An attorney for an insured with a representations and warranties insurance (“RWI”) claim, particularly when facing a contradictory policy provision or rule of law, should consider whether the doctrine of reasonable expectations of the insured (“REI Doctrine”) or the doctrine of manifest disregard of the law (“MDL Doctrine”) may present strategic/tactical advantages to the insured.
The REI Doctrine applies to insurance claims generally; even though it may not be applicable under governing law or to an RWI claim, assertion of reasonable expectations of the insured may still be useful to an insured with an RWI claim, including because such expectations underlie other doctrines favorable to an insured.
The MDL Doctrine applies to arbitration awards generally; it places a very high burden on an arbitration party seeking vacatur of an arbitration award, even when the enforcing court disagrees with the arbitrator’s consideration of applicable law.
No case law in the U.S. has applied either doctrine to an RWI claim or an RWI arbitration award, which means that both doctrines represent green fields for attorneys for insureds.
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©2026. Published in Business Law Today, June 12, 2026, by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the copyright holder.