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Insurance Sidebar :: Amy Stewart PC’s Law Blog on Insurance Coverage Issues
 As data breaches continue to make nearly daily headlines, more businesses are considering purchasing cyber insurance to help protect them in the event of a breach or other kind of cyber event.
But buying insurance is never easy, and the fact that cyber insurance is still a new product with little standardization among carriers makes it even more difficult to purchase. Read the rest of entry »
 We are pleased to announce that Amy Stewart Law Managing Principal Amy Elizabeth Stewart and Principal Tarron Gartner-Ilai were both named to D Magazine’s 2016 listing of the Best Lawyers in Dallas. The two lawyers were recognized for their work in insurance law. Read the rest of entry »
Insurance policyholders may want to temper their reactions to yesterday’s decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Travelers Indemnity Co. of America v. Portal Healthcare Solutions LLC.
In its unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that Portal Healthcare’s data breach was covered under the company’s commercial general liability (CGL) policies. While the decision is significant, it’s worth highlighting an important fact: the policies at issue were issued in 2012 and 2013. More recent CGL policies may contain language purporting to exclude data breaches and other cyber events from traditional CGL coverage. An exclusion that surfaced in 2014, for example, precludes coverage for claims arising out of access to or disclosure of confidential or personal information. Read the rest of entry »
People will be talking about the Panama Papers leak – called the biggest leak in the history of data journalism – for a long time. And there is certainly a lot there to talk about: offshore holdings, shell corporations, tax evasion and the financial accounts of an international roster of world leaders, businessmen, criminals, celebrities and sports stars, just for starters.
The Panama Papers, so named because the information that was hacked came from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, are a solid reminder that law firms are seen as a “soft target” in the hacking world. That’s because their cybersecurity protocols aren’t usually as robust as those in the financial services world, even though they maintain huge amounts of confidential information on behalf of their clients. Read the rest of entry »
With the news that Russian hackers have been targeting U.S. and U.K. law firms as part of an insider trading scheme, it’s a good time to recirculate our tips for law firms looking to purchase cyber insurance.
As the Crain’s Chicago Business story noted, law firms “have largely trailed their clients in confronting the possibility of hackers accessing their networks for illegal profit,” even though they hold “vast repositories of confidential information.”
If your firm does not already have a cyber policy, it’s wise to consider purchasing one. Traditional law firm policies often exclude cyber risks, so you most likely won’t be able to rely on your existing policies to protect you in the event of a data breach or other cyber event.
Amy Stewart Law works with businesses, including law firms, at every step of the insurance process (from purchase and renewal, to filing insurance coverage claims and dispute resolution). Here are some tips if your firm is embarking on the cyber insurance-purchasing process: Read the rest of entry »
Excellent story in today’s Insurance Law360 (subscription required) about yesterday’s cybersecurity hearing at the U.S. House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee. The hearing was a Cyber Insurance 101 for committee members, with cybersecurity and cyber insurance experts from various companies helping to get members up to speed on the growing risk of data breaches.
One of the main lessons from the hearing was that the mere presence of cyber insurance policies has strengthened data security because they promote “discussions about data security measures across a company's departments.”
Read the rest of entry »
On September 3, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what might be one of the most important Stowers-related decisions of the decade. Read the rest of entry »
 Amy Elizabeth Stewart made the cover of the Dallas Morning News Business section (again) in a Dec. 22 piece about her and another lawyer here in Dallas named, you guessed it, Amy Stewart. Read the rest of entry »
Amy Stewart Law Principal Tarron Gartner-Ilai just published a blog post on Construction Today. Her column, "Risk Management for Vendors," walks project managers through the key steps of a risk management program for vendors and suppliers.
Of the risks associated with a construction project, the tried and true are time and money: is the project on schedule and will the costs of completion exceed the projected bid, or not?
Dozens of factors, both within and outside the project manager’s control, can affect the project’s outcome. Staying on the critical path is much like traversing a tightrope on a unicycle … while juggling elephants.
Read the rest of entry »
Halloween kicks off the year-end holiday season, and it does it in the best way possible: with lots of chocolate. But with possibly hundreds of visitors traipsing across your lawn – in the dark – the chance of accidents and other mishaps can make even the most Halloween-spirited homeowner nervous.
In a recent interview with MoneyTalks News, Amy Stewart Law Principal Tarron Gartner-Ilai offered some tips for minimizing the risk for those of us who enjoy having little superheroes, zombies and pirates asking us for candy. Read the rest of entry »
Our good friend (and former Sabre Corp. General Counsel) Sterling Miller writes an exceptional blog titled “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel.” Each post gives some basics in different areas of law (IP, appeals, indemnity provisions in contracts, etc.). His most recent post covers insurance law basics (and gives a nice tip of the cap to Amy Elizabeth Stewart’s book “ Texas Insurance Coverage Litigation – The Litigator’s Practice Guide (2015).”) Read the rest of entry »
Amy Elizabeth Stewart has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas.
Ms. Stewart, whose practice was profiled in last year’s Texas Super Lawyers magazine (see ‘ She’s Got You Covered’), represents insurance policyholders in commercial insurance coverage disputes, including insurance coverage litigation and arbitration, bad faith litigation, pre-suit advice and negotiations, and other complex insurance litigation matters. In July, The Dallas Morning News highlighted Ms. Stewart’s work for clients in the market for cyber insurance coverage (see ‘ Digital-disaster insurance is taking off’).
Read the rest of entry »
In the first appellate case of its kind, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit released its opinion in Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., No. 14-3514, Aug. 24, 2015 (slip op.), holding that the FTC has the authority to assert watchdog claims against private companies under the “unfairness” provision of the Federal Trade Commission Act for failure to implement cybersecurity safeguards, resulting in a data breach. Read the rest of entry »
Kudos to our own Amy Elizabeth Stewart, who was recognized by the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America based on her successful work for clients in insurance law matters. This is the fourth consecutive year she has been recognized by Best Lawyers, one of the nation’s premier guides to the country’s top lawyers. Read the rest of entry »
 The California Supreme Court recently ruled in Hartford Casualty Insurance Company v. J.R. Marketing, L.L.C. that an insurer may seek direct reimbursement from independent defense counsel (referred to as Cumis counsel in California) for allegedly excessive and unreasonable fees. Read the rest of entry »
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Amy Stewart Law is a boutique law firm that represents policyholders in insurance coverage litigation and bad faith, with an emphasis in directors & officers liability, cyber insurance, fiduciary liability, professional liability and other specialty liability coverages.
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