers in Skadden’s corporate and private equity practice groups, Ms. Vermynck advises
on the technology-, commercial-, data protection- and cybersecurity-related issues involved
in complex transac¬tions, including with respect to emerging issues in big data, AI,
blockchain, smart technol¬ogy, health care and fintech. She also advises clients in a variety
of regulatory and litigation matters, including cross-border regulatory proceedings, and
privacy and cybersecurity issues

James Davey is Professor of Insurance & Commercial Law within Southampton Law School at the University of Southampton. He joined Southampton Law School in 2014. His research and teaching interests lie in insurance and commercial law generally. He is currently Deputy President of the British Insurance Law Association (BILA).

This lecture will consider key developments in insurance and marine insurance law during the past twelve months, with discussion of litigation relating to business interruption insurance and COVID; non-disclosure; duties of good faith and utmost good faith; third-party rights against insurers and within motor insurance. On the regulatory side, consideration will be given to the FCA action son dual pricing, in the General insurance pricing practices market study.

Professor Jay Feinman of Rutgers Law School (USA) will be in conversation with Professor James Davey of Southampton University (UK).

In the past few years the insurance community has paid increasing attention to the “protection gap”—the extent to which significant losses are not covered by insurance. The Geneva Association, the insurers’ global think tank, has pioneered the concept, and it has become widely adopted. Insurance always presents gaps in coverage; not all risks are insured or indeed insurable. The protection gap concept necessarily embodies a normative component—that insureds with limited coverage, potential insureds who lack insurance, and society as a whole suffer when certain gaps in insurance exist. It is this normative component of the protection gap concept that has not been fully developed and that is the subject of this presentation.

Professor Feinman will consider examples from the US market and issues of global importance.

Jay M. Feinman is an expert in insurance law, torts, and contract law. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, he’s also written seven books and more than 60 scholarly articles.  He is a member of the American Law Institute and other professional organizations and is an advisor to United Policyholders.

A talk focusing on the wide increased powers of the Pensions Regulator envisaged by the current Pension Schemes Bill. Including discussion of the wide new criminal liabilities (not limited to employers or those associated with an employer).

David Pollard is a barrister practising from Wilberforce Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn in London. Until 2017, he practised as a solicitor and was (for 25 years) a partner in Freshfields, practising mainly pensions, employment and insolvency law. David practised with Freshfields for three years in Singapore in the 1980s.

David was chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) from 2001 to 2003. David is an editor of the journal ‘Trust Law International’.

David’s books include:
• Pensions, Contracts and Trusts: Legal Issues on decision Making (Bloomsbury Professional, 2020)
• The Law of Pension Trusts (Oxford University Press, 2013)
• Corporate Insolvency: Pension Rights and Corporate Insolvency: Employment Rights (6th eds, December 2016, Bloomsbury Professional)
• Employment Law and Pensions (Bloomsbury Professional, 2016)
• Freshfields on Corporate Pensions Law (editor) – annual editions from 2012 to 2015 (Bloomsbury Professional).

BILA will be continuing its Autumn virtual lecture series on 28 September at 1 pm on ‘Tracing the Test Case’. – A panel discussion on the recent FCA Judgment. Professor Rob Merkin QC will be in conversation with Leigh-Ann Mulcahy QC, Ben Lynch QC and Shirley Beglinger. This will undoubtedly be an insightful discussion with leading professionals from the insurance sector. Delegates are free to send in any questions they would like answered before 28th September.

Rob Merkin QC is Professor of Law at the Universities of Exeter and Reading, and Special Counsel at Duncan Cotterill. He is past president of BILA and honorary life president of AIDA. Rob has written widely on insurance and reinsurance matters, and co-edits the Lloyd’s Law Reports. Rob also sits as an arbitrator.

Leigh-Ann Mulcahy QC of Fountain Court Chambers is a leading commercial disputes silk specialising in the field of Insurance & Reinsurance. She is also a Deputy High Court Judge and commercial arbitrator. Nominated for Insurance Silk of the Year in 2016, she is currently acting for the FCA in the Test Case. Chambers & Partners recommend her as “a very clear, polished and persuasive advocate who definitely has the ear of the court. She is an incredibly hard-working and respected silk. Absolutely excellent.”

