Ford Marrin obtains dismissal of a $500 million COVID-19 coverage claim asserted against its client, Zurich American Insurance Company, by the global fashion house, Capri Holdings, which owns a number of fashion brands, including Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.

Following a bench trial, Ford Marrin obtained a judgment declaring that its client, RLI Insurance Company, did not owe a duty to defend or indemnify a putative additional insured under an insurance policy issued to a construction manager working at the Harrison PATH station. The court held that RLI’s Professional Services Exclusion barred coverage for negligence claims involving a failure to warn where the policy’s definition of “professional services” included the same terminology utilized in the underlying complaint.

The Firm recently obtained summary judgment declaring that our insurance company client had no duty to defend a putative additional insured with respect to an underlying personal injury action. Arch Specialty Insurance Company v. RLI Insurance Company, Index No. 714076/2017 (Sup. Ct., Queens County). The court accepted our argument that, while the duty to defend is based generally on the allegations in an underlying complaint, a putative insured bears the burden of establishing that it qualifies as insured under the policy in the first instance.

In an insurance coverage trial taken to verdict in Hudson County Superior Court, Ford Marrin obtained a judgment declaring that its client, RLI Insurance Company, did not owe coverage under a motor carrier insurance policy with respect to an accident involving a terminal tractor, also known as a “yard truck.” The jury agreed with our argument that the vehicle in question was not an “auto,” but was instead “mobile equipment” due to the fact that its primary purpose was for off-road usage. The victory at trial resulted in the client being entitled to reimbursement from another insurer of amounts spent defending and indemnifying the insured in a related personal injury action.

By Decision and Order dated June 7, 2018, New York State Supreme Court Justice Karen B. Rothenberg dismissed all claims against the firm’s engineering client, Valerio Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C., in three related personal injury lawsuits. Three separate plaintiffs had brought suit against Valerio Associates relating to a deck collapse in Brooklyn, NY. The plaintiffs alleged that Valerio Associates had performed engineering work at the subject property over 15 years prior to the accident at issue, and that such work contributed to the accident.