Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

LITIGATION

The Hartford is involved in claims litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, both as a liability insurer defending or providing indemnity for third-party claims brought against insureds and as an insurer defending coverage claims brought against it. The Hartford accounts for such activity through the establishment of unpaid loss and loss adjustment expense reserves. Subject to the uncertainties related to The Hartford's asbestos and environmental claims discussed in Note 14 - Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, management expects that the ultimate liability, if any, with respect to such ordinary-course claims litigation, after consideration of provisions made for potential losses and costs of defense, will not be material to the consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of The Hartford.

The Hartford is also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert claims for substantial amounts. In addition to the matters described below, these actions include, among others, putative state and federal class actions seeking certification of a state or national class. Such putative class actions have alleged, for example, underpayment of claims or improper underwriting practices in connection with various kinds of insurance policies, such as personal and commercial automobile, property, disability, and inland marine. The Hartford also is involved in individual actions in which punitive damages are sought, such as claims alleging bad faith in the handling of insurance claims or other allegedly unfair or improper business practices. Like many other insurers, The Hartford also has been joined in actions by asbestos plaintiffs asserting, among other things, that insurers had a duty to protect the public from the dangers of asbestos and that

insurers committed unfair trade practices by asserting defenses on behalf of their policyholders in the underlying asbestos cases. Management expects that the ultimate liability, if any, with respect to such lawsuits, after consideration of provisions made for estimated losses, will not be material to the consolidated financial condition of The Hartford. Nonetheless, given the large or indeterminate amounts sought in certain of these actions, and the inherent unpredictability of litigation, the outcome in certain matters could, from time to time, have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations or cash flows in particular quarterly or annual periods.

In addition to the inherent difficulty of predicting litigation outcomes, the Mutual Funds Litigation identified below purports to seek substantial damages for unsubstantiated conduct spanning a multi-year period based on novel applications of complex legal theories. The alleged damages are not quantified or factually supported in the complaint, and, in any event, the Company's experience shows that demands for damages often bear little relation to a reasonable estimate of potential loss. The application of the legal standard identified by the court for assessing the potentially available damages, as described below, is inherently unpredictable, and no legal precedent has been identified that would aid in determining a reasonable estimate of potential loss. Accordingly, management cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss, if any.

Mutual Funds Litigation

In February 2011, a derivative action was brought on behalf of six Hartford retail mutual funds in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging that Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC (“HIFSCO”), an indirect subsidiary of the Company, received excessive advisory and distribution fees in violation of its statutory fiduciary duty under Section 36(b) of the

Part I - Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Investment Company Act of 1940. During course of litigation, the claims regarding distribution fees were dismissed without prejudice, the lineup funds as plaintiffs changed several times, and the plaintiffs added as a defendant Hartford Funds Management Company (“HFMC”), an indirect subsidiary of the Company that assumed the role of advisor to the funds as of January 2013. In June 2015, HFMC and HIFSCO moved for summary judgment, and plaintiffs cross-moved for partial summary judgment with respect to one fund. In March 2016, the court denied the plaintiff's motion, and granted summary judgment for HIFSCO and HFMC with respect to one fund, leaving six funds and plaintiffs: The Hartford Balanced Fund, The Hartford Capital Appreciation Fund, The Hartford Floating Rate Fund, The

Hartford Growth Opportunities Fund, The Hartford Healthcare Fund and The Hartford Inflation Plus Fund. The court further ruled that the appropriate measure of damages on the surviving claims would be the difference, if any, between the actual advisory fees paid through trial and the fees permitted under the applicable legal standard. A bench trial on the issue of liability was held in November 2016. In February 2017, the court granted judgment for HIFSCO and HFMC as to all claims. Plaintiffs have appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.