Article
Conflicts of Interest and Choice of Counsel in Insurance Policies: Some Recent Developments
PLUS Journal
(2012)
Abstract
Some jurisdictions permit a
policyholder to select its own counsel,
at the carrier’s expense, provided that
there is a conflict of interest affecting
coverage. Not just any conflict of
interest will trigger the insured’s right
to Cumis/Goldfarb conflict counsel.
Rather, courts have held that an insured
is only entitled to select independent
counsel when the complaint alleges
multiple theories, some of which are
covered by insurance and others are
not. Moreover, precedent in both New
York and California suggests that even
then conflict counsel should only be
available when strategic decisions made
by defense counsel can affect the
insured’s coverage.
Keywords
- conflicts of interest,
- insurance coverage,
- cummis counsel,
- goldfarb counsel,
- attorney ethics
Disciplines
Publication Date
August, 2012
Citation Information
Barry R. Temkin and Robert J. Usinger. "Conflicts of Interest and Choice of Counsel in Insurance Policies: Some Recent Developments" PLUS Journal Vol. XXV Iss. 8 (2012) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/barry_temkin/78/