The United States continues to be the global epicenter of mass tort litigation, with new waves of claims reshaping the landscape across industries: from claims arising from the use of various products, including such things as PFAS, opioids, talc, pesticides, hair relaxers, and medical devices, to sexual abuse claims and also liability claims arising out of catastrophic wildfires, among others. These large-scale claims inevitably give rise to complex insurance coverage battles involving billions of dollars, which often must be resolved through ad hoc English-seated arbitrations.
This panel will explore the leading U.S. mass tort trends, including the theories of liability being pursued and the manner in which the defendants are fighting back, and will then highlight some of the issues that both policyholders and insurers should anticipate as these disputes migrate into arbitral fora.