Samuel J. Arena Jr.

Stradley Ronon senior counsel Samuel Arena is set to moderate a panel at the American College of Coverage Counsel (ACCC)’s 12th annual Insurance Law Symposium on November 6 at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Standard liability insurance policies provide that the insurer has the duty to defend the insured against lawsuits seeking covered damages, but they do not expressly obligate the insurer to prosecute the insured’s affirmative claims. Nevertheless, insureds assert that where the insurer is providing a defense, the insurer must prosecute in that action the insured’s counterclaims, crossclaims, and third-party claims seeking contribution and indemnity, as well as the insured’s other affirmative claims that are “inextricably intertwined” with the claims against the insured or that are “strategically necessary” to the insured’s defense. This panel will discuss courts’ answers to this question.