Practice Areas: Insurance Coverage

Representative Matters

Below is a sampling of our insurance team’s past engagements that reflects the group's capabilities across a range of industries and insurance issues. The list includes some of our “insurer-side” cases, to underscore the range of our experience.

Commercial General Liability Claims

• Representation of a Fortune 200 company in the negotiation of various facets of coverage for its defense costs and potential liability associated with multiple-party asbestos lawsuits in Louisiana, Texas, California and Washington.
• Representation of a crane and rigging client in a claim against its commercial liability carrier, and an action against its care custody and control insurer arising out of an industrial accident during the course of expanding a polypropylene manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania.
• Representation of an interstate trucking company to recover damages for breach of contract and bad faith from its insurer.
• Representation of a client in Virginia federal court in a breach of contract claim brought by the insurer based on the pollution exclusion and an alleged oral modification of the contract.
• Representation of a major product manufacturer to recover damages from a syndicate of insurers.
• Representation of an entertainment/hospitality corporation to obtain a contribution from primary and excess insurers to settle a Missouri action brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
• Representation of a national design/build firm in litigation with a subcontractor’s liability insurance carrier.
• Representation of a Fortune 50 company in the prosecution and mediation of a 9-figure “Bermuda form” claim against an offshore high-level excess insurer for catastrophic losses incurred in pattern product liability claims and lawsuits.
• Representation of a Fortune 200 company on insurance coverage claims related to multiple individual and class action cases alleging personal injury from adulterated food.
• Representation of one of the largest pork producers in the United States in coverage litigation in North Carolina and Missouri arising from temporary nuisance claims relating to the operation of hog farms.
• Representation of a professional liability insurer in federal court in Los Angeles against claims by a leading semiconductor corporation seeking insurance coverage for a $12 million settlement with a customer arising from defective hysteretic controller chips.
• Representation of a heavy equipment manufacturer in a claim for defense costs and damages related to personal injuries from repetitive stress.
• Representation of one of the nation's largest operators of petroleum product terminals, regarding coverage as additional insured under contractor's policy in connection with personal injury suit.
• Representation of an electric cooperative in coverage dispute arising from death claim.
• Representation of an electric cooperative in coverage dispute arising from pipeline explosion.

First-party Claims

• Representation of an energy company in property damage claims related to a mine collapse, and business interruption coverage. We also counseled our client with reference to liability, workers’ compensation, and property/business interruption coverage regarding the collapse of a mine in the Southwest which resulted in several deaths.
• Representation of a municipality against various underwriters at Lloyd’s of London on an insurance-backed warranty given for a bridge surface coating.
• Representation of a power generation company in a lawsuit before the North Carolina Business Court filed by Lloyd’s of London syndicates, seeking a declaratory judgment that insurance policies issued to the company provided no coverage for tens of millions of dollars in losses caused by damage to two turbine engines installed in a power plant.
• Representation of a public coal producer in an action in state court in Oklahoma against a pool that included Lloyds of London and three other major insurers. The claim involved the equivalent of a business interruption policy covering the flood of a coal mine in Garrett County, Maryland.
• Representation of a property-casualty insurer in litigation brought by a Fortune 100 computer services company in Delaware seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses the company incurred to upgrade electronic data processing systems for the turn of the century.
• Representation of a large utility company in connection with a multimillion-dollar first-party property loss arising from an explosion at one of its power generation plants.
• Representation of two office warehouses in a claim against their property insurer for losses resulting from Hurricane Ike.
• Representation of a retail business in a claim against their property insurer for property damage and business interruption losses resulting from Hurricane Ike.
• Representation of one of the nation's largest operators of petroleum product terminals in a claim against its property insurer for damage resulting from Hurricane Ike.
• Representation of a retailer in first-party property damage claim resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, regarding property damage, extra expense and business interruption claims.
• Representation of a Fortune 200 company first-party property insurance claim for structural damage to a manufacturing plan arising from a construction accident and resulting business interruption losses.

