Media Coverage
Wood & Bender experts are frequently quoted on a wide range of insurance policy enforcement issues. Current coverage of key topics includes:
Q&A: Wood & Bender LLP Chairman and co-founder David Wood
By: Nathan Stovall, SNL Financial
Date: June, 13th 2005
SNL Financial spoke with David Wood about the importance of insurance in a deal and how a
heightened regulatory environment makes it even more crucial for both buyers and sellers to have
adequate insurance coverage. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation...
TRIA Failure Could Mega-Boost Prices
By:Mark E. Ruquet, National Underwriter
Date: April, 20th 2005
Insurance professionals told risk managers here that extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act is less than assured and its worth may not be appreciated until after a terrorist event...
Risk Managers Face Changing Market
By:Phil Zinkewicz, Rough Notes
Date: March, 1st 2005
A softening market - even in D&O - and the regulatory environment combine to create challenges for risk managers...
Second WTC Insurance Verdict Favors Leaseholder
By:Mortgage Banker
Date: January, 1st 2005
A VERDICT WAS REACHED IN THE SECOND World Trade Center (WTC) insurance case, citing the World Trade Center attacks as two distinct occurrences. The decision puts Larry Silverstein, president and chief executive officer of Silverstein Properties...
Tale of Two Trials: Contract Language Underlies Contradictory World Trade Center Verdicts
By:David Pilla, Best's Insurance News
Date: December, 9th 2004
The seemingly contradictory jury verdicts from two trials as to whether the Sept. 11, 2001, destruction of the World Trade Center was one event or two for insurance purposes is not so surprising when the central question in both trials is considered...
Jury Decides Terrorist Attacks on WTC Were 2 Events
By:Janet Morrissey, Dow Jones
Date: December, 7th 2004
The jury in the multibillion dollar insurance case between World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and nine of the insurers who provided coverage on the Twin Towers decided Monday that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks constituted two occurrences for all nine insurers...
World Trade Center Jury Finds Insurers Must Pay for Two Attacks
By:David M. Levitt, Bloomberg News
Date: December, 6th 2004
A New York jury agreed with World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein that the attack on the twin towers by a pair of hijacked planes was two insurable events requiring nine companies, including St. Paul Travelers Cos., to pay as much as double their policy limits...
Insurance probes lead to more fee disclosure
By:Tom Anderson, Employee Benefit News
Date: December, 1st 2004
Benefits open enrollment is winding down, but the open season declared by regulators on the insurance industry shows no sign of abatement...
Pulling the plug on Marsh
By:Carrie Coolidge and Neil Weinberg, Forbes
Date: November, 15th 2004
As Marsh & McLennan reels from a scandal in which it stands accused of rigging bids and grabbing kickbacks and cheating dozens, or even hundreds, of corporate clients, it will need lots of luck just to survive...
Spitzer insurance probe impact is uncertain
By:Sara Hansard, Investment News
Date: November, 8th 2004
The Consumer Federation of America, an opponent of federal pre-emption of state insurance regulation, is using New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer's latest investigation to bolster the case against federal insurance regulation...
Are big insurance changes on the way?
By:Ieva M. Augstums, The Dallas Morning News
Date: October, 27th 2004
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's probe into the insurance industry forced Marsh & McLennan Cos. on Tuesday to roll out a new business model...
Potential Liability Sparks Class Actions On Behalf of Policyholders, Shareholders
By:R.J. Lehman, BestWire
Date: October, 25th 2004
While regulatory scrutiny of the insurance industry continues to ratchet up and spread to new jurisdictions, the potential liability of the industry's biggest companies has drawn several of the nation's most prominent plaintiffs attorneys to file a spate of new suits seeking class-action status on behalf of policyholders, shareholders, and possibly even employees...
Wood & Bender's big move: Law firm brings jobs to downtown Ventura
By:Tony Biasotti, Pacific Coast Business Times
Date: October, 25th 2004
The downtown districts of American cities often share a common problem: After the commuters go home at 5 p.m., the streets are deserted...
Marsh Said to Put Profit Over Clients
By:Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times
Date: October, 23rd 2004
Insurance brokers in the Los Angeles office of Marsh & McLennan Cos. said they were ordered late last year to temporarily stop selling personal coverage lines from one insurer because doing so could reduce commission payments to Marsh...
State Targets Insurers' Practices; Proposed Regulations Would Boost Disclosure Of Fees That Brokers Get For Selling Policies.
By:Marc Lifsher and Kathy M. Kristof, Los Angeles Times
Date: October, 20th 2004
Amid a widening industry investigation, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi today will unveil new regulations aimed at eliminating conflicts of interest in the selling of insurance policies...
Evaluating Overcharges: Should Your Company Pursue Claims Against Brokers and Carriers?
By:David E. Wood, Insurance Journal
Date: October, 20th 2004
The recent suit by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer alleging price-fixing and deceptive practices by broker Marsh McLennan and major insurers is prompting many corporate policyholders to examine whether they too are being overcharged...
Insurers Feel Pressure, Drop Commissions
By:Brooke A. Masters, The Washington Post
Date: October, 19th 2004
In the four days since New York Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer alleged that brokers and corporate insurance carriers were engaged in bid-rigging and secret payoffs, three big industry players have dropped the commissions that Spitzer blamed for the problems...
Ace, AIG end commissions eyed in probe
By:Eileen Alt Powell, The Associated Press
Date: October, 19th 2004
The company at the center of a probe into insurance brokerage fees says it took in more than $1.2 billion in incentive payments over the past 18 months and that its decision to stop using such fees will reduce operating income...