Ben Lynch QC is a highly regarded commercial silk, who has been described in the directories as “a barrister with a frighteningly astute mind, who doesn’t leave any stone unturned”. Ben has a specialist practice in insurance and reinsurance, acting in various landmark cases. He is also an editor of MacGillivray on Insurance Law.

Shirley Beglinger joined Swiss Re in 1988 after a decade in banking and asset management.  Since leaving Swiss Re Shirley has worked in the Chairman’s office at Aon and as Operational Risk Lead at Marsh as well as in her current role as independent (re)insurance consultant. Shirley is an experienced board member, underwriter, underwriting peer reviewer and operational risk expert with extensive experience as an expert witness in insurance, reinsurance and broking disputes. Her main specialism is in financial lines underwriting (D&O, Crime, Professional Indemnity), property & casualty and business interruption at both the insurance and reinsurance level, and is currently advising on Covid19 claims in these areas.

BILA will be commencing its Autumn virtual lecture series on 15 September at 1 pm with a talk by Andrew Burns QC of Devereux Chambers. Andrew will be looking at current issues in employment liability insurance, a topic of particular relevance in the light of recent debates about the return to work following the COVID lockdown.  What are the EL implications for UK businesses of widespread home-working?  Will EL policies cover claims against employers by workers injured or killed by COVID and what are the causation hurdles?  Also Andrew will give an update on recent EL case law in insurance and reinsurance arising from asbestos claims, look at issues involving employers under the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Acts and touch upon whether directors can be sued by workers for failing to insure them.

Andrew Burns QC is a leading silk in insurance and reinsurance disputes appearing in the Supreme Court in Durham v BAI (Run Off) Ltd (the Employers’ Liability Policy Trigger Litigation), in asbestos insurance cases such as Redman v Zurich and acted in litigation relating to 9/11 reinsurance disputes (Simmonds v Gammell and Allianz v Tonicstar).

Andrew acts for a range of insurers in coverage disputes and policy interpretation points.  His insurance practice is strong and he acts for well-known city insurance firms. He is an editor of The Law of Reinsurance with Colin Edelman QC.  Andrew represented successful insureds and their families in the Supreme Court in Employers’ Liability Policy Trigger Litigation [2012] 1 WLR 867, [2012] ICR 574, [2012] Lloyd’s Rep. IR 371 about the coverage of Employers’ Liability insurance policies in respect of damages for mesothelioma victims.  He appeared in Redman v Zurich Insurance Plc [2018] 1 WLR 280 concerning long-tail claims under the Third Party (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010.

We are delighted to announce our next lecture hosted by James Davey alongside our two speakers, Professor Soyer and Dr Livashnee Naidoo.

Professor James Davey is Professor within Southampton Law School at the University of Southampton. He joined Southampton Law School in 2014. His research and teaching interests lie in contract and commercial law generally. He notably harbours a strong interest in the Law and Economics of insurance, a strong field of study in the US but not generally intensively considered in the UK where insurance law research tends to be centred on contract law.

Professor Soyer is Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law and is also the Director of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law. He is a member of the British Maritime Law Association and British Insurance Law Association. He is the author of Warranties in Marine Insurance published by Cavendish Publishing (2001) and Marine Insurance Fraud published by Informa Law (2014). He has also published extensively in elite law journals such as Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, Journal of Business Law, Cambridge Law Journal, Law Quarterly Review, Torts Law Journal and Journal of Contract Law. His book on Marine Warranties was the joint winner of the Cavendish Book Prize 2001 and was awarded the British Insurance Law Association Charitable Trust Book Prize in 2002, for the best contribution to insurance literature. A third edition of this book was published in 2016. Similarly, his new book on Marine Insurance Fraud was awarded the same BILA Prize in 2015. He is the also the general editor of the Reforming Marine and Commercial Insurance Law published by Informa in 2008 and one of the editors of Pollution at Sea: Law and Liability published by Informa in 2012, Carriage of Goods by Sea, Land and Air published by Informa in 2013, Offshore Contracts and Liabilities published by Informa Law in 2014, Ship Building, Sale and Finance published by Informa Law in 2015, International Trade and Carriage of Goods by Sea published by Informa Law in 2016, Charterparties: Law, Practice and Emerging Issues published by Informa in 2017, Maritime Liabilities in a Global and Regional Context published by Informa in 2018 and New Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Shipping Law in the 21st Century published by Informa in 2019. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of International Maritime Law, Shipping and Trade Law and editorial committee of the Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly (International Maritime and Commercial Law Yearbook). He currently teaches Charter Parties and Carriage of Goods by Sea and Marine Insurance on the LLM Programme and also is the director of Commercial, Maritime and International Trade LLM Programmes.

