Over the past year, federal and state courts across the U.S. have continued to reshape the landscape of professional liability insurance. From high-stakes coverage battles to nuanced interpretations of policy language, 2025 delivered a breadth of notable decisions addressing a wide variety of coverage issues that every insurer, broker, risk manager, and coverage practitioner needs to understand. In this report, we focus on topics we believe will remain important in the professional liability insurance field and hope you find the following selection of cases both informative and helpful.

Topics covered in this report include:

  • Notice
  • Related Claims
  • Prior Knowledge, Known Loss, and Rescission
  • Prior Acts, Prior Notice, and Pending and Prior Litigation
  • Dishonesty and Personal Profit Exclusions
  • Restitution, Disgorgement, and Damages
  • Insured Capacity
  • Insured v. Insured Exclusion
  • Coverage for Contractual Liability
  • Professional Services
  • Independent Counsel
  • Advancement of Defense Costs
  • Allocation
  • Recoupment of Defense Costs and Settlement Payments
  • Consent

Access the full report here, and feel free to share it with your contacts who may have an interest in its content.


Please join us Wednesday, February 25, 2026, as we discuss some of these notable decisions during our webinar, “Notable Professional Liability Insurance Decisions of 2025.” We hope you can participate. To register, please click here.

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Photo of Tony Jones Tony Jones

Tony handles critical insurance coverage litigation matters with a keen understanding of his clients’ business goals. Particularly experienced in the health care industry, Tony helps clients pinpoint problems and resolve them creatively, avoiding costly litigation and risk whenever possible.

Photo of Jennifer Mathis Jennifer Mathis

Jennifer has distinguished herself as a go-to adviser for her clients on complex professional liability insurance coverage disputes in California and nationwide. She has achieved numerous victories at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts in high stakes coverage and…

Jennifer has distinguished herself as a go-to adviser for her clients on complex professional liability insurance coverage disputes in California and nationwide. She has achieved numerous victories at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts in high stakes coverage and bad faith litigation. She also assists her insurance clients with resolving and managing complex professional liability claims arising under public and private directors and officers and corporate liability policies, employment practices liability policies, health care and human services liability policies, lawyers liability policies, and a wide spectrum of other miscellaneous professional liability policies, media, technology, and cyber liability, including advising clients on the unique issues faced when insureds are in bankruptcy. She also strategizes on policy drafting issues and assessing ongoing risks. In addition to her insurance coverage practice, Jennifer maintains a general civil and commercial litigation practice. Her clients have included large corporations, not-for-profit entities, wholesale and retail insurance brokers, small business owners, and individuals.

Photo of James Hazlehurst James Hazlehurst

James represents clients in insurance coverage disputes and other complex litigation. He handles a wide range of matters, with particular emphasis on general liability insurance and bad faith claims. He also has experience in disability, life, and health insurance coverage and litigation matters.

Photo of Jordan Jeffery Jordan Jeffery

Jordan is counsel in the firm’s Insurance + Reinsurance Practice Group. He focuses his practice on representing clients in complex, high-stakes litigation, including contract disputes, insurance coverage disputes, bad faith litigation, declaratory relief actions, and trademark disputes in federal courts, state courts, arbitration…

Jordan is counsel in the firm’s Insurance + Reinsurance Practice Group. He focuses his practice on representing clients in complex, high-stakes litigation, including contract disputes, insurance coverage disputes, bad faith litigation, declaratory relief actions, and trademark disputes in federal courts, state courts, arbitration, and mediation. Jordan brings his years of experience to support clients in all stages of litigation, including through trial and appeal. Jordan has deep experience in insurance disputes involving professional liability and environmental cleanup actions. He also routinely provides advice on policy interpretation and is often called on to evaluate coverage disputes.

Photo of Molly McGinnis Stine Molly McGinnis Stine

Molly represents insurers and reinsurers on cyber, technology, media, data security, professional liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, and financial liability policies. She provides legal advice to insurers developing or revising wording for such policies.