Representative Matters

Hertz Corporation v. ACE American Ins., et al., 2024 WL 4668435 (Del. Super. Ct. Oct. 9, 2024), aff’d 2025 WL 3159198 (Del. Nov. 12, 2025) (court examined coverage for over 300 claims arising from Hertz’s flawed inventory tracking procedures, which resulted in over $168 million paid for the false arrests of customers. The court found that personal injury claims can each only trigger the coverage in effect when the underlying offense took place and likely are separate “occurrences.” Based on this ruling, the parties stipulated that there were no claims to constitute an “occurrence” that exceeded the $10 million retention in any single period)

Robert Dziedzic v. Merrimack Mutual Fire Ins. Co., Case No. 20234006591 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill. Sept. 10, 2024) (granting client, Merrimack’s, motion to dismiss breach of contract claim for failure to comply with insurance policy’s suit limitation provision requiring insured to file suit within 1 year of date of loss)

Big Tomato LLC v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 642 F. Supp. 3d 552 (S.D. Miss. 2022) (granting client, State Auto’s, motion to dismiss insured’s claim for business income loss due to COVID-19 pandemic due to absence of direct physical loss)

Coventry's Deli v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 2022 WL 4537980 (S.D. Ohio) (Sept. 28, 2022) (granting client, State Auto’s, motion to dismiss a putative class action for insurer client over plaintiffs’ allegations that presence of COVID-19 on their properties caused structural alterations that required repairs.)

S.I. Properties, LLC v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., Case No. 2021-MR-80 (Cir. Ct. Jackson Cty., Ill. Sept. 20, 2022) (granting client, State Auto’s, motion for summary judgment under policy’s vacancy condition precluding coverage for vandalism and theft when insured property has been vacant for at least 60 consecutive days before the loss occurred)

Danco LLC v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 2022 WL 1369064 (N.D. Miss. May 3, 2022) (granting client, State Auto’s, motion for judgment on the pleadings as to insured’s claim for business income losses due to COVID-19 pandemic, finding that policy endorsement covering an insured’s suspension of operations due to order of a civil authority resulting from exposure of the insured premises to a contagious or infectious disease was not implicated by government shutdown orders in response to the pandemic)

University Management, Inc. v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 2022 WL 805879 (N.D. Miss. Mar. 15, 2022) (Granting client, State Auto’s, motion for summary judgment on absence of coverage under food-borne illness endorsement.)

Terry Black’s Barbecue, LLC v. State Auto. Mutual Ins. Co., 22 F.4th 450 (5th Cir. 2022) (affirming judgment for client, State Auto, on insured’s claim for business income loss due to COVID-19 pandemic, finding that government orders designed to curb spread of coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in direct physical loss or from actual or alleged exposure of the insured’s premises to contagious or infectious disease as necessary to trigger coverage under restaurant extension endorsement)

Isaac’s Deli v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., 539 F. Supp. 3d 424 (E.D. Pa. 2021) (granting client, State Auto’s, motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the insured’s claim for business income losses due to COVID-19 pandemic, finding that insured’s loss of use of its dine-in operations did not constitute direct physical loss and policy’s ordinance or law exclusion barred coverage for losses resulting from government shutdown orders)

Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co. v. Interstate Underground Warehouse & Storage, Inc., 946 F.3d 1008 (8th Cir. Jan. 3, 2020) (affirming summary judgment for client, Westchester, in declaratory judgment and breach of contract action arising out of series of collapses of limestone ceiling in underground storage facility, finding that decay of geological layer overlying limestone ceiling of cave did not constitute “building decay” for purposes of policy’s additional coverage for collapse), affirming 2017 WL 2313288 (W.D. Mo. May 18, 2017)

Lammert v. National Surety Corp., 2019 WL 698121 (E.D. Mo. Feb. 20, 2019) (granting client, Chubb’s, motion to dismiss breach of contract action arising out of flood damage under homeowner’s insurance policy on ground that Chubb, which serviced claims arising under National Surety’s Corporation’s policies, was not party to the contract)

Breckenridge Apartment Homes, LLC v. Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co., Case No. 16-cv-50115 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 19, 2019), ECF No. 87, 91 (finding that insured’s seven-month delay in notifying insurer of hail damage breached prompt notice provision of commercial property insurance policy as a matter of law with respect to insured’s claim for damage to non-roof components of apartment complex)

Kabbe Enterprises, Inc. v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 2018 WL 1469002 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 26, 2018) (granting summary judgment for client, Travelers, in breach of contract action arising out of alleged storm damage to commercial property on ground that insured failed to file suit within applicable limitation period set forth in policy)

AMI Stamping, LLC v. ACE American Insurance Co., 709 Fed. App’x 354 (6th Cir. Oct. 5, 2017) (affirming summary judgment for client, ACE, finding that commercial property insurance policy was properly rescinded due to insured’s grossly inaccurate description of business personal property’s replacement cost value in application for insurance), affirming 2016 WL 4493673 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 26, 2016)

