Overview
When a business faces a lawsuit – such as a personal injury on premises, products liability, or wrongful death – the company is exposed to significant risk. Any time these conflicts arise, there is inevitably the question of whether insurance will cover the loss — and if so, whose insurance. We help businesses and insurance carriers understand their rights, and, if necessary, defend their rights in insurance coverage litigation.
Insurance law and insurance policies are exceedingly complex. When a business is in crisis, owners often do not have the energy or knowledge to engage with the carrier regarding indemnification. Our team understands insurance policy terms and has experience negotiating with insurance carriers when coverage is denied.
We defend insurance carriers and insured businesses in both first- and third-party claims related to, among other things, commercial general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, commercial automobile policies, homeowner’s insurance, life insurance policies, and umbrella policies. We have successfully litigated many matters involving insurance coverage and achieved favorable results for our clients, including at trial, in both state and federal courts throughout Virginia.
Practice Leadership
Representative Experience
- Representing a professional liability insurance carrier in a coverage dispute related to a multi-million-dollar federal class action settlement resolving alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
- Prakash v. Erie Insurance Exchange, No. CL13-483 (Va. Cir. Ct. Oct. 22, 2015) (City of Hopewell). We successfully defended Erie Insurance Exchange in a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs seeking reimbursement for the settlement of a tortious interference claim. We obtained a judgment for Erie at trial. The Supreme Court of Virginia declined to hear an appeal filed by the plaintiffs.
- Representing a private aviation company in a multi-million-dollar coverage dispute regarding foreign-object damage to a jet engine covered by a broad coverage insurance policy.
- Representing an insured assisted-living facility in a coverage dispute involving a wrongful death lawsuit. The dispute involved the applicability of coverage for premises liability and professional negligence claims.