Quinn Emanuel Loss Adds Woes for Judgment Insurance Market (1)

Big litigation losses have slammed the market for insuring court awards, leaving potential clients with narrower coverage options and premium costs that have as much as doubled.

The most recent example of industry carnage was a judge on Oct. 10 slashing Quinn Emanuel’s fee for the law firm’s work on a case to $92.4 million from $185 million. Quinn had an insurance policy guaranteeing about 90% of the original fee, leaving underwriters potentially on the hook for about $75 million.

As a result of such losses, policies are being quoted to cost around 17% or 20% of the insured award, ...