Craig Kavanagh counsels domestic and international insurers on management and professional liability coverage matters with a focus on directors & officers (D&O), errors and omissions (E&O), and employment practices liability (EPL) claims. Primary and excess carriers rely on his guidance in securities class actions, derivative suits, regulatory matters, and employment disputes as well as emerging exposures tied to AI and special purpose acquisition companies.
In his practice, Craig advises on coverage positions, drafts the correspondence that reflects them, and litigates those positions when disputes arise. His litigation experience informs how he evaluates claims and frames coverage positions from the outset. He is particularly adept at navigating complex matters involving multiple towers, where insurers’ goals are aligned but not identical, working collaboratively while keeping his own client’s particular interests front and center.
Before joining BatesCarey, Craig was a partner at a boutique New York law firm, where he handled a wide range of management and professional liability coverage work. His interest in emerging technology and eDiscovery also led him to manage discovery across the firm’s litigation work, handling every aspect of the eDiscovery process, as well as discovery disputes. At BatesCarey, he brings that combination of coverage, litigation, and discovery experience to the firm’s Professional Liability Coverage Group.
- Represented excess D&O insurer participating in two policy-year towers in a declaratory judgment action filed by a multi-insurer group against a bank policyholder, involving exhaustion and erosion issues across the primary and excess layers.
- Represented high-attachment excess D&O insurer in a coverage dispute arising from a large settlement entered without the insurer’s consent, involving the policy’s consent, cooperation, and no-action provisions; analyzed personal jurisdiction and choice-of-law issues and drafted the declaratory judgment complaint.
- Represented excess D&O insurers in connection with the litigation and settlement of stockholder litigation against a media and entertainment company, and in a multi-carrier mediation concerning a specific-event exclusion.
- Served as coverage counsel to excess D&O insurer in a stockholder derivative suit and related individual civil actions against a real estate brokerage and its founder, addressing federal statutory, negligence, and fiduciary duty claims, allocation of defense costs between covered and uncovered parties, and settlement strategy through trial preparation and mediation.
- Served as monitoring and coverage counsel to excess D&O insurer in a federal securities class action against a semiconductor manufacturer.
- Advised excess D&O insurers on advancement of defense costs across a multi-layer ABC tower subsequent to and during the policyholder’s bankruptcy.