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Insurance & Reinsurance

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Our Insurance & Reinsurance Practice Group has a long and successful history. We first gained prominence in the 1920s under the leadership of Hugh McMaster Russ, a prominent insurance-law practitioner. Today, Hodgson Russ provides coverage advice and litigates insurance-related disputes across the country.

Our insurance coverage team is comprised of experienced partners and associates providing a broad array of services to our insurer clients. We review claims to evaluate liability and exposure, analyze coverage issues to assist in resolving claims, provide proactive and strategic recommendations, and litigate coverage actions in New York and across the country. As necessary, we draw on our firm’s depth and broad base of experience in other practice areas.

We have extensive experience in the following coverage areas:

• Directors and officers liability, including securities class actions and derivative actions
• Environmental liability
• Fiduciary liability
• Medical professional liability
• General liability, including primary and excess/umbrella policies
• Professional liability, including errors and omissions coverage

Within these categories, our insurance lawyers have substantial experience addressing insurance coverage issues arising out of a wide variety of claims, including:

• Advertising and personal injury
• Asbestos
• Bad faith and extra-contractual damages
• Carbon monoxide
• Chemical and petroleum contamination
• Construction defects
• Employee-benefits liability
• Employment practices
• Guaranty fund issues
• Hazardous waste
• Lead paint
• Leaking underground storage tanks
• Long-tail exposure
• Media and entertainment
• Mold
• Product defects
• Rescission
• Sexual molestation claims against nonprofit insureds

Outside the adversarial context, we have worked side by side with claims and underwriting professionals to draft policy forms and endorsements with a view toward clarity, market penetration, and likely judicial interpretations.

We recognize that a business solution is often the best result for the client. That’s why we counsel clients on avoiding litigation by developing strategic positions and negotiating aggressively in the early stages of a dispute.

When litigation is necessary, our practice group excels in shaping cases for favorable disposition—principally through motions for summary judgment, mediation, and other cost-effective means. We have secured summary judgment in major coverage litigations across the country, and we have played lead roles in some of the largest, most high-profile insurance coverage actions in the nation.

Finally, in cases where summary judgment is inappropriate, we are prepared to try any insurance-coverage case—and our adversaries know it.

We are adept in matters where our clients’ business relationships and public images are at stake. We recognize that insurance coverage and reinsurance actions are frequently commenced by companies with which our clients have ongoing and profitable business relationships. Working closely with our clients, we have been successful in providing effective representation without adversely affecting the business relationships that exist between our clients and their insureds. We are sensitive to public relations issues and are proficient in preserving and protecting our clients’ public images.

For more information about the insurance and reinsurance services available at Hodgson Russ, please contact:

Patrick M. Tomovic, Practice Group Leader
716.848.1496 (Buffalo office)
212.751.4300 (New York office)
ptomovic@hodgsonruss.com