Calfee's Tae Andrews Quoted in Law360 Insurance Authority Article "Meta Faces Steep Coverage Test for Verdicts After Del. Ruling"

Mentioned and Quoted

Calfee Insurance Coverage Senior Counsel Tae Andrews was quoted in the March 26, 2026, Law360 Insurance Authority article, “Meta Faces Steep Coverage Test for Verdicts After Del. Ruling.” The article examines how significant jury verdicts in California and New Mexico finding that Meta Platforms Inc. harmed young people’s mental health could affect ongoing and future insurance coverage disputes, particularly in light of a recent Delaware Superior Court decision relieving insurers of the duty to defend Meta in related litigation.

The article, written by Eli Flesch, explains that while the verdict amounts highlight the potential exposure facing large technology companies, insurers are likely to rely on the Delaware court’s February ruling, which concluded that Meta’s alleged conduct involved intentional design decisions rather than accidental acts. That decision granted partial summary judgment to Meta’s insurers, finding that none of the allegations in the underlying social media litigation supported a finding of accidental conduct sufficient to trigger coverage under commercial general liability policies.

Tae Andrews noted that the entered jury verdicts now provide concrete factual findings that are critical to determining whether insurance coverage may apply at the indemnification stage. He explained that, unlike the duty to defend, which is evaluated based on the allegations in the complaint, the duty to indemnify turns on the facts established at trial.

“I think the California verdict forms really illustrate why we have to look at each jury’s findings independently, and analyze them separately,” Tae stated. “Because contrary to what the Instagram court’s decision wrote, these actual jury findings in the California case are absolutely couched in terms of negligence.”

Tae pointed to specific jury questions addressing whether Meta was negligent in the design or operation of Instagram and whether the company knew or should have known that its platform posed dangers to minors. He emphasized that these findings may materially affect how courts and insurers assess coverage for verdicts, even where insurers previously prevailed on duty‑to‑defend arguments.

The article also discusses how the ruling may impact long-tail claims involving mental and emotional injuries, and how similar coverage disputes could arise in other sectors, like AI, but may depend on different facts and policy language.

Read the full Law360 Insurance Authority article.

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Calfee’s Policyholder Insurance Coverage practice group has helped its clients manage and protect nearly $2 billion in insurance assets over the past few years. The team serves corporate insurance policyholder clients in Ohio and nationwide, helping them manage and minimize the risks, losses, and liabilities that pose threats. Calfee’s Insurance Coverage attorneys provide advisory and claims services, assisting clients with the placement and enhancement of their insurance policies, reviews of their existing policies, shaping and pursuing claims to get losses paid by their insurance companies, negotiating resolutions to disputed insurance claims, litigating coverage lawsuits against their insurers, and finding solutions for insurance coverage issues in corporate M&A deals. The team has experience with a wide array of policy types, from newer products such as cyber and M&A representations and warranties insurance, to more traditional policy forms such as commercial general liability (CGL), umbrella, excess, property, D&O, professional liability, and EPL policies, to more specialized policies such as builder’s risk, liquor, and aviation. Calfee's Insurance practice is ranked by Chambers USA 2025 in Band 1 in Insurance: Policyholder Law in Ohio. 

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