Areas of Practice

Claims Management

Attorneys in HDJN’s Insurance Practice Group assist healthcare providers and other organizations in effectively and efficiently managing difficult and complex claims.  The services we provide in this area include: undertaking a privileged investigation and establishing an accurate indemnity and defense reserve; developing litigation and settlement strategy, as well as a public relations plan; handling pre-litigation attempts to resolve tough claims; selecting and managing defense counsel; assessing the insurance (or reinsurance) coverage available for the claim and addressing any coverage issues; and providing claims notices and updates to insurers, reinsurers, boards and committees. 

Recent Engagements:    

  • Manage the medical malpractice and general liability claims for a health system’s captive insurance company that provides coverage to hospitals, other health system entities (including a long term care facility and a psychiatric facility), and physicians (both employed and non-employed).
  • Orchestrated a hospital’s litigation and response to almost twenty lawsuits arising from the unexpected deaths of a cluster of patients who were infused with a bacterially contaminated heart solution (provided by an outside vendor) during elective surgery at the hospital. 
  • Helped a hospital resolve claims alleging sexual abuse of students in an owned daycare facility before suits were filed and before the claims received media attention.
  • Worked with a hospital to obtain a favorable, pre-litigation resolution of a claim arising from a patient restraint death.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

  • Managing Category Five Claims, Bermuda Captive Conference, Southhampton, Bermuda, June 2008.
  • When Settlement Is Not Enough: Could An Insurer Be In Bad Faith Because It Settled?, Coverage, Volume 17, Number 8, November/December 2007.
  • Negotiating And Implementing Litigation Management Guidelines, Mealey’s Litigation Management Guidelines Conference, New York, New York, May 2007.
  • Professional Liability Insurance Coverage Issues – A Primer, Virginia State Bar Annual Meeting, Virginia Beach, Virginia, July 2006.