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BILA Young Professionals Virtual Lecture - All together now: Issues in Aggregation with Nathalie Koh, Fountain Court Chambers
03/02/2022 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Nathalie’s talk will cover developments in aggregation law and recent cases in this area.

Nathalie Koh, joined Fountain Court Chambers in October 2020 following the successful completion of her pupillage under the supervision of Ben Lynch QC and James Duffy. She is developing a broad commercial practice in line with chambers’ profile.
Nathalie graduated with a First Class degree in Law from the University of Oxford. She was awarded the Slaughter and May Prize, the Rajah & Tann LLP Prize, the Mander Law Prize, and the Michael Junior Scholarship. She later read for the BCL at Oxford, where she received the Princess Royal and Fountain Court Scholarships, as well as the Ralph Chiles Prize.
Prior to joining chambers, Nathalie was a teaching fellow at The Queen’s College (Oxford) in Trusts Law, and worked as a research assistant for the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law on Chitty on Contracts, and Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia. She was also a legal adviser at Hackney Migrant Centre, working pro bono. Having grown up in Singapore, she is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese and has a good understanding of the Asian markets.

 

The Proximate Cause of Loss with Professor Özlem Gürses
24/01/2022 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

In this talk Professor Ozlem Gurses will discuss the meaning of ‘proximate’ under the MIA 1906 s 55(1) (which is not confined to marine insurance). The talk will explore the adoption of the word ‘proximate’ by the pre-MIA 1906 cases which then led to the codification of the term under s 55(1) of the Act. It will discuss if the proximate cause rule has ever been the ‘last cause in time’ or whether its determination has always been a matter of construction of the way the loss has occurred and the policy terms. The talk will also question if there are any- differences between the words ‘attributable to’ and ‘caused by’ and it will explore the meaning of ‘concurrent independent and concurrent interdependent causes’. The talk will conclude on the two matters: is the word proximate misleading and if the so-called ‘concurrent causes’ rule is a theoretical analysis which finds little practical application in the authorities.

Özlem Gürses is Professor of Commercial Law at King’s College London. She specialises in insurance and reinsurance law. Özlem is the author of Reinsuring Clauses (Informa), Marine Insurance Law (Routledge), Insurance of Commercial Risks (Sweet and Maxwell), and The Compulsory Motor Vehicle Insurance (Informa) as well as numerous articles published on insurance and reinsurance related topics. Özlem sits in the British Insurance Law Association Committee and the Presidential Council of the International Insurance Law Association (AIDA). She is Vice-Chair of the Reinsurance Working Party of AIDA. Özlem teaches insurance and reinsurance law at King’s College London and abroad, including National University of Singapore, University of Hamburg and World Maritime University, Malmö.

 

Recent Developments In Case-Law Affecting Data Claims, Including Those Following A Cyber Incident
30/11/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

In this webinar David McIlwaine and Stuart Davey, partners at Pinsent Masons, will look at recent case-law which may impact on data subject claims, particularly those following a cyber incident.

David McIlwaine

David heads Pinsent Masons’ international cyber practice.  He is by pedigree a litigator and has over 25 years’ experience of advising clients in relation to contentious technology and data issues.   He assists clients with all stages of the cyber life-cycle, including cyber readiness, incident response, regulatory investigation and challenge, and subsequent litigation. The team have advised on a multitude of cross-border cyber incidents.  David completed a secondment to the legal department of the National Cyber Security Centre (part of the UK’s intelligence service), where he advised on regulatory issues, including in relation to the implementation of the Networks and Information Systems Regulations (NIS), which affects organisations that provide critical national infrastructure.

 Stuart Davey

Stuart Davey is a partner in the cyber team at Pinsent Masons. He advises on cyber readiness, breach response, and litigation arising out of data breaches. Stuart advises corporate and insurer clients in responding to cyber incidents by instructing IT forensics teams, working with criminal authorities and extortion experts, and engaging credit monitoring service providers. As part of this he has assisted numerous clients with the notification of personal data breaches to regulators (the ICO, FCA and otherwise), and with the management of the resulting investigation.  Post-incident, Stuart advises on data controller/processor disputes and the risks relating to data subject claims (and dealing with these claims when they arise). Stuart also advises both suppliers and customers of distressed technology projects. He is experienced in litigation, arbitration, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

EARTHQUAKE AND COVID-19 CLAIMS: LESSONS FROM THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
24/11/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Liverpool in 1862 closely resembled Beriln in 1962, both cities replete with spies. In 1862 Confederate agent James Bulloch, by a combination of deviousness and good luck, persuaded Birkenhead shipyards to construct and release two vessels, later to become The Florida and The Alabama, for Confederate use. As it turned out, that use was to lay waste to a significant proportion of the Union merchant fleet. The events brought Britain and the US close to war, averted largely by the efforts of Lord Selborne in his successive capactites as law officer of the Crown, advocate in international arbitration and Lord of Appeal in the famous case of Burnand v Rodocanachi. (1882) 7 App Cas 333. The Alabama saga has been superbly described by two lawyers whose loss we all lament, Lord Bingham and Johnny Veeder QC. This lecture takes the Alabama a step further, to discuss its implications for claims for property damage in the New Zealand earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 and for the measure of indemnity under business interruption policies for COVID-19 losses.  The lecture draws heavily on the speaker’s Marine Insurance: A Legal History, published in November 2021.