Directors & Officers (D&O) Claims

• Representation of a national bank in litigation against its D&O and fidelity bond carriers for losses occasioned by a multimillion-dollar letter of credit fraud perpetrated by a group of customers with the complicity of one of the bank's employees.
• Representation of a large bank in its claim for D&O insurance coverage, and the fidelity claim that the bank submitted under a financial institution bond for losses related to 70 loans that the bank made, totaling in excess of $14 million, to borrowers who purchased lots in a real estate development that turned out to be a fraudulent scheme perpetrated by the developers and the closing attorney representing the bank.
• Representation of a D&O insurer in coverage litigation against a healthcare company in combined state and federal court D&O coverage actions in Alabama arising out of a massive securities fraud scandal in which numerous directors and officers pled guilty.
• Representation of a wireless carrier in a dispute with a D&O insurer involving the settlement of a securities action against the insured, and whether the settlement of the litigation by the policyholder complied with the notice conditions in the policy.
• Representation of an Ohio bank in prosecuting a fidelity bond claim arising from allegations of fraudulent underwriting practices by certain bank officers that resulted in extending in excess of $22 million in credit secured by extremely overvalued collateral.
• Representation of directors and officers in obtaining a defense and/or coverage in a variety of matters ranging from antitrust claims against shipping companies, to fraud claims against bank directors and officers and securities claims for directors and officers of publicly traded companies.
• Representation of a D&O insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith action filed in Georgia federal court by an officer of the insured company seeking reimbursement for defense costs incurred to defend a lawsuit related to the sale of technology licenses.
• Representation of a corporate officer in D&O coverage litigation in the Southern District of New York arising from the alleged backdating of stock options at an information security company.
• Representation of a policyholder in a D&O coverage dispute arising out of antitrust lawsuits filed nationwide against the insured and the resulting securities litigation.

Professional and Miscellaneous Liability Claims

• Representation of a national bank in a lawsuit in North Carolina state court seeking coverage under lien protection insurance policies and certificates issued to the bank relating to 1.3 million insured home equity loans made by the bank between 2003 and 2007.
• Representation of one of the largest banks in the United States in connection with claims against an issuer of weather-risk derivative insurance products and weather-risk reinsurance. The claims related to letters of credit issued by the bank that secured the weather-risk products.
• Representation of one of the largest banks in the United States in an action filed in state court in Kentucky against the bank and an insurer that provided life, loss of income and credit insurance to bank customers.
• Representation of a professional liability insurer in coverage litigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania arising from the death of four security contractors who worked for a contractor and were murdered in Fallujah, Iraq.
• Representation of a professional liability insurer in coverage litigation in federal court in Atlanta, arising from more than 100 suits and claims of medical negligence against a national provider of long-term healthcare to the elderly.
• Representation of a national workers compensation insurer as North Carolina counsel in a declaratory judgment and breach of contract lawsuit against a national pool of workers compensation insurers. The pool agreed to share risks assumed by virtue of their participation in assigned-risk workers’ compensation insurance plans, and the risks were shared through reinsurance. We sought a ruling that the pool's attempts to require additional financial security from our client as part of the reinsurance program were invalid and against public policy.
• Representation of one of the nation’s largest employment staffing companies in litigation with guaranty association over its claim for reimbursement of workers’ compensation claim payments under net worth provision of Guaranty Act.
• Representation of the London office of a Big Four accounting firm in a case against one of its malpractice insurers for failing to fund a settlement of fraud claims brought in England.

Environmental, Asbestos & Mass Torts

• Representation of a Fortune 100 utility company in recovering in excess of $40 million from its property insurer arising from an explosion at one of its power generation plants resulting in the release of asbestos.
• Representation of major oil company in claims against liability insurers for defense costs and settlements related to numerous underlying MTBE-related product liability claims.
• Representation of post-bankruptcy trust in claims against their liability insurers for asbestos- and silica-related liabilities.
• Representation of a global marketer of commercial and consumer products in connection with lawsuits pending in New York arising from alleged asbestos exposure from talc products.
• Representation of a corporate policyholder in claims against their liability insurers in asbestos- and silica related liabilities prior to filing bankruptcy.
• Representation of an asbestos insulation company in negotiating coverage-in-place agreement related to potential asbestos liabilities in multiple states.
• Representation of a multilocation dry cleaner in PERC-related environmental cleanup costs
• Representation of an asbestos insulation company in claims against their liability insurers in asbestos-related liabilities as a part of a prepackage bankruptcy.
• Representation of a paper mill in claims against their liability insurer related to alleged personal injuries and property damages arising out of the release of dioxin.
• Representation of a paper mill in negotiating coverage-in-place agreement with its liability insurer related to asbestos-related liabilities.
• Representation of a major petrochemical company in negotiating coverage-in-place agreement with its liability insurers related to asbestos-related liabilities.
• Representation of an electric cooperative in claims against their liability insurers for environmental cleanup costs related to creosote-related property damage.
• Representation of an electric cooperative in claims against their liability insurers for environmental cleanup costs related to PCB contamination.
• Representation of a chrome plating business in claims for environmental property damage. Case dealt with trigger of coverage, allocation, pollution exclusion and owned-property exclusion.