Dr Livashnee Naidoo is a Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of Glasgow. She studied law (cum laude) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and holds a LLM in Shipping Law (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town. She completed her PhD in Marine Insurance Law at the University of Southampton which was fully-funded as a Commonwealth Scholar. Liv was in legal practice as a lawyer and notary specialising in International Trade and Shipping  Law where she acted for ship owners, operators and their insurers. Her areas of expertise are in Shipping and Insurance Law with a particular focus on Contract Law and Theory, digitisation and sustainability. Liv is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the Society of Legal Scholars, and the Maritime Law Association.

Professor Schwarcz will discuss the ongoing controversy in the United States surrounding the availability of business interruption insurance in connection with the COVID-19 Pandemic. His talk will review the key coverage issues that are currently being litigated in the United States, the size and scale of this litigation, and its likely resolution in the months and years to come. Professor Schwarcz will also discuss various state and federal legislative proposals designed to address the availability of business interruption coverage for future pandemics and, in some cases, to retroactively mandate such coverage for the current pandemic.

Daniel Schwarcz is the Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. He is an award-winning teacher and scholar. His research focuses on a broad range of issues in insurance law and regulation, spanning systemic risk, regulatory federalism, consumer protection, employer-sponsored health insurance, and insurance coverage litigation. In 2017, the American Law Institute awarded Schwarcz its highly selective Young Scholars Medal, which recognizes the scholarship of one or two outstanding early-career law professors whose work has the potential to influence improvements in the law. He has also been awarded the Liberty Mutual Prize, which is given annually for the most outstanding article on property and casualty insurance law.

Schwarcz’s scholarship has been published in a wide range of leading law reviews and journals, such as the University of Chicago Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. He is also a co-author of the leading insurance law casebook in the country, Insurance Law and Regulation (7th edition), which has been used as the principal text in courses on insurance law in more than 100 American law schools. Media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio have covered Schwarcz’s scholarship. He regularly testifies to U.S. Congressional committees on insurance matters, and he has served as an expert witness in a wide range of insurance disputes. From 2007 to 2014, he served as a consumer representative at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Schwarcz teaches courses on contract law, insurance law, the regulation of financial institutions, commercial law, health care regulation and finance, and judicial opinion writing. He has twice received teaching awards at the Law School, in 2008 and 2012.

Schwarcz earned his A.B., magna cum laude, from Amherst College and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. While in law school, he was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review and a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics. After law school, he clerked for Judge Sandra Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and practiced at the law firm Ropes & Gray, where he worked mainly on insurance law matters. He subsequently spent two years as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.

This webinar will:

• Review the general principles of vicarious liability in employment and non-employment situations
• Analyse and explain the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision in Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] UKSC 12
• Take stock of the up-to-date application of vicarious liability in employment and non-employment situations

Jonathan Bellamy, Barrister at 39 Essex Chambers, has an established litigation, arbitration and advisory practice in insurance law. His insurance and reinsurance work covers all issues arising in policy interpretation and coverage, including fair presentation of risk, breach of warranty, misrepresentation and fraud. He has dealt with the full range of indemnity and contingency policies, including public liability, professional indemnity, property, business interruption, product liability, contractors’ risks, NHBC, environmental remediation, cyber, D&O, crime/fraud, credit, fidelity, political risk and nuclear risks. In reinsurance matters he has experience in proportional and non-proportional contracts. He also advises on information law, including GDPR and data breach.