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Covington has a leading national practice in assisting policyholders to obtain coverage under comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies, the standard-form liability policies that most corporate policyholders have routinely acquired for decades. Through counseling and various forms of dispute resolution, we have helped policyholders to preserve the value of their historical portfolios of CGL insurance and to translate those promises of coverage into billions of dollars in insurance recoveries.
For 30 years, we have played a groundbreaking role in establishing that CGL policies issued as long ago as the 1940s continue to provide coverage for “long-tail” liabilities, including product, asbestos, and environmental liabilities. During that time, we have developed substantial experience in the drafting history of the insurance industry’s standard-form CGL policies and in the underwriting and claims-handling practices of specific insurers. Our experience with these issues enhances our ability to resist insurers’ efforts to avoid coverage.
We have successfully litigated key issues concerning occurrence-based and claims-made CGL policies. Our lawyers have been involved in landmark cases establishing which insurers must pay (the “trigger” of coverage) and the allocation of liability among different insurers and periods of time (the “scope” of coverage). We have also succeeded in many cases in overcoming insurers’ invocations of a wide variety of policy exclusions and defenses, including the “expected and intended” clause, the “sudden and accidental” pollution exclusion, allegations of concealment and misrepresentation by policyholders, and the “known loss” doctrine.
We have extensive experience in securing CGL coverage not only through litigation and arbitration, but also through negotiation. For example, we were involved in negotiation of the Wellington Agreement, establishing ADR procedures for certain asbestos-coverage disputes, and have since been active in ADRs under that Agreement. We also regularly provide counseling advice to policyholders on how to preserve their rights to secure coverage under CGL policies.
Representative Matters
- We are representing or have recently represented Foster Wheeler, L.L.C., Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, Howden Buffalo, The Marley-Wylain Company, and SPX Corporation in litigation and settlement of insurance coverage under general liability policies for asbestos-related bodily injuries.
- We continue to be involved in litigation and settlement negotiations for numerous clients seeking coverage under general liability policies for environmental claims. For example, we have assisted LTV Steel in securing more than $40 million through an innovative settlement structure in LTV’s bankruptcy proceeding. On behalf of the State of Minnesota, we have secured – through litigation and related settlement negotiations – more than $100 million in insurance recoveries for environmental matters pursuant to an innovative legislative program for the cleanup of landfills within the State.
- We have assisted a Fortune 500 client in securing coverage for claims asserted by welders for injuries allegedly arising from exposure to fumes from welding rods.
- We represented GlaxoSmithKline in coverage litigation involving DES claims in Pennsylvania federal court.
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