Insurance Law: Solutions to insurance protection gaps and understanding agent/broker liabilities

Robert M. Horkovich | Anderson Kill P.C.  

Robert M. Horkovich is “the ‘go-to person’ in the area of insurance recovery,” according to a client cited by Chambers USA, which has recognized Mr. Horkovich as a leading insurance recovery attorney every year since 2005. According to Chambers, Mr. Horkovich “has a strong ‘clientfirst’ attitude” and “is recognized in the market for his leading trial and negotiation skills, with an undisputed national presence.”

Bob has obtained over $5 billion in settlements and judgments from insurance companies for his clients. Bob is a trial lawyer with substantial experience in trying complex insurance coverage actions on behalf of corporate policyholders and governmental entities. His victories include one of the top 10 jury verdicts in the United States, the top insurance recovery jury verdict in the United States, seven landmark state Supreme Court decisions, eight jury verdicts and nine bench trial decisions in favor of the policyholder including:

United Nations: Engaged on several significant projects by the United Nations as its general insurance counsel.

State of California: Anderson Kill served as lead trial counsel for the State of California in the State’s suit against dozens of insurance companies over coverage for cleanup of the Stringfellow Acid Pits (what a federal court described as the most complex environmental clean-up in the world). Trial victories were followed by two landmark decisions in favor of policyholder in the California Supreme Court. The State recovered settlements of $172 million in indemnity plus $60 million in defense costs and $14 million in pre-judgment interest.

Fuller-Austin: Won jury verdict of $188,793,014 against Lloyd’s and other insurance companies in an asbestos insurance coverage case (a top 10 verdict in the U.S.); subsequently settled. Gross settlements of over $190 million from 14 different insurance companies before trial.

Weyerhaeuser: Two Washington Supreme Court decisions recognizing joint and several liability of multiple insurance companies on the risk over time and recognizing coverage for environmental cleanups even without a government lawsuit. Two jury trial victories recognizing coverage for the clean-up of six environmental sites.

Textron: Two Rhode Island Supreme Court decisions regarding coverage for unintentional environmental contamination despite the pollution exclusion and recognizing the trigger of multiple years of coverage for property damage over time.

AT&T: Lead insurance recovery attorney against CNA in the successful resolution of AT&T’s environmental insurance coverage litigation for a $300 million site in Pennsylvania.

Bob also has represented The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, San Diego Unified Port District, General Electric, Thiokol, Waste Management, Alcatel-Lucent, Garmin, SCI, Clorox (First Brands), Saks Fifth Avenue, NYU, Princeton University, United Bank, Spalding, Cascade, Tektronix, Maidenform, Bijan and Evander Holyfield.

As to asbestos insurance recoveries, Bob represents the Trusts in the KaiserGypsum, W.R. Grace, Owens Corning, Congoleum, Fuller-Austin, Swan Transportation (Tyler Pipe), and Asarco cases, and represented the Asbestos Claimants’ Committee in the Federal Mogul, PPG/Pittsburgh Corning, and A.P. Green (GIT) bankruptcies.

Bob is also a member of Anderson Kill’s White Collar Defense Group. He has extensive experience in antitrust matters, as well in criminal codes and the recovery of stolen assets, and has published extensively on antitrust matters. As a Captain in the USAF JAG Corp., he was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and in that role prosecuted more than 200 cases. He also was a Special Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan for the purposes of handling and arguing appeals of criminal convictions and successfully argued People v. Octavio Peck before the New York Court of Appeals winning an issue of constitutional law of first impression.

Alexander I. Loy | Ver Ploeg & Marino

Alexander (Alex) Loy represents first and third party insureds in coverage disputes. His experience in litigation covers several areas of law including health care, commercial law, and financial services. Alex’s background enables him to counsel clients on complex issues and advance their interests efficiently in and out of the courtroom.

Alex routinely litigates coverage under high-limit commercial and liability policies (primary and excess), including multi-layer property policies that insure property in several states or abroad. He represents clients involved in business interruption, property, liability, life & disability, and other claims in state and federal court. Alex is accustomed to opposing major players in the insurance market, including multi-national organizations that offer insurance products and services on a global scale. Alex has helped clients proceed with innovative claims against those entities.

Alex is a graduate of Trinity College (Hartford, CT) and Albany Law School of Union University, where he served as the Note and Comment Editor for the Albany Law School Journal of Science and Technology. Alex is a former member of the Immigration Branch of the Albany Law Clinic and Justice Center. He also clerked for the Office of the Albany County District Attorney. Shortly after his law school graduation, Alex represented the United States in the Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (“LM4X”) at the 2018 World Rowing Championship Regatta in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Session I – Insurance Protection Gaps: Searching for solutions | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

• How to use other people’s insurance to cover your gaps: Maximizing your “additional insured’s “rights
• Is there really a gap? searching for and analyzing historic insurance policies
• Maximizing indemnification rights
• Specialized insurance products (ie cyber coverage, pollution liability coverage)
• Exploring “captive” insurance coverage

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

Session II – Insurance Agent and Broker Liability | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

• Duty of care
• Causes of action
• Recoverable damages
• Ripeness issues
• Best practices & tips