Md. AG's Report Puts Spotlight On Abuse Coverage Issues

Seth Tucker's commentary was included by Law360 regarding the Maryland attorney general's release of a redacted report detailing decades of sexual abuse by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and how it is expected to put more attention on hotly contested issues in coverage litigation.

Seth explained that insurance coverage is determined by a subjective test that is dependent on what the policyholder actually expected — not what it should have expected, which is the test for negligence.

"If the injured victim can establish liability, that's not the end of the story," Seth said. "It's a much greater burden to prove expectation or intent of the sort that deprives the policyholder of coverage. It's a much higher burden than you need to prove to establish liability."