INSURANCE COVERAGE SERVICES

When tackling complex coverage issues, we take pride in protecting our clients by providing high quality and responsive legal expertise aimed to help you succeed.
Counsel and Advise

Our Insurance Coverage Services team works with you through every step of the claim. Our attorneys:

  • Work closely with insurance clients to develop risk avoidance strategies to reduce claims both for insureds and insurers;
  • Investigate and identify available coverage when losses span decades or coverage forms are lost;
  • Assist individual and business clients through review of purchased coverages to ensure desired protection is in place;
  • Advise insureds as to their rights and responsibilities with respect to the full range of their coverage;
  • Counsel insureds on the impact of insurance claims on their workers’ compensation experience modification; and
  • Participate in difficult mediations, helping the insured and those seeking to recover through insurance understand the risk that coverage may not exist and to assist with the resolution of the underlying matter.
Policy Drafting

We have found that the best advice often comes before the claim occurs.

Our coverage attorneys pride themselves on helping clients avoid risk before it happens and meet regularly with their insurance clients to help draft clear coverage aimed at to avoiding unnecessary litigation where possible and helping to ensure the right results when inevitable litigation does occur.  We have broad experience drafting and amending manuscript coverage including general liability, auto liability, first party property, professional liability, environmental liability, employment liability, cyber liability, drone coverage, crime liability and excess liability.  In addition, we have amended standardized policies for accident and health coverage.

Prosecute and Defend

If litigation is inevitable in your claim, our experience sets us apart. We routinely:

  • Interpret applicable insurance coverage and develop strategies aimed at understanding and implementing the client’s acute and long-term objectives;
  • Rely on our tenured representation and unique understanding of local forums to achieve optimal results;
  • Prosecute and defend declaratory judgment actions, including actions for fraud, reformation, allocation, contribution, bad faith and more;
  • Understand and clearly communicate the nuances of insurance contracts in a manner that a jury can appreciate;
  • Access our national network of coverage counsel to address multi-jurisdictional issues; and,
  • Advise on and handle of coverage matters before the North Carolina Industrial Commission, an administrative body our firm is uniquely qualified to navigate given our role and reputation in North Carolina workers’ compensation bar.

Our Insurance Coverage Services team handles a broad range of complex insurance coverage issues, ranging from the drafting and interpretation of insurance policies to the investigation and assessment of available coverage under existing forms. We are frequently called upon to review and analyze coverage documents, prepare reliable coverage opinions and reservation of rights letters, and conduct examinations under oath. Our coverage attorneys have experience handling claims in the following industries: commercial general liability, auto, first party property, professional liability, trucking, products liability, fire loss, inland marine, cyber liability, drone coverage, employment practices liability, banking, law enforcement, accident and health and workers’ compensation.

Because every member of our coverage team is also a litigator, we stand ready and are highly capable of prosecuting or defending declaratory judgment actions, including those actions alleging bad faith and extra contractual liability. Every case and every client are different and we take care to handle each case with an understanding of our client’s immediate needs and long term goals. When necessary, we call on the collective and varied experience of the firm’s other well respected practice groups and employ a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure a complete understanding of the coverage at issue in the context of the underlying litigation.

With offices located in Raleigh and Asheville, our Insurance Coverage Services team is capable of handling a wide variety of insurance matters throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Matters referenced are for illustrative purposes only. They do not represent the firm’s entire record and past successes are not a guarantee of any future result or outcome.
  • Successfully prosecuted declaratory judgment action after entry of default and incorporation of punitive damages in underlying matter.
  • Obtained voluntary rescision from insured with regard to underlying products liability action after filing and prosecuting declaratory judgment action.
  • Obtained dismissal of bad faith action in first party declaratory judgment action tried to jury verdict.
  • Successfully reduced UM award from $2 million to $100,000 via successful appeal to the Court of Appeals.
  • Investigated, negotiated, and litigated multiple cases involving multiple insurers over extended periods of loss and where competing coverages were at issue.
  • Litigated numerous general liability, auto and UM/UIM claims and, in doing so, gained a practical understanding of the underlying matters associated with the applicable coverage.
Courtney Britt
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William Bulfer
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Peter Dworjanyn
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Bradley Inman
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