Insurance Law

As part of our insurance law practice — on behalf of both policyholders and insurers — Wulfsberg Reese Colvig & Firstman has advised our clients on the interpretation and effect of a variety of insurance policies and suretyship arrangements.

We have an extensive background in a variety of complex and high-stakes insurance matters, including coverage litigation, bad faith claims, suretyship disputes, drafting of policy forms, coverage analysis opinions, reinsurance claims, owner and contractor controlled insurance programs, and drafting and negotiating contract specifications for insurance requirements.

We have represented major national insurance carriers and policy holders in numerous coverage matters involving pollution liability, commercial general liability, directors and officers’ liability, professional liability, property, builder’s risk, business interruption, owner’s and contractor’s protective, excess, public entity liability, and environmental cost cap insurance.  

On the policyholder side, we have assisted our clients in obtaining a defense from claims and lawsuits in a multitude of circumstances and under numerous types of policies, many times after the insurer has initially declined coverage.  We also assist our clients in navigating the broad range of issues that arise with an insurance defense, including choice of counsel, rate paid, allocation of defense costs, the insurer’s right of reimbursement, and reporting requirements.

We recently represented a national insurance carrier in drafting an Owner’s Protective Professional and Excess Pollution Liability Insurance Policy, and a Contractor’s Protective Professional and Excess Pollution Liability Insurance Policy, both of which have been favorably received in the marketplace.

Our experience includes handling major environmental coverage litigation, generally involving claims against policyholders under CERCLA and other state and federal environmental laws. In those cases, total client exposure in excess of $250 Million resulted from a variety of industrial chemical contaminations, including solvents and heavy metals, at hazardous waste disposal sites and other facilities.

As a further example of our experience, we assisted a regional airport in recovering millions of dollars from its property and builder’s risk carrier for complex business interruption claims arising out of losses incurred when a passenger train was severely damaged in an accident during testing.  The case involved the interplay of sophisticated insurance coverage analysis, construction schedule delay analysis, public works contract issues, and Public Utility Commission rules and regulations.