Insurance and legal regulation are interconnected. Legislation, court decisions, and regulations influence the meaning of insurance arrangements in society. The state sets eligibility requirements and benefit levels for social insurance. Insurance regulations in most states focus on consumer protection, insurer solvency, licensing, and rate regulation. While the law shapes the meaning of insurance in society, insurance also exerts a regulatory force over its subjects and acts as a form of private governance. For example, insurance serves a gate keeping function in society because it is a prerequisite to other activity. Insurance companies establish underwriting criteria, and charge premiums, that determine who can and who cannot obtain insurance. In addition, liability insurance works together with tort law to provide a form of direct regulation of primary conduct, while simultaneously providing a system for financing the civil litigation system. In sum, legal regulation affects insurance, and vice versa. The presenters will address these and related questions. Max Helveston (DePaul), "Regulating Private Regulators"; Jay Feinman (Rutgers), "Litigation as Regulation in Insurance Claim Practices"; Shauhin Talesh (California Irvine), " Legal Intermediaries: How Insurance Companies Construct the Meaning of Compliance with Anti-Discrimination Laws”; Josh Teitelbaum (Georgetown), "Do Credit-Based Insurance Scores Proxy for Income in Predicting Auto Claim Risk?" (co-authored with Daniel Schwarcz).
Business meeting at program conclusion.