The current crisis is already spawning tort suits seeking damages for illness or death allegedly caused by negligent or reckless exposure. Former DOJ trial counsel Adam Dinnell has successfully used genetic typing, a form of “fingerprinting” that differentiates between thousands of different genetic types of a particular pathogen, as evidence in similar cases involving Legionnaire’s Disease.

The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the healthcare, travel, and hospitality industries has been severe.

The current crisis is already spawning tort suits seeking damages for illness or death allegedly caused by negligent or reckless exposure. Former DOJ trial counsel Adam Dinnell has successfully used genetic typing, a form of “fingerprinting” that differentiates between thousands of different genetic types of a particular pathogen, as evidence in similar cases involving Legionnaire’s Disease.

As the COVID-19 crisis and its economic fallout intensify, contractual parties have increasingly invoked force majeure provisions to excuse performance of contracts. This article offers an update on emerging global trends in force majeure and the evolving considerations businesses should apply in evaluating force majeure provisions found in existing as well as new contracts.