WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW*
FALL 2006
Law 218: Insurance Law
Professor William R. Long
[For Spring 2006 Syllabus, click here.]
Insurance law is a growing and significant area in legal study and practice. Though derived from contract law, insurance law has potentially an effect on more transactions and interactions of daily life than any other area of law. Business and litigation attorneys alike need to be aware of insurance underwriting, regulation, contract interpretation and the way that insurance availability enters into litigation strategy. Because insurance law is derived from contract law, we will focus considerable attention on reading and construing insurance contracts from personal and business life. In this two-credit class, we will not cover some topics in insurance law (unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, disability insurance ), which are covered in other courses in the Willamette curriculum. In addition, I will explore the way in which the Internet can be used in classroom instruction. You will have an opportunity if you desire, however, to explore an area of insurance law not covered in class through a term paper.
INSTRUCTOR: Professor William R. Long, Office 452. Phone is (503) 370-6411. Email is blong@willamette.edu.
CLASS MEETING: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:50-12:50, Law 122.
CLASS EXPECTATIONS, REQUIREMENTS and GRADING: Regular attendance, informed participation, ability and interest in interacting with the reading and each other and completion either of a two-hour (closed-book) final examination or a term paper. The paper will be between 15-20 pages and cover some aspect of insurance law, preferably a topic in health law. I retain the right to remove you from the class roster if you miss more than three classes. If you add the class late, the classes you missed before adding the class will be counted as absences.
At present the class has fewer than 20 students enrolled, and so the grading curve does not apply.
BOOKS:
REQUIRED: Abraham, Kenneth S., Insurance Law and Regulation: Cases and Materials (4th ed., Foundation Press, 2005) ("Abraham").
RECOMMENDED: Jerry II, Robert H., Understanding Insurance Law (3d ed., LexisNexis, Matthew Bender, 2002) ("Jerry"). I do not expect you to read Jerry and I will not test you on his book, but it is a fine, lucid treatise covering the topics of the course in great detail.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
INTRODUCTION
August 22 Introduction, Warranties, and Representations
READING: Abraham, 1-12; my essays on "Introduction" and three on "Warranty."
August 24 Misrepresentation and Concealment
READING: Abraham, 16-26; my two essays on "Misrepresentation" and one on "Waxse."
THE INSURANCE CONTRACT--GENERAL PRINCIPLES
August 29 Construing Ambiguities
READING: Abraham, 36-49; my four essays on "9/11 and Insurance."
August 31 Reasonable Expectations
READING: Abraham, 50-61.
STATE INSURANCE REGULATION
September 5 State Regulation of Insurance Policies
READING: Familiarize yourself with the web site of the Oregon Insurance Division; I will give a worksheet for you to fill in for the assignment. I hope we can have, as a guest, Mr. Joel Ario, Administrator of the Oregon Department of Insurance. Read my two essays on Mental Health Parity.
September 7 The Role of the Agent
READING: Abraham, 61-74.
September 12--We are one day "behind." The September 7 reading is for today. In class we are also going to read a story called "Leading Author Faces Trial in Turkey," about Turkish author Elif Shafek. Then, I will direct you to my two essays on the Armenian Genocide and insurance law, which we will also read in class. (updated 9/12)
September 14 Discrimination and Other State Regulation: Focusing on the Issue of Credit Scores for Insurance Premium Determination
READING: Abraham, 134-141; web sites on Ballot Measure 42 in Oregon and other reading on credit scoring for setting insurance rates. (updated 9/12)
TYPE I: FIRE AND PROPERTY INSURANCE
September 19 Reading a Policy; Insurable Interest
READING: Abraham, 172-196 (skim policy--know subjects it covers), the Insurance issues caused by Hurricane Katrina (2005). Case just handed down (August 15) at 2006 WL 2353961.
September 21 Business Interruption, Subrogation
READING: Abraham, 197-203, 205-211, 244-250.
September 26 Exclusions and Exceptions: Dual Causation, Increase of Hazards
READING: Abraham, 214-224.
September 28 Increased Risk, Measure of Recovery
READING: Abraham, 224-229, 237-244.
TYPE II: HEALTH INSURANCE
October 3 Access to Health Care
READING: Abraham, 354-373.
October 5: No Class
October 10: Health Care Costs I
READING: Abraham, 382-392.
October 12 Health Care Reform--the Oregon Idea
READING: Abraham 392-400. Also, have some familiarity with the work of the Archimedes Movement, an Oregon-based health care reform organization, headed by former Governor John Kitzhaber.
TYPE III: COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
October 17 Reading the Policy; The Insuring Agreement
READING: Abraham 441-459 (The CGL policy), 461-469
October 19 The Trigger and Allocation of Coverage
READING: Abraham, 480-491.
October 24 Triggers of Coverage II; Number of Occurrences
READING: Abraham, 491-508
October 26 Exclusions and Conditions I
READING: Abraham, 509-520.
October 31 Exclusions and Conditions II
READING: Abraham, 522-527, 529-538.
November 2: No Class, I will be out of town.
November 7: The Pollution Exclusion
READING: Abraham, 540-551.
TYPE IV: AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
November 9 The Automobile Insurance Policy; Compulsory Insurance
READING: Abraham, 643-656 (skim policy), 657-664.
November 14 The Policy; Omnibus Clauses
READING: Abraham, 664-675.
November 16 Notice and Cooperation; Comprehensive and Collision
READING: Abraham, 676-682, 697-706.
November 21 Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
READING: Abraham, 714-723.
We will make up the hour missed on November 2 by making class on the last four days of class one hour and fifteen minutes.
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Copyright © 2004-2007 William R. Long |