Selected Topics in Insurance Regulation

LAW 627-01	Selected Topics in Insurance Regulation	3 credits
This course will explore the legal evolution of insurance from a purely private arrangement to a highly regulated industry. Topics will include: the development and effect of the insurance regulatory process; the impact of the McCarran Ferguson Act on that process; and how both the regulatory process and court decisions have imposed legal restrictions and requirements in specific areas of insurance and on specific insurance products. We will also explore how public policy pressures are currently affecting insurance law (e.g., legal reactions to the insurance industry’s handling of Hurricane Katrina damages, and the effect of legal actions and settlements by New York Attorney General Elliott Spitzer against certain insurance companies and producers). As part of this process students will have the opportunity to select a cutting-edge topic for review and discussion. The course will also cover the powers of state insurance commissioners (both legal and practical) and the increasingly heated debate over state versus federal regulation. Satisfies the writing requirement.

*courses not offered every year