MLISTM Curriculum
The Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLISTM)
is a two-part curriculum designed specifically for insurance agents, brokers, and
risk managers. Part 1 is comprised of three basic- to intermediate-level courses
covering the fundamentals of professional, D&O, and E&O liability insurance.
Completing the three Part 1 courses will be helpful to risk and insurance professionals
who are buying or selling any type of professional or errors and omissions liability
insurance. The four courses making up Part 2 of the curriculum focus specifically
on the exposures and insurance available to cover directors and officers, employment
practices, and fiduciary liability. The three Part 1 courses must be completed prior
to taking the Part 2 courses.
By completing the Part 1 curriculum, you will earn a certificate suitable for framing
that affirms you have mastered the fundamentals of professional and management liability
insurance. When you complete the four remaining courses of Part 2, you will earn
the MLIS certification.
The MLIS course texts are 80 – 100 pages in length. Depending on your current level
of knowledge of the subject matter, an MLIS course will typically take 6 to 10 hours
to complete. The MLIS courses are intended to cover the essential elements of the
subjects they address at a basic- to intermediate level. Thus, the MLIS program
will be an intensive learning experience for newcomers to professional or management
liability insurance, eliminate many important knowledge gaps for risk and insurance
professionals who have little experience with these lines, and be a helpful review
of the fundamentals for seasoned risk and insurance professionals.
New online MLIS CE courses will be added each year, and certain seminars and conferences
will also qualify for reaccreditation. The MLIS CE courses will focus on specific
issues, trends, and problems associated with professional and management liability
exposures and insurance. The current courses are listed and summarized below.
Part 1: Fundamentals of Professional and Management Liability Insurance
Part 2: Management Liability Exposures and Insurance
Course Descriptions
Common Features of Professional and Management Liability
Policy Forms
This course provides an in-depth look at the important provisions common to nearly
all types of errors and omissions, professional. and management liability insurance
policy forms. These types of insurance include physicians, lawyers, and accountants
professional liability insurance and various types of E&O insurance. Of course,
they also include directors and officers (D&O), employment practices (EPL),
and fiduciary liability insurance. The four major types of provisions this course
analyzes are: (1) insuring agreements; (2) limits, deductibles/retentions, and coinsurance;
(3) conditions; and (4) exclusions. The course concludes with a section addressing
coverage coordination issues, whereby professional and management liability policies
must be coordinated with each other and with other types of insurance coverage.
Directors & Officers Liability Exposures
This course provides a detailed look at the legal liability exposures faced by the
directors and officers of for-profit, publicly-held corporations. The major areas
this course addresses include: (1) the common law and statutory legal liability
exposures to which the directors and officers of publicly-held corporations are
subject, (2) legal defenses available to directors and officers when a claim is
made against them, (3) the types of situations that give rise to these claims, (4)
the factors that insurers consider when underwriting D&O policies for publicly-held
companies, and (5) the most effective methods of preventing and controlling claims
against corporate directors and officers.
Directors & Officers Liability Insurance Coverage
This course provides a detailed look at the key provisions contained within a corporate
directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance policy and how they function
within various claims scenarios. The course begins by describing the policy’s three
key insuring agreements and then examines the covered persons, covered organizations,
and covered acts provisions. Next, it analyzes two of the policy’s most important
defined terms: “covered damages” and “covered losses.” It continues with an analysis
of the extent to which the policies cover employment practices liability exposures
and describes the policy’s defense coverage provisions and defense procedures. The
manner in which a D&O insurance policy’s limits, retentions, and coinsurance
provisions apply is considered next, followed by a look at the policy’s most important
conditions. The course reviews the exclusions section of the policy and the claims-made
coverage trigger provisions. The final chapters analyze excess D&O liability
insurance policies.
Employment Practices Liability Exposures and Insurance Coverage
This course provides a detailed look at (1) the liability exposures that give rise
to employment-related claims and (2) the insurance policies that have been developed
to cover these exposures. The first part of the course describes the most important
common law exposures to employment litigation and continues by discussing the leading
statutory exposures to such claims. Next, the underwriting of employment practices
liability (EPL) insurance is explained, followed by a description of methods to
control employment claims. The first part of the course concludes by examining the
various sources of EPL insurance coverage. The second part of the course takes a
detailed look at the specific coverage terms within employment practices liability
insurance (EPLI) policy forms, including covered persons/organizations and covered
acts provisions. Next, it discusses third-party liability coverage, along with “damages”
and “claim” definitions. Claims management, defense cost, and “special conditions”
are also described. The course concludes with an analysis of exclusions and coverage
triggers contained within the policies.
Fiduciary Liability Exposures and Insurance Coverage
This course provides a detailed look at (1) the fiduciary liability exposures that
were created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 and
(2) at the insurance policies that have been developed to cover these liability
exposures. The first part of the course describes the basic fiduciary duties set
forth in ERISA, examines the specific types of pension and benefit plans governed
by ERISA, and analyzes the particular claims exposures created by these duties.
Next, the course discusses the way in which fiduciary liability insurance is underwritten,
provides methods of controlling exposures to fiduciary liability claims, and explains
how fiduciary liability coverage is coordinated with other types of management liability
insurance policies. The second part of the course takes a detailed look at the specific
provisions within fiduciary liability insurance policy forms, including insuring
agreements, covered persons/organizations, provisions pertaining to status changes,
key definitions, limits/deductibles, conditions, exclusions, and coverage triggers.
Professional and Management Liability: Exposures and Insurance
Coverage
This course provides an overview of the legal liability exposures to which professionals
(e.g., doctors, lawyers, accountants) and managers (e.g., directors and officers,
supervisory personnel, trustees, and fiduciaries) are subject. The course also introduces
you to the different insurance policies that have been designed to cover these exposures.
It concludes by discussing the distinctive loss control, underwriting, claims management,
and marketing issues pertaining to professional and management liability.
Professional Liability Insurance Coverage Triggers
This course provides a detailed look at how claims-made coverage triggers operate
and provides practical knowledge on how to avoid problems when arranging claims-made
programs. It begins with an explanation of the significance of coverage triggers,
introduces both claims-made and occurrence coverage triggers, and provides an example
of how claims-made coverage triggers apply in a claim situation. Next, the course
distinguishes between the two different kinds of claims-made policies: those written
with pure claims-made coverage triggers and those containing claims-made and reported
coverage triggers. It introduces the concept of the retroactive dates and how they
operate. The course discusses discovery provisions and also addresses the two factors
that complicate the application of claims-made coverage triggers. Next, the problem
of coverage gaps in claims-made policies, and how to close them by means of extended
reporting periods and prior acts coverage, is reviewed. The course discusses the
rationale for using claims-made coverage triggers as well as the advantages and
disadvantages they present for both insureds and insurers. Since a handful of professional
liability coverage lines are sometimes written on an occurrence basis, these coverage
triggers—and how they differ from claims-made policies—are also explained.