Marc S. Gaffrey and Kenneth J. Cesta, Panelists at CLM Midwest and MPL Conferences
On June 15, 2018, Marc S. Gaffrey, Supervising Partner of the firm's Toxic Tort and Environmental Litigation Department, moderated and spoke on the panel at the CLM Midwest Conference in Chicago Illinois entitled “Contaminated Talc Litigation: A Legal, Science and Insurance Perspective”. Joining Marc was Robert Adams, CIH, from Ramboll Environmental in Portland, Oregon and Christopher Alviggi of Alliant Insurance Services from Millstone, New Jersey. Marc introduced the topic by suggesting that this litigation is merely a pretense, and is an attempt by plaintiff's counsel to create a cause of action where one does not exist in order to ensure that claims involving mesothelioma may still see recoveries. Marc challenged each of plaintiff’s factual allegations in an effort to debunk the claims made by the claimants that use of contaminated cosmetic talc products caused them to develop mesothelioma. Bob thereafter rebutted plaintiffs’ claims from a scientific and medical standpoint demonstrating that the science does not support the claims. Chris presented the insurance side of the litigation with an analysis of the interesting issues this litigation creates from the standpoint of coverage, and the adverse impact on the insureds.
A portion of the PowerPoint used to support this presentation may be viewed by clicking on this link.
Kenneth J. Cesta, a member of the firm’s Commercial and Employment Litigation Groups, hosted a panel presentation on June 21 at the CLM Management and Professional Liability Conference in Boston. The panel presentation was entitled Issues in Managing Current High Profile Claims under EPL, Cyber, and Professional Liability Policies. Ken and his fellow panelists Anne Marie Davine, Integro USA Inc., Reed Kleinle, AIG and David Spear, Starr Adjustment Services, Inc. addressed a wide range of issues encountered by claims professionals, insurers, and defense counsel when handling high profile claims in the employment and professional liability areas ranging from complex coverage issues to mediation and settlement considerations. The panel also addressed the current state of the cyber insurance market, and discussed claims management issues when dealing with a cyber breach claim and the time sensitive issues that insureds are facing as a result of a cyber or data breach incident.