Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

The May 13, 2019 decision by the US Supreme Court in Apple, Inc. v. Pepper has brought antitrust concerns, and the insurance issues they raise, front and center.  While Apple, Inc., of course, is a publicly traded company, private companies can also fall victim to these issues and need to look to coverage for protection.  For a discussion of these issues, we repost the article by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP partner Lorie Masters, insurance broker Marsh and others, which analyzes these often complex issues.  “Optimizing Antitrust Coverage in Private Company D&O Policies,” published by Marsh in Insights, addresses insurance coverage for investigations under antitrust laws that raise the prospect of both civil and criminal liabilities.  Although most of these investigations settle or are resolved without findings of liability, the defense costs can be staggering.  Policyholders should consider whether directors and officers or other insurance applies to cover the costs coming out of such investigations.  To maximize coverage, policyholders should work with their advisers to ensure that policies are worded so as to enhance the prospects for obtaining insurance protection for claims alleging “antitrust violations.”