Jones Day - Services - Insurance Coverage

Our insurance coverage practice is committed to maximizing the value of our clients' insurance assets.

Our Perspective

This view – that insurance is an important corporate asset, the value of which must be protected and maximized – is reflected both in our insurance recovery successes and our insurance counseling. We have recovered billions of dollars on behalf of our insurance coverage clients and have worked with numerous clients on insurance aspects of acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, and restructurings to ensure that insurance rights are preserved in these corporate transactions.

Dedicated Insurance Coverage Professionals

Our insurance coverage practice is comprised of insurance coverage professionals who dedicate their practices to insurance coverage disputes and insurance counseling and over forty other trial practice attorneys with substantial experience and success in litigating insurance coverage cases. Our collective experience covers every type of insurance issue and claim, including those arising out of environmental remediation, exposures to asbestos, beryllium, silicon, and welding rods, injuries from medical products, industrial accidents, property damage and product contamination. We have successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars under D&O, Fiduciary Liability, Crime, and Employment Practices policies. We have also represented dozens of insureds in obtaining full value for their coverage under property policies, including claims for business interruption following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Corporate policyholders worldwide choose Jones Day for their major coverage disputes. Representative of our insurance coverage clients are IBM, Motorola, PepsiCo, Dell Computers, Bridgestone/Firestone, Sherwin-Williams, Kaiser, Occidental Petroleum, Toyota, Chevron, and Goodyear.

Insurance Recoveries – Distinctive Representations

Jones Day’s recent and distinctive insurance recovery representations include:

Coverage for Toxic Torts. In successfully representing Brush Wellman in coverage litigation against its London Market insurers, we established key principles of Ohio coverage law and, in a separate tort action for bad faith, challenged the formation, operation, and claims-handling practices of Equitas, the company established to handle the pre-1993 liabilities of Underwriters at Lloyds of London. As part of the favorable settlement of that case following summary judgment in Brush Wellman’s favor on multiple coverage issues, the London Market insurers not only paid Brush a multi-million dollar settlement exceeding Brush’s breach of contract damages, but also procured for Brush insurance coverage from a solvent U.S. company to replace their own policies.
Product Recall. We successfully litigated on behalf of Bridgestone/Firestone coverage claims against its domestic and foreign insurers arising out of a nationwide recall of certain tires. In addition to recovering full policy limits from a major Bermuda excess insurer under that insurer's batch clause, we recovered over $100 million in excess of policy limits against other domestic and foreign insurers, including those that insured foreign liabilities.
Issues and Appeals. In 2007, we represented Total Petrochemicals (f.k.a. ATOFINA) in a significant case before the Texas Supreme Court, Evanston Insurance v. Atofina. In a 7-2 opinion after a re-hearing, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment against ATOFINA and rendered judgment in favor of ATOFINA for more than $6 million, with interest. The Texas Court of Appeals held that when an insurer wrongfully denies coverage, it cannot challenge the reasonableness of a settlement entered into by its insured. The court distinguished its 1996 State Farm v. Gandy decision where the court struck down an agreed judgment and assignment of rights entered into by the insured, effectively limiting Gandy to a very narrow set of facts.

Insurance Counseling in Business Transactions

Our insurance coverage professionals have assisted clients in connection with a full panoply of corporate transactions, including corporate reorganizations, restructurings, acquisitions, and divestitures to ensure that insurance rights are preserved and/or transferred as contemplated by the dealmakers. Members of the insurance practice group have also represented clients on insurance aspects of various bankruptcy proceedings, including serving as debtor's insurance counsel in major bankruptcies.

Counseling – Distinctive Representations

Jones Day's recent and distinctive business transaction representations include:

Bankruptcy. We currently counsel and represent Cooper Industries in the Mid-Valley and Federal Mogul bankruptcies. In the Mid-Valley bankruptcy, we negotiated an agreement to partition insurance assets between Cooper Industries, Dresser and Federal Mogul. In the Federal Mogul bankruptcy, we were co-counsel for Cooper Industries and assisted Cooper Industries in developing a plan to resolve an estimated $750 million in asbestos liabilities and continue to represent Cooper Industries in its efforts to recover insurance for those liabilities.

Our Lawyers

Our dedicated insurance coverage professionals are: Mark Andreini (Cleveland), Mike Ginsberg (Pittsburgh), Peter Laun (Pittsburgh), Ian Lupson (London), Jack Montgomery (Pittsburgh), Tom Sear (New York), Steve Sigalow (Cleveland), and Brian Toohey (Cleveland).

Our trial practice lawyers with significant experience in litigating insurance coverage cases include: Jack Carnegie (Houston), Lee Coffey (London), Kevin Cogan (Columbus), Philip Cook (Los Angeles), Lee Garrett (Atlanta), Shawn Hanson (San Francisco), Sydney McDole (Dallas), Paul Schroeder (Chicago), Patricia Villareal (Dallas), and Bob Walker (Cleveland).

