Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
The Time-Money Continuum
Everyone has heard that time is money, but it may be that no industry understands this concept as well or as thoroughly as the insurance industry. To be profitable, annuities must be sold at a price that, given expected investment performance on the premiums, will more than sustain the income streams promised in the annuity contracts. Life insurance premiums must, given the investment performance expected on the premiums and the mortality experience expected for the pool of insured persons, more than support the expected payments to beneficiaries. Liability and casualty insurance premiums must, given the investment performance expected on the premiums, be more than adequate to pay expected claims. The “more than” concept in all these examples is the key to the profitability of these products for insurers. In short, insurance involves a lot of math.
Insurance companies, accordingly, employ large numbers of accountants, actuaries, economists and others with mathematical training, and they understand the time-money continuum in the way that theoretical physicists understand the interchangeability of time and space. Insurers also understand that, consistent with the very nature of insurance, claims are inevitable. Although the impact of time on money is fundamental to the operation and viability of the insurance industry, and although the inevitability of claims is a given in the industry, it is not always evident that insurers appropriately account to their policyholders for the time value of money when valuing and paying casualty or liability claims, or that policyholders insist that they do so.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.