Abstract
The idea of taking an insurance law course does not set the typical law student’s heart aflutter. But maybe it should. Almost eighty years ago, the United States Supreme Court recognized, “Perhaps no modern commercial enterprise directly affects so many persons in all walks of life as does the insurance business. Insurance touches the home, the family, and the occupation or the business of almost every person in the United States.” The practical reality is that while insurance may play a limited part in criminal or family law matters, the availability of insurance plays a critical role in the handling and resolution of most civil law matters. In countless instances, civil cases are filed or not filed, settled or not settled, tried or not tried to a jury based on the extent to which insurance is available to cover the loss. Insurance may provide the civil defendant with defense counsel, may indemnify a defendant in whole or in part for a judgment or settlement, or may pay for certain losses, costs, fees or expenses relevant to the litigation. The rules and principles that govern the availability of insurance in these situations can be complex and highly technical. And for the most part, law school graduates who become brand new lawyers know nothing about them.
Recommended Citation
Michael L. Young,
Teaching Insurance: The Use of Reservation of Rights Letters to Better Understand the Effect of Insurance on Civil Legal Practice,
70
St. Louis U. L.J.
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol70/iss3/8