Mary Craig Calkins, Heather Habes, and Helen Michael Serve as Moderators and Speaker at Event

LOS ANGELES & WASHINGTON, DC (October 25) – Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton announced today that attorneys Mary Craig Calkins, Heather Habes, and Helen Michael recently served as moderators and speaker at the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 2016 Women in Insurance (WIN) Networking Meeting held in Washington, D.C. on October 20, 2016.

Mary Craig Calkins led the panel, "Been There, Done That! Now What Else Shall I Do?" This panel of established women attorneys discussed alternatives to traditional practice with a firm, such as acting as mediators/arbitrators, becoming a broker, going in-house, or pursuing other alternatives to your practice including government service. In addition, the panel discussed recent national studies reporting on implicit bias, issues affecting women in the workplace, and the resulting impact on compensation, partnership issues, and business development.

Heather Habes moderated the panel, "Coverage Across Borders: International Insurance Claims." The panel, including an in-house counsel of an international relief nonprofit company, discussed the insurance coverage necessary to protect against international risks. The panel also addressed the importance that counsel understand local insurance requirements, admitted/non-admitted insurance, and the operation of local and master policy, and offered advice on handling coverage disputes related to international claims, how to defend a claim with foreign defense counsel, bridge information and language gaps, and ways to handle cases pending in courts abroad.

Helen Michael joined industry leaders and spoke on "Statutory Damages: The Murky Void Between Compensation and Punishment." In an era when high-risk class actions seeking statutory damages are increasingly being filed for violations of privacy rights and related offenses, the panelists discussed the complex issues surrounding whether such statutory remedies constitute “damages” under general liability or “loss” under errors and omissions liability directors and officers liability policies and cyber policies. The panel also recommended strategies for navigating coverage disputes involving such claims, including those addressing the interplay between class action and other underlying liability and insurance coverage principles in these coverage disputes, as well as the insurance industry’s attempt to curb exposure through new policy language.

Kilpatrick Townsend has been a sponsor of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Women in Insurance since its inaugural conference in October 2012. WIN’s goal is to combine first-class substantive programming with women’s networking opportunities. Like past conferences, this conference drew more than 100 attendees from around the country, including in-house risk management, claims professionals, mediators and counsel for both policyholders and insurers. For more information about the meeting, please click here.

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