The attorneys in Duane Morris’ nationally recognized Insurance practice have decades of experience representing insurers in coverage disputes in a multitude of areas. We have handled and resolved some of the most complex cases in the United States, involving exposures in the billions of dollars, and have achieved ground-breaking appellate decisions on behalf of the insurance industry. Although litigation is sometimes necessary, Duane Morris insurance coverage attorneys frequently negotiate resolutions and settlements for their clients without resorting to litigation. We are experienced in representing both domestic and foreign insurers and have a considerable depth of knowledge regarding the insurance industry and historic policy placement issues for all types of insureds, from Fortune 500 companies and international conglomerates to smaller, locally owned and regional companies. Duane Morris has one of the most sophisticated and experienced coverage litigation and counseling practices in the world, as has been recognized repeatedly in the insurance industry.
Duane Morris’ services cover a wide range of areas, including the following:
Asbestos, Pollution and Health Hazard (APH): APH cases often involve unique and unresolved issues of law that put a premium on creative legal work and innovative resolutions. Duane Morris attorneys have pioneered APH coverage litigation techniques and have extensive experience in every aspect of such litigation, from initial case filing, through discovery and pre-trial procedures, to multiphase jury trials and multi-issue appeals. We have handled the full spectrum of continuous bodily injury claims, including asbestos, lead, silica, butadiene, PCE, TCE, benzene, tobacco, pharmaceutical products and medical devices, as well as continuous property damage claims arising from long-term pollution and contamination involving all manner of industries. Duane Morris’ experience in APH matters extends to all types of insurance contracts, including comprehensive general liability, excess liability, umbrella, first-party, maritime and aviation policies.
Commercial Property: Duane Morris has for many years represented clients in a variety of commercial property disputes. Highlights of this practice historically have included large storm damage claims (including business interruption), builder’s risk issues arising in the context of complex construction disputes, mold remediation and damage claims, wildfire damage and business interruption, major theft claims and related fraud investigation and defending claims of bad faith claims handling. Duane Morris has provided high-level strategic advice on emerging risks. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions presented our insurer clients with a new set of challenges, and Duane Morris is one of the firms that has led the defense of the business interruption and other claims that have been made against them. Our lawyers have represented industry groups in historic amicus briefings, as well as defending major insurers at federal and state trial and appellate courts against the avalanche of these lawsuits. Equally important, we counseled major clients against their particular exposures under standard and specialty coverages, at the pre-claim, claim-handling, trial and appellate levels.
Construction: Duane Morris insurance coverage attorneys have extensive experience with insurance issues as they relate to the construction field. We provide advice and litigation services with respect to the full scope of insurance contracts involved with construction projects, including general liability, professional liability (claims-made), contractor’s/owner’s protective, builder’s risk and wrap-up policies.
Duane Morris attorneys represent insurance companies in all types of construction matters nationwide, from those involving single family homes and multifamily dwellings, to large commercial or infrastructure projects. With decades of insurance experience, Duane Morris attorneys are adept at handling the multitude of issues that may arise in construction projects, including: coverage under the insuring agreement (including what constitutes “property damage,” issues involving the timing of occurrences and known loss issues); products-completed operations issues; application of exclusions (including the “your work” exclusion and exclusions j(5), j(6) and (l)); claims-handling issues (including those related to satisfaction of SIRs and selection of defense counsel); number of occurrences, claims, deductibles and SIRs; “related claims”; additional insureds; priority of coverage among multiple insurance policies; and issues unique to claims-made policies.
Duane Morris attorneys are available to assist construction industry insurers at every stage of the process, from advice during the initial claims handling, to monitoring underlying matters and acting as an advocate for the insurer during underlying mediations and settlement conferences, to litigating coverage cases to conclusion. We recognize the importance of tailoring advice based on the unique circumstances of each matter, in order to develop an economical and result-oriented approach to complex disputes.
Directors and Officers Coverage: Duane Morris' directors, officers and fiduciary insurance practice focuses on assisting D&O insurers analyze director and officer and other fiduciary-related claims, formulate coverage positions and monitor the underlying litigation in an effort to assist in effectuating prompt, efficient and cost-effective resolutions. We work closely with our insurer clients to understand at the beginning of a retention the nature of the claims and the scope and breadth of the insurer's obligations so that a comprehensive coverage and resolution strategy can be developed as quickly as possible. Toward this end, we seek to address at the outset many of the following issues: duty to defend and/or reimburse the defense; retention and approval of defense counsel and agreement on rates; the appropriateness of multiple counsel where there are multiple insureds; self-insured retention (SIR) and deductible issues; allocation issues involving (i) parties (company versus officers and directors); (ii) capacity (officers and directors who wear other hats); and (iii) claims (covered versus noncovered). We often stay active through conclusion of the underlying litigation so as to assist in formulating a strategy for claim resolution and settlement.
In conjunction with our D&O practice, we have represented insurers in coverage litigation between the insurer and insured (arbitrations and civil trials), bad faith actions commenced by insureds and litigation between insurers (addressing issues such as the extent to which other policies may apply and the levels of contribution which are appropriate in a particular case). We also have represented insurers in rescission matters, including resolution of such matters through nonjudicial rescission, judicial rescission and negotiation of both partial policy buybacks and full policy buybacks. In connection with our D&O coverage representation, Duane Morris is able to draw on experience from several practice areas within the firm.
General Liability, Primary and Excess: The Duane Morris Insurance Group has an unsurpassed depth of experience representing insurers in liability matters, both primary and excess. We offer a full complement of legal services to liability insurers, from detailed coverage opinions on cutting-edge legal issues to the most complex insurance coverage trials. We represent general liability insurers across the entire range of liability claims, including bodily injury, property damage and advertising injury, from simple one party negligence claims to complex multiplaintiff toxic tort exposures. Our insurance lawyers are experienced not only with CGL forms and issues, but also with specialized liability policies and manuscript forms. We have also handled all manner of claims involving runoff exposures and are particularly adept in investigating and defending against lost policy allegations.
Our insurance attorneys are particularly experienced in representing excess insurers, both in the domestic and London insurance markets, and we are well-versed in protecting excess insurer interests throughout the claim adjustment and settlement process and, when necessary, defending excess interests in insurance bad faith litigation.
Professional Liability: Duane Morris insurance coverage attorneys have significant experience in a range of professional laiblity policies. Our attorneys are very skilled at handling unique issues that arise under these policies and the claims-made nature of them, and have counseled clients at all stages of a matter, including at the point of a potential coverage dispute all the way through trial. Our attorneys are well-versed in the many issues that might arise under such policies, including the potentially sensitive issues that affect the busines relationships involved in professional liabilty coverage transactions.
Specialty Lines: Duane Morris insurance coverage attorneys have extensive national experience in representing insurers facing claims under specialty lines insurance policies, including art, aviation, energy, entertainment, environmental, garage and jewelry insurance. These Duane Morris attorneys recognize the importance of tailoring their advice based on the unique circumstances of a matter in order to develop a workable strategy from the outset of any case.
Duane Morris attorneys are available to assist insurers at any stage of the process, including simple advice during the claims handling of an underlying claim, to monitoring underlying matters and acting as an advocate for the insurer during underlying mediations and settlement conferences, to litigating a case in the courts.
We recognize the importance of tailoring advice based on the unique circumstances of each matter, in order to develop a workable strategy from the outset. In each case, Duane Morris brings decades of experience to the table to develop creative and economical solutions to specialty lines insurance problems.
For More Information
For more information, please contact Sharon L. Caffrey, Stephen H. Sutro, Jessica E. La Londe or any of the lawyers referenced in the Attorney Listing.