'Distinguishing Follow the Fortunes from Follow the Settlements,' by Robert M. Hall

I. Introductionⁱ

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency to confuse the concepts of follow the fortunes and follow the settlements and to use the terms interchangeably. This is particularly the case with litigators and the courts which tends to accelerate and underscore this confusion in terms and concepts. In addition, it tends to gloss over the distinction between following a settlement and whatever allocation to reinsurers is made after the settlement. The purpose of this article is to explore the nature and historic origins of the follow the fortunes concept so that it can be distinguished from …