Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman Review Key Insurance Implications of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling in Law360

Despite prolific media coverage, wide-ranging political rhetoric and government regulation, and enormous private and public expenditures concerning climate change, there is a dearth of decisional authority addressing insurance coverage for global warming or climate change claims. Earlier this month, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued a decision addressing two important coverage issues concerning underlying climate change claims: occurrence and pollution exclusion.

Scott Seaman, a Chicago-based partner and co-chair of Hinshaw’s global Insurance Services practice group, and fellow insurance associate Gar Lauerman examine this decision, a prior Virginia Supreme Court ruling, and the insurance coverage implications of climate change claims in a Law360 Expert Analysis.

Drawing on a previously published Hinshaw Insights for Insurers alert, Seaman and Lauerman provide additional analysis of these rulings and their significant impact on the insurance industry. The authors underscore the ruling's dual outcomes: while the court acknowledged that reckless conduct could be considered an "accident" under insurance terms, it ultimately sided with insurers on the pollution exclusion, setting a critical precedent for future climate-related insurance claims.

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• "Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling" was published by Law360 on October 17, 2024.