Insurance Coverage
Contacts:
- Louis A. Varchetto
- 630.384.3120
- Ray H. Rittenhouse
- 630.384.3131
Our attorneys have been called upon by several of the country's largest insurance companies to render coverage opinions as to insurance policies issued to public entities, professional liability policies, personal lines insurance policies and commercial insurance policies. MRV has experience in rendering opinions on complex issues of inter-related coverage on construction projects and off-shore manuscript policies such as those issued by members of the Institute of London Underwriters. We have also litigated a significant number of diverse coverage issues.
Representative Cases and Issues
On behalf of an Illinois casino, established the legal basis for tendering claims against valet drivers to the owners of the vehicles for injury claims arising out of accidents while valet drivers were operating customer vehicles. The protocol established resulted in a number of successful recoveries for the casino in the pre-State Farm v. Smith era.
Gave opinions on and successfully litigated issues arising out of construction “wrap-up” policies intended to eliminate coverage disputes between contractors for injury claims arising out of the construction of an Illinois tollway.
Obtained a substantial contribution toward a multi-million dollar settlement with a severely injured steel worker from a subcontractor on behalf of the insurance carrier for the general contractor. MRV successfully argued that the construction “wrap-up” policy excluded coverage for a steel fabricator based upon the language of the purchase order, thereby requiring the personal insurance carrier for the fabricator to contribute to the settlement on a primary basis.
Established a strategy for the insurance company for a condominium association to pay the fine imposed by the court for violation of federal fair housing laws through coverage provided to individual unit owners for assessments as a “penalty assessed by operation of law.”
Successfully obtained declaratory judgment in favor of an insurance company for a local municipality that had denied coverage for a settlement of a wrongful death claim made by a law enforcement officer (its sheriff) directly with an estate of a decedent, and not authorized by the municipality.
In consultation with a CGL carrier, developed a strategy for dealing with continuous trigger and allocation issues arising out of a pollution clean-up claim including issues of horizontal exhaustion of coverage.
Successfully defended the insurance carrier for a rock-and-roll band in a dispute with the band’s manager. The group and manager had claims against each other, all of which post-dated the termination of the last policy. The purported insureds argued that the funds over which they were fighting accrued during the time the policies were in force, even though the events giving rise to the dispute occurred after the expiration of the policies.