Professional liability is among the most dynamic segments of the insurance industry, and the critical issues, types of exposures and the insurance products providing protection are continually evolving.

Some topics of interest in the various lines of professional liability include:

• Executive liability lines: D&O liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability and other related lines. Attention paid to the business practices of multinational companies has escalated, which increases exposure to D&O liability claims. These companies need to be aware of the key provisions of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act and the types of enforcement proceedings initiated by federal regulators, as well as the potential types of collateral litigation by shareholders and repercussions such as fines, penalties and damages.
• Insider trading, executive compensation and D&O exposures: These are unique to financial institutions. Recently there has been increased interest in representations and warranties insurance, a type of transactional insurance that facilitates mergers and acquisitions.
• Private sector EPL: In addition to an increasingly active EEOC, some of the National Labor Relations Board's recent decisions have created new employment practices liability risks for the private sector. As the NLRB turned its sights to the non-union workplace, those decisions affect protections for employees and question the doctrine of termination at will. The extensive use of social media and new technologies serves to create new types of sexual harassment and other employment practices liability exposures for employers.
• Medical professional liability: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has undoubtedly had the most pervasive influence in recent years on the health care industry and the medical professional liability exposures of the health care professionals it employs. As accountable care organizations are formed, companies are challenged to develop the liability insurance products necessary to adequately cover all of the various exposures.
• Privacy and data security exposures: These exposures and the products that cover them are the fastest-growing segment of the professional liability marketplace. These products have been compared to EPL in the early 1990s, when it was a ­relatively new, fast-growing product. Unlike most professional liability products that are profession specific—physicians, lawyers, etc.—privacy and data security insurance products are potentially required by almost all companies, big and small.