Big litigation losses have slammed the market for insuring court awards, leaving potential clients with narrower coverage options and premium costs that have as much as doubled.

The most recent example of industry carnage was a judge on Oct. 10 slashing Quinn Emanuel’s fee for the law firm’s work on a case to $92.4 million from $185 million. Quinn had an insurance policy guaranteeing about 90% of the original fee, leaving underwriters potentially on the hook for about $75 million.

As a result of such losses, policies are being quoted to cost around 17% or 20% of the insured award, up from around 10% a year ago, said Charles Agee, chief executive of litigation funding advisory firm Westfleet Advisors.

“It is just harder to get the risk insured,” Agee said in an interview. Large losses “are causing insurers to reassess their risk appetite.”

Quinn Emanuel did not respond to a request for comment.

The losses have taken some of the luster off a judgment preservation insurance market that surged in popularity at the start of the decade. The insurance policies are popular with plaintiffs who want to protect their trial court awards before the judgments can be reduced or reversed on appeal.

Judgment preservation insurance providers including HDI Global Specialty, Lockton and Certum Group have been playing a growing role in the broader...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMitAFBVV95cUxPY3BXQjBEdjA0M1ZTSVNvUXAw...