HKR SUCCESSES

HKR’s hard-fought litigation success spans multiple jurisdictions and courts, including:

APPELLATE COURTS

• Pennsylvania
  • Supreme Court: secured dismissal of all COVID-19 business interruption litigation on behalf of commercial insurer (via Allegheny County and Superior Court)
  • Superior Court: enforced homeowners policy suit limitation following total fire loss, while contemporaneously refusing to alter law related to equitable tolling (via CCP Delaware County)
  • Superior Court: reversed trial court decision related to timing of payment for contractor’s overhead and profit in context of first party property claim (via CCP Delaware)
• New York
  • Appellate Division, 1^st Dept.: trial court dismissal of 24 separate causes of action affirmed related to commercial insurance coverage dispute related to storage unit and contents
• Maryland
  • 4^th Circuit: dismissal of complaint filed by a mortgagee after the policyholder forged the mortgagee’s signature then absconded with the insurance proceeds, upheld on subsequent appeal (Maryland law)
  • 4^th Circuit: modification of an appraisal award that exceeded the agreed-upon scope of appraisal. (Maryland law)
• Delaware
  • Supreme Court: enforced suit limitation in homeowners’ policy after summary judgment for property insurer (via Superior Court)

TRIAL VICTORIES

• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): jury verdict for property insurer facing fire claim exceeding $900,000 claimed for additional benefits and allegations of statutory bad faith
• Defense Verdict (CCP Carbon County): jury verdict for commercial insurer reforming policy related to statutory cancellation procedure following a fire loss
• Defense Verdict (CCP Berks County): jury verdict for property insurer involving fire claim and application of residence premises condition, despite equitable defenses and factual dispute over residency
• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): jury verdict for commercial insurer in affirmative suit for statutory insurance fraud resulting in insurer recovery of $285,000, aff’d on appeal)
• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): bench verdict favoring insurer related to enforceability of statutory Appraisal provision within homeowners’ policy
• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): jury verdict for specialty lines insurer based on policyholder’s material misrepresentation during the presentation of the property insurance claim
• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): jury verdict for homeowners insurer after $1.1 million pre-trial demand involving dispute over amount of covered fire loss and claims for code upgrades
• Defense Verdict (CCP Philadelphia): partial defense verdict favoring insurer on extracontractual action, while awarding policyholder/plaintiff 35% of requested damages on policy contract
• Non-suit: (CCP Philadelphia): court dismissed all counts against personal lines insurer on 6^th day of trial as policyholder failed to demonstrate compliance with policy conditions
• Plaintiff verdict (CCP Lehigh): jury verdict exceeding $400,000 for subrogating property insurer against general contractor, including delay damages

DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS

• related to property insurance claim for $13 Million in loss of use of apartment building (Federal - Eastern District of PA)
• involving surface water exclusion (NJ state court)
• in extracontractual action arising from allegedly improper application of policy exclusions (Chester County)
• enforcing water exclusion and mold coverage endorsement (Carbon County)
• involving policyholder failure to proceed to Appraisal (Philadelphia)
• breach of insurance contract, bad faith, and negligence/medical monitoring counts all dismissed, despite attack on claim handling and secondary duty to warn allegations. (Lehigh County)
• breach of contract and bad faith causes of action dismissed after allegations of inadequate investigation (Lehigh County)
• bad faith cause of action trimmed following reasonable reliance on expert opinion/recommendations (Philadelphia)
• breach of contract and bad faith causes of action dismissed involving post-litigation misrepresentations (Philadelphia)
• breach of contract and bad faith claims bounced after application of vacancy provision (Federal - Eastern District of PA)
• dismissal of breach of contract and statutory bad faith actions due to application of suit limitation, as well as reasonable reliance on expert opinion related to causation (Eastern District of PA)
• breach of contract claim in a coverage dispute involving the discharge of home heating oil (Montgomery County)
• coverage dispute involving interpretation of a lost insurance policy (Montgomery County)
• dismissal of complaint filed by a mortgagee after the policyholder forged the mortgagee’s signature then absconded with the insurance proceeds, upheld on subsequent appeal. (Maryland Federal to 4^th Circuit)
• dismissal of a complaint filed by out-of-state plaintiff for forum non conveniens. (Philadelphia)
• Multiple favorable decisions in COVID-19 business interruption litigation, including in Pennsylvania State and Federal Court, Michigan State Court, and Iowa Federal Court.
• declaratory judgment and statutory bad faith claim, while also obtaining judgment against the plaintiff/policyholder for statutory insurance fraud. (Eastern District of