Insurance Probe Deepens; Health Insurers Aetna, CIGNA Slapped With New Subpoenas
By:Diane Levick and Kenneth R. Gosselin, The Hartford Courant
Date: October, 19th 2004
The New York corruption investigation making property-casualty insurers and brokers sweat is now also taking a closer look at potential fraud in health, life and reinsurance lines...
First Female Partner Heads Firm's Woodland Hills Shop
By:Tina Spee, Los Angeles Daily Journal
Date: October, 18th 2004
It's been a year of milestones for Wood & Bender attorney Martha Sharp...
Commission System Rocked; Two Insurance Giants To Halt Suspect Plan; Marsh CEO Replaced
By:Diane Levick, Kenneth R. Gosselin and Dan Haar, The Hartford Courant
Date: October, 16th 2004
Under attack in snowballing investigations, two insurance giants Friday backed away from a controversial commission system, and a top executive at one of the companies was ousted...
Focus changes for second phase of Silverstein coverage trial
By:Vikki Spencer, Canadian Underwriter
Date: October, 13th 2004
As the second phase of the World Trade Center insurance coverage trial begins this week, one lawyer says a key difference in this case will be the "intent" of insurers...
Firm's First Female Partner Also Manages Los Angeles Office is a Triathlete and New Mother
By:Women in Business and Industry
Date: October, 1st 2004
Wood & Bender LLP, a fast-growing law firm specializing in insurance policy enforcement,
announced today that Martha Sharp, currently a Senior Counsel for the firm, has been elected Partner. She is also charged with the management and growth of the Firm’s Woodland Hills office...
Bar Talk: On the Move
By:The Recorder
Date: September, 27th 2004
Martha Sharp has been elected partner at Wood & Bender - the firm's first female partner. Previously a senior counsel, Sharp is also charged with the management of the firm's Woodland Hills office...
Wood & Bender LLP, a leading Insurance Enforcement Law Firm, Names Martha Sharp Partner
By:Insurance News Net
Date: September, 21st 2004
Firm's first female partner also manages Los Angeles office, is a triathlete and new mother...
Domestic Violence and Anti-Discrimination Laws: How Far Have We Come?
By:Caroline R. Hurtado, WLALA Newsletter
Date: September, 1st 2004
Domestic violence does not discriminate. It transcends socioeconomic and ethnic boundaries. It is defined by the Family Code as, among other things, abuse perpetrated against a spouse or former spouse, a cohabitant or former cohabitant, or a person with whom one is having or has had a dating or engagement relationship...
The Other Side Of The Coin: Beware of liability from employee actions overseas
By:Caroline McDonald, National Underwriter Property & Casualty
Date: July, 27th 2004
While risk managers must make sure employees working overseas are safe and adequately insured, there is another consideration as well—they need to be certain that employees...
Attorneys Should "Raise a Racquet Against Breast Cancer"
By:Susan Barry, WLALA Newsletter
Date: July, 1st 2004
Everyone knows someone who has been touched by breast cancer. For me, it hit home hard in 1999, when a routine check-up turned into my worst nightmare...
Camarillo, Calif., Law Firm Helps Companies Face Insurance Coverage Challenges
By:Deborah Crowe, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, Ventura County Star (KRTBN)
Date: December, 27th 2003
Dec. 27--Faced with dramatic changes in the insurance coverage environment since the mid-1990s, U.S. businesses are encountering unprecedented challenges in obtaining, enforcing and retaining insurance coverage...
Retrenchment, Restriction and Rescission: Coping With Insurers' Reaction to Exploding D&O Claims
By:David P. Bender Jr., Esq., Insurance Coverage Litigation Reporter
Date: December, 26th 2003
In the first of a series of articles on the effect of the recent spate of corporate scandals on director and officer insurance, David P. Bender Jr. of Wood & Bender looks at the changes from the viewpoint of the insureds...
Survey by Legal Firm of High Level Executives, Shows Perplexities over Wide Range of Insurance Issues
By:Insurance Advocate
Date: October, 19th 2003
The following is an abstract of the original article. This article reports the results of a survey of top executives in U.S. businesses regarding the company's dealings with their insurers. The survey was conducted by the law firm...
Verdicts & Settlements
By:The National Law Journal
Date: September, 22nd 2003
COMMERCIAL PAPER. Underwriter, note buyers settle fraud class action. Promissory-note purchasers settled their class action against an asset-based lending company and its underwriters for $19.9 million on Aug. 6 in Los Angeles...
Entity Coverage May Fade Away
By:David E. Wood, The National Law Journal
Date: September, 8th 2003
Long relied upon to defend shareholder lawsuits, this insurance well is drying up. Special to The National Law Journal. As a result of the explosion in verdicts and settlements against companies arising out of shareholder litigation...
Be Prepared to Explain Your D&O Insurance
Publication: D&O Advisor
By:
Date: Spring 2003
In the current changing insurance market, investors will want to know more about a company's director and officer (D&O) insurance coverage. In the last three years, we have seen the largest D&O insurance payouts in history...
Employers Come to Terms with Disease Management Contracting
By:David Walker, Jr., Managed Healthcare
Date: August, 1st 2003
DISEASE MANAGEMENT. Opinions vary about whether to call on vendors directly for DM services or to go through health plans. As employers continue to search for ways to control runaway healthcare costs...
Uncovered
By:Corporate Counsel
Date: January, 1st 2003
In the current corporate environment, businesses are more worried than ever about their insurance coverage. A survey conducted last fall by Wood & Bender, a law firm based in Camarillo, California, found that 51 percent of ...