The Brokers Push Back
IYBA has now filed formal objections, arguing the magistrate went too far. According to their lawyers, the exclusion was meant to cover situations where associations manipulate accreditation or certification processes to gain an unfair competitive edge — not every dispute in which the association’s rules are tangentially mentioned.
Their central point: the words “antitrust,” “Sherman Act,” “conspiracy,” and “price fixing” appear nowhere in the exclusion. If USLI’s view is accepted, IYBA warns, virtually any claim connected to their trade association role could be carved out of coverage. That would render the professional liability policy “illusory” — legal shorthand for coverage that looks good on paper but vanishes in practice.
Explainer — What Is a “Standard Setting” Exclusion?
For lay readers: imagine a student group project where one kid makes a rule that only their markers can be used. That’s standard setting. In business, such conduct can veer into anticompetitive territory when organizations use their rule-making authority to favor themselves and shut out rivals.
Insurance companies often exclude coverage for these situations to avoid being dragged into disputes over industry rule manipulation. But critics argue insurers sometimes weaponize the clause to avoid claims it was never designed to address.