Contact(s)

Brian F. Toohey
Cleveland
Tel: 1.216.586.3939
E-mail

J.W. Montgomery III
Pittsburgh
Tel: 1.412.391.3939
E-mail

Steven E. Sigalow
Cleveland
Tel: 1.216.586.3939
E-mail

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Lawyers Staff Overview Experience Professionals News Publications Achievements Contact(s) Brian F. Toohey Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail J.W. Montgomery III Pittsburgh Tel: 1.412.391.3939 E-mail Steven E. Sigalow Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail Main Practice Trial Practice	Our insurance coverage practice is committed to maximizing the value of our clients' insurance assets. Our Perspective This view – that insurance is an important corporate asset, the value of which must be protected and maximized – is reflected both in our insurance recovery successes and our insurance counseling. We have recovered billions of dollars on behalf of our insurance coverage clients and have worked with numerous clients on insurance aspects of acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, and restructurings to ensure that insurance rights are preserved in these corporate transactions. Dedicated Insurance Coverage Professionals Our insurance coverage practice is comprised of insurance coverage professionals who dedicate their practices to insurance coverage disputes and insurance counseling and over forty other trial practice attorneys with substantial experience and success in litigating insurance coverage cases. Our collective experience covers every type of insurance issue and claim, including those arising out of environmental remediation, exposures to asbestos, beryllium, silicon, and welding rods, injuries from medical products, industrial accidents, property damage and product contamination. We have successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars under D&O, Fiduciary Liability, Crime, and Employment Practices policies. We have also represented dozens of insureds in obtaining full value for their coverage under property policies, including claims for business interruption following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Corporate policyholders worldwide choose Jones Day for their major coverage disputes. Representative of our insurance coverage clients are IBM, Motorola, PepsiCo, Dell Computers, Bridgestone/Firestone, Sherwin-Williams, Kaiser, Occidental Petroleum, Toyota, Chevron, and Goodyear. Insurance Recoveries – Distinctive Representations Jones Day’s recent and distinctive insurance recovery representations include: Coverage for Toxic Torts. In successfully representing Brush Wellman in coverage litigation against its London Market insurers, we established key principles of Ohio coverage law and, in a separate tort action for bad faith, challenged the formation, operation, and claims-handling practices of Equitas, the company established to handle the pre-1993 liabilities of Underwriters at Lloyds of London. As part of the favorable settlement of that case following summary judgment in Brush Wellman’s favor on multiple coverage issues, the London Market insurers not only paid Brush a multi-million dollar settlement exceeding Brush’s breach of contract damages, but also procured for Brush insurance coverage from a solvent U.S. company to replace their own policies. Product Recall. We successfully litigated on behalf of Bridgestone/Firestone coverage claims against its domestic and foreign insurers arising out of a nationwide recall of certain tires. In addition to recovering full policy limits from a major Bermuda excess insurer under that insurer's batch clause, we recovered over $100 million in excess of policy limits against other domestic and foreign insurers, including those that insured foreign liabilities. Issues and Appeals. In 2007, we represented Total Petrochemicals (f.k.a. ATOFINA) in a significant case before the Texas Supreme Court, Evanston Insurance v. Atofina. In a 7-2 opinion after a re-hearing, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment against ATOFINA and rendered judgment in favor of ATOFINA for more than $6 million, with interest. The Texas Court of Appeals held that when an insurer wrongfully denies coverage, it cannot challenge the reasonableness of a settlement entered into by its insured. The court distinguished its 1996 State Farm v. Gandy decision where the court struck down an agreed judgment and assignment of rights entered into by the insured, effectively limiting Gandy to a very narrow set of facts. Insurance Counseling in Business Transactions Our insurance coverage professionals have assisted clients in connection with a full panoply of corporate transactions, including corporate reorganizations, restructurings, acquisitions, and divestitures to ensure that insurance rights are preserved and/or transferred as contemplated by the dealmakers. Members of the insurance practice group have also represented clients on insurance aspects of various bankruptcy proceedings, including serving as debtor's insurance counsel in major bankruptcies. Counseling – Distinctive Representations Jones Day's recent and distinctive business transaction representations include: Bankruptcy. We currently counsel and represent Cooper Industries in the Mid-Valley and Federal Mogul bankruptcies. In the Mid-Valley bankruptcy, we negotiated an agreement to partition insurance assets between Cooper Industries, Dresser and Federal Mogul. In the Federal Mogul bankruptcy, we were co-counsel for Cooper Industries and assisted Cooper Industries in developing a plan to resolve an estimated $750 million in asbestos liabilities and continue to represent Cooper Industries in its efforts to recover insurance for those liabilities. Our Lawyers Our dedicated insurance coverage professionals are: Mark Andreini (Cleveland), Mike Ginsberg (Pittsburgh), Peter Laun (Pittsburgh), Ian Lupson (London), Jack Montgomery (Pittsburgh), Tom Sear (New York), Steve Sigalow (Cleveland), and Brian Toohey (Cleveland). Our trial practice lawyers with significant experience in litigating insurance coverage cases include: Jack Carnegie (Houston), Lee Coffey (London), Kevin Cogan (Columbus), Philip Cook (Los Angeles), Lee Garrett (Atlanta), Shawn Hanson (San Francisco), Sydney McDole (Dallas), Paul Schroeder (Chicago), Patricia Villareal (Dallas), and Bob Walker (Cleveland). Contact(s) Brian F. Toohey Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail J.W. Montgomery III Pittsburgh Tel: 1.412.391.3939 E-mail Steven E. Sigalow Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail