May you live in interesting times!—a blessing and a purported Confucian curse.

 On late Tuesday afternoon my iPhone 7 pinged: Trump fires Comey. The next morning, sleepy-eyed, and really focused on the day’s crossword puzzle, I snatched the NYT and WSJ from outside my apartment door and opened both to the editorial page. The NYT blared: A Saturday Night Massacre akin to dismissal of Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox. The WSJ said, in essence, Comey had to go: Why did it take so long?  Interesting times, indeed.

 But political  alliances aside (and here I mask my views), POLITICS do matter in insurance,  As defense and coverage counsel, we must assess risk, venue by venue, bench by bench, bias by bias, appointment by appointment;  How, in the relevant jurisdiction do the sitting judges view insurance contracts: “As written” or in light of the “reasonable expectations” of the insured. Of course, other variables do exist, but political leaning is a factor that must be digested. Why else, for example, is Judge Gorsuch’s elevation to the high bench deemed such a liberal defeat (when his job is to “apply the law” as written)?

 We don’t have any definitive answers. But our job is to predict, to forecast, the ultimate outcome of a legal controversy.  As such, we take on board the political climate of the jurisdiction controlling the outcome. But, in these interesting times, WCM begs your indulgence,  because the leaves, on the bottom of the cup, are susceptible to differing interpretations. Meanwhile, embrace the interesting times in which we live and work.

 If you have any questions about politics and insurance, please call  or email Dennis.