PLUS Seminar

By: J. Richard Moore
BleekeDillonCrandall Attorneys

I am writing from a hotel room in San Diego, California, where I am attending the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) International Meeting. PLUS is a 25-year-old organization established for professionals who are involved in assessing and managing risk and confronting professional liability claims. Such claims include medical, hospital and nursing malpractice, where the preponderance of Bleeke Dillon Crandall’s experience lies, but also extend to claims against engineers, accountants, insurance professionals, bankers and business managers. The key focus of PLUS, and the International Meeting, is for members to share and exchange knowledge, develop contacts, and prepare ourselves for changes and challenges in the field as they develop.

Over 1100 attendees from the United States, Canada, England, Europe, Africa and Australia are here. They include primarily insurance professionals from underwriting departments, but also include risk management professionals and attorneys who, like me, defend professionals against liability claims and assist insurance companies in navigating difficult coverage issues. The keynote address was delivered by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. His address was outstanding, and the brief question-and-answer session following the formal address was even more enjoyable. The Q&A addressed such significant topics as the prime minister’s opinions on how to address the current global debt crisis, the prospects for peace in the Middle East, and who should portray him in a movie.

My interest in PLUS is motivated by a commitment to client service. That means having an awareness and knowledge of the structures and business issues that affect my clients, even when those issues are not directly implicated by a professional liability claim I am defending, or by an insurance coverage question arising under an existing policy. When I defend a claim against a physician, or a staff of nurses and nurse aides, or an architect or an engineer, I am not directly concerned with insurance coverage issues; but my client and/or the insurance company that hired me may be. When I analyze coverage for an insurer, I am not directly concerned with underwriting issues; but if the insurer’s position supported by my coverage analysis leads to litigation, underwriting issues may well be of interest to the claimant and subject to discovery. For these reasons---and because San Diego is beautiful at this, or any, time of year---I am enjoying the PLUS conference and my participation in the organization.