Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Officers and directors must constantly navigate new and emerging risks, and that trend will continue in 2025. Ever-growing use (and misuse) of artificial intelligence, increased geopolitical risk, boardroom fallout following cybersecurity incidents, a new administration in the White House, and many other factors point to another eventful year for D&O exposures. Ensuring adequate protection for company leadership is more important than ever to attract and retain top talent.

To help navigate these challenges, Hunton insurance partner Geoffrey Fehling recently co-authored an essential checklist available on Thomson Reuters Practical Law that focuses on the critical role D&O liability coverage plays in executive protection. The checklist highlights important issues for in-house attorneys, risk managers, current or potential future directors and officers, outside counsel, and other risk and insurance professionals to consider in identifying, assessing, and responding to D&O claims. Topics include:

1. The role D&O insurance plays in executive protection;
2. Navigating the D&O insurance underwriting process;
3. How D&O insurance interacts with other types of insurance;
4. Ways to assess the sufficiency of a company’s D&O coverage;
5. Benefits of dedicated “Side A” D&O coverage; and
6. Advice on what to do when a claim arises.

A full version of the checklist, D&O Liability Insurance and Executive Protection: Key Issues can be accessed here. Identifying, evaluating, and addressing these important issues before a D&O claim arises can help prevent coverage gaps and maximize protection for board members and executives.