Insurance Coverage and Litigation
Gallo Vitucci Klar’s coverage attorneys have an in-depth knowledge of the insurance industry; specializing in representing insurers in first and third-party coverage claims at the trial and appellate levels in both State and Federal Court. Among our clients are major property and casualty insurers for whom we do work on a national or regional basis.
The Coverage Group’s expertise encompasses a wide array of insurance policies, including:
- Commercial General Liability
- Professional Liability
- Directors and Officers Liability
- Employment Practices Liability
- Toxic Torts
- Construction Defect Litigation
- Business Interruption
- Property Insurance
- Trucking Liability
- Habitation Claims
Our attorneys operate as monitoring counsel in matters including high exposure bodily injury claims, class action securities fraud lawsuits, shareholder derivative actions, class actions and employment discrimination claims.
Our Coverage Group can prosecute and defend declaratory judgement actions on behalf of insurers, provide coverage opinions and mediate coverage disputes for primary and excess insurers, self-insured clients, and admitted and surplus lines clients. We also conduct examinations under oath. Recently, Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP successfully represented insurers in connection with numerous Super Storm Sandy claims in New Jersey.
Our attorneys provides an array of insurance-related services including:
- Drafting policy endorsements
- Drafting professional liability policies
- Drafting trucking liability endorsements for major domestic carriers
We view our relationships with our clients as long-term; therefore, we place enormous emphasis on client education through articles, presentations and seminars explaining significant insurance coverage decisions.
Our attorneys have provided presentations to insurers on a variety of topics, including the subprime lending crisis and failed financial institutions, insurance issues affecting real estate appraisers and mortgage brokers, bad faith, tender issues, Al endorsements, first-and third-party coverage analysis and the basics of employment practices liability claims.
Our Coverage Group are highly skilled in preparing coverage opinions and creating position correspondence dealing with coverage obligations in all of the forementioned areas including trucker’s liability insurance carriers under Commercial Automobile Liability Insurance policies. Our attorneys regularly analyze and litigate the following coverage issues:
- The Employer Liability Exclusion – where a driver is injured while operating a tractor-trailer or commercial vehicle for the named insured, a determination must be made whether the driver is considered an employee, or an independent contractor for the purposes of the exclusion.
- Loading and Unloading- depending on specific facts and circumstances of a claim, a determination of whether damages fall within coverage afforded under a Commercial Auto policy and whether CGL exclusion for Loading and Unloading is triggered.
- The application of the MCS-90 Endorsement – where coverage has been denied based on an exclusion or other policy limitation, and the expansion of said application under the laws of certain U.S. jurisdictions
In addition, GVK’s Coverage Group successfully prosecutes and defends clients in multi-party insurance litigation concerning contractual indemnification and Commercial General Liability additional insured provisions which often times can arise out of construction accident lawsuits.
