D&O & Professional Liability Insurance

A closed or acquired business can still be sued over what it did years earlier. Whether an old policy responds depends on occurrence versus claims-made coverage, tail and runoff provisions, and what the deal documents promised.

With an offer on the table, two questions decide whether a case settles: who gets to say yes, you or your insurer, and whose money pays. How hammer clauses, policy layers, and exhaustion rules shape the answer in Illinois.

A missed deadline or drafting error comes to light shortly before a firm's insurance renewal. Whether notice of circumstances preserves coverage can depend on reporting language, prior-knowledge provisions, and the specificity of the firm's notice.

When revenue falls short after a funding round, an unhappy investor may sue the company and its executives for fraud. A private company D&O policy may cover the defense, but securities exclusions, shareholder exclusions, fraud exclusions, and the insurer’s argument that refunding an investment isn’t covered loss all turn on the policy’s exact wording.

When a design error leaves plans unbuildable or a building needing correction, recovery depends on what the architect agreed to do, which costs the error actually caused, and what the professional liability policy covers.

When one executive’s fraud surfaces, a D&O insurer may argue that the misconduct defeats coverage for everyone. Whether it can depends on the policy’s severability and imputation provisions, the trigger for its fraud exclusion, and Illinois limits on rescinding a policy for misstatements in the application.