Rocky Top at Mission Hills LLC v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 2016 WL 7100633 (S.D. Ind. Dec. 6, 2016) (granting client, Travelers’, motion to dismiss insured’s claim for bad faith arising out of denial of claim for wind and hail damage to insured’s apartment buildings)

Breckenridge Apartment Homes, LLC v. Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co., Case No. 16-cv-50115 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 31, 2016), ECF No. 31 (denying insured’s motion to dismiss counterclaim for declaratory judgment arising out of insured’s demand for appraisal of claim for hail damage to apartment complex, agreeing with insurer that under Illinois law appraisal provision of commercial property insurance policy did not apply to disputes over causation and coverage)

MGN Logistics, Inc. v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, 2017 WL 3780280 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 31, 2017) (granting summary judgment for client, Travelers, in breach of contract action arising out of theft of cargo while in transit, finding that Travelers’ liability under contingent cargo coverage was limited by special theft warranty endorsement in freight carrier’s insurance policy)

Travelers Home & Marine Ins. Co. v. Walsh, 2017 WL 976396 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 14, 2017) (granting client, Travelers’, motion for summary judgment in declaratory judgment action arising out of insured’s claim for loss or damage to home allegedly caused by collapse, finding that cracks in foundation, lateral displacement of wall, and sloping of ceiling and joists did not constitute a collapse for purposes of policy’s additional coverage)

ABC Carwash v. Travelers Casualty Insurance Co. of America, 2016 WL 4036753 (N.D. Ill. July 28, 2016) (granting summary judgment for client, Travelers, on ground that individual proprietor of named insured lacked standing to sue on its behalf)

Ingenco Holdings, LLC v. ACE American Insurance Co., 2016 WL 4051504 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 17, 2016) (granting summary judgment for client, ACE, finding that incoming gas that led to failure of diffuser basket was not an external cause, that damage caused by failed diffuser basket was excluded by defective design and manufacture exclusion and was not covered as an ensuing loss)

Weyers v. Travelers Personal Insurance Co., 2015 WL 8330254 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 8, 2015) (granting summary judgment for client, Travelers, in breach of contract action under homeowner’s insurance policy due to insured’s failure to file suit within time allowed by contractual limitation provision)

Omega Demolition Corp. v. Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America, 2015 WL 3857341 (N.D. Ill. June 19, 2015) (granting summary judgment for client, Travelers, in breach of contract action under commercial property insurance policy due to insured’s failure to file suit within time allowed by contractual limitation provision)

Performing Arts Community Improvement District v. ACE American Insurance Co., 2015 WL 3491292 (W.D. Mo. June 3, 2015) (granting summary judgment for client, ACE, finding that failure of retaining wall was excluded pursuant to design error exclusion and rejecting argument that wall failure was a covered ensuing loss caused by lateral pressure)

Siemens Energy, Inc. v. Nat’l Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 2014 WL 2531577 (Tex. App.– Houston [14th Dist.] June 3, 2014, pet. denied) (affirming denial of insured’s motion to dismiss, finding that client, National Union, complied with certificate of merit requirement pursuant to Section 150.002 of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code)

Nat’l Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. Siemens Energy, Inc., 2013 WL 3323182 (S.D. Tex. July 1, 2013) (granting client, National Union’s, motion to remand, finding that citizenship of each member of subscribing Lloyd’s syndicate mattered for purposes of diversity jurisdiction)

Presentations

“Investigation, Coverage and Strategy Considerations for Arson Losses,” Hot Topics in Insurance Claims Evaluation (Lombard, Illinois, March 9, 2018) 

“Strategies For Using Summary Judgment In Property Insurance Coverage Litigation,” ABA TIPS Property Insurance Law Committee 2015 Annual Spring Meeting (San Antonio, Texas, May 7-9, 2015)

Publications

“State of Insurance: Q1 Notes from Illinois,” Law360 (Apr. 30, 2026)

“State of Insurance: Q4 Notes from Illinois,” Law360 (Feb. 2, 2026)

“State of Insurance: Q3 Notes from Illinois,” Law360 (Oct. 23, 2025)

"Do Labor Costs Count in Insurance Claims?" Bloomberg Tax (October 7, 2020)

"Recent Rulings Expose Flaws in COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims," BatesCarey (September 3, 2020)

“Recovering Pre-Award Interest on Appraisal Awards in Minnesota,” Law360 (October 26, 2017)

Co-Author, “Recent Developments in Property Insurance Coverage Litigation,” Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. (2016, 2017, 2018)

“The ‘Loss Payment’ Provision Is Not An Opt-Out From Prejudgment Interest,” TIPS Property Insurance Law Committee Newsletter (Spring 2012)

“Prejudgment Interest: Compensating Insureds for the Time-Value of Insurance Proceeds” (Five Part Series), Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (September – December 2011)