Rob Merkin QC, whose attempted retirement three years ago has proved an abject failure, is Professor of Law at the University of Reading, Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter, Honorary Professor at Auckland University and China University of Politics and Law and Special Counsel to Duncan Cotterill. Rob is past President of BILA, honorary life President of AIDA and author of a number of works on insurance law and arbitration. He sits as an arbitrator when someone is kind enough to offer an appointment.

Government and Insurance - Lessons for Managing Cybercrime with Anja Shortland Professor of Political Economy at King's College, London
10/11/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

The recent rise in extortive cybercrime has caused great concern among policy makers. There is a common perception that cyber insurance has failed to encourage corporate customers to invest sufficiently in their cybersecurity and resilience. Moreover, insurance has been accused of fuelling the ransomware epidemic by funding ever higher ransoms, handling negotiations and facilitating payments. But is it realistic to expect that insurers contain the problem of cybercrime, absolving governments of the responsibility to act? This talk explores under what conditions competing private insurers can jointly create sustainable insurance products that serve both the needs of their customers and the public interest. Evidence from other insurance markets suggests that a fully private regime is unlikely for cyber insurance. Instead, a future regime will probably take the form of a public-private partnership, with governments providing assistance to coordinate actions, contain criminal threats, or insure systemic risks.

 

Anja Shortland is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London. Anja studies private governance in the world’s trickiest markets: hostages, fine art, and antiquities—and how people live, trade, and invest in complex and hostile territories. She has published widely on the subject of maritime crime and was part of the World Bank team developing land-side approaches to Somali piracy. Her book Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business (OUP 2019) examines the role of insurance in ordering the market for hostages. Lost Art (Unicorn 2021) studies how insurers created sophisticated institutions to reduce the profitability of art crime, strengthen the property rights of former owners, and facilitate amicable resolutions between current and former owners.

The Annual Update with Professor James Davey
13/10/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

James Davey is Professor of Insurance & Commercial Law within Bristol Law School at the University of Bristol. He recently joined Bristol Law School moving from Southampton University. 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; fair presentation of the risk; interpretation of commercial insurance contracts, and actions under the Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010. On the regulatory side, consideration will be given to the FCA proposal for a new ‘Consumer Duty’ regarding fair value.

 

Funding disputes in 2021: current state of play and forecasts for the future with Fiona Heyes and Sean McGuiness of Augusta Ventures
24/09/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

An introduction into the mechanics of disputes funding and how disputes funders interact with the insurance market, followed by some real-life examples of funding resolutions and forecasts for future trends.

Funding disputes in 2021: current state of play and forecasts for the future
24/09/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

An introduction into the mechanics of disputes funding and how disputes funders interact with the insurance market, followed by some real-life examples of funding resolutions and forecasts for future trends.

Fiona Heyes

Fiona is the Head of Litigation at Augusta and leads the team undertaking diligence on cases prior to investment and the monitoring of those cases to eventual resolution. She is also chair of Augusta’s investment committee as well as being responsible for communications with investors. In her personal capacity, Fiona has worked on a wide variety of cases including investor state arbitrations, breach of contract disputes, professional negligence claims and large multi-party claims.

 Prior to joining Augusta, Fiona was a Partner at Plexus Law and before that she was a Partner at Pinsent Masons for many years specialising in a wide range of commercial disputes with particular expertise in professional indemnity claims.

Sean McGuiness

Sean is an Investment Manager specialising in high value international arbitration and cross-border litigation, with a particular focus on the energy and natural resources and financial services sectors. He is responsible for identifying claims and developing funding structures for general commercial disputes. Sean’s focus on commercial disputes in energy and natural resources and financial services Enables Augusta to address the particular risks, commercial challenges and complex issues faced by clients operating in these sectors globally.

Prior to joining Augusta, Sean worked in the international dispute resolution team at DLA Piper. Sean worked on a wide variety of claims involving parties across the globe

BILA Young Professionals Summer Social Networking Event - Thank you to everyone who attended this event and to our sponsors Simmons & Simmons
22/09/2021 / 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Come and meet other young insurance professionals over drinks and canapés by joining the BILA YP Committee for their summer social networking event.

The evening will be a great opportunity to meet (in person!) other young professionals working in insurance law both across the market and in private practice.

Developments in Solicitors Professional Indemnity Insurance
09/09/2021 / 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

In this seminar Nick Bird looks at the key developments in professional indemnity insurance for solicitors including a review of the MTC, observations on the key issues affecting the market, and the latest case law affecting policy terms.

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