The newly formed American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (ACCEC) brings together leading lawyers from the United States and Canada to raise the proverbial bar on the practice of insurance law.

Designed to represent the interests of both insurers and policyholders, the ACCEC focuses on the creative, ethical, and efficient adjudication of disputes about coverage, as well as extracontractual damages, which are a form of punitive damages awarded against an insurer in claims alleging bad faith or unfair claims-handling practices.

The main goal of the organization is to educate all sectors involved in insurance disputes—including the judiciary, legal and insurance professionals, and businesses—about critical topics, such as best practices in policy formation and claims handling. Another important component, organizers say, is to continue increasing civility and professionalism in the field, thereby improving relations between insurer and policyholder counsel. The intended result is better collaboration and better representation.

“The time seemed right to bring together lawyers who represent some of the best minds practicing in a range of legal and insurance disciplines,” said Thomas F. Segalla, a nationally recognized authority on insurance law and bad-faith claims and a founding partner of Goldberg Segalla LLP, is the College's inaugural president. “While our goals include providing education for the bench and bar as well as the insurance industry, we believe it's the dialogue among our diverse members that will lead to creative resolutions and improved representation for all parties in a dispute.

“With all the complex coverage questions that are already emerging in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as well as other recent events, we feel the mission of the College to improve the practice of insurance law is, perhaps, now more important than ever,” he adds.

Edward J. (Ned) Currie, Jr., a founding shareholder in Currie Johnson Griffin Gaines & Myers, P.A., will serve as ACCEC secretary and treasurer, while the college's founding Board of Regents members are as follows:

For more information about the organization and its aims, visit americancollegecec.org.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.