Playing All The Angles

Our client, a manufacturer of oil well equipment, came to us later than we might have liked – after a jury returned a multi-million dollar damage award against it for manufacturing equipment that broke in the plaintiff’s well.  The client enlisted us to fight a two-front war – shape the appeal of the verdict and get the insurer to pay for any liability that survived the appeal.  We filed a coverage action in one state against the insurer, which had consistently refused to pay any of the client’s liability.  In another state, we developed and focused the appellate arguments and brief.  When the appellate court requested reargument – a requirement under that state’s law for the court to reverse or reduce the jury’s award – we seized the opportunity to secure a drastically reduced demand from the plaintiff and the insurer’s agreement to fund it.  In the end, our client paid a small retention to eliminate what had become a $9 million liability.

Our expertise as business litigators helps us secure better results in insurance coverage litigation for our corporate clients.  Every coverage case is actually two cases – the underlying dispute and the coverage action.  Successful litigation of the coverage claim requires a complete understanding of the underlying case.  Our broad litigation experience gives us this depth of understanding and leads to successful outcomes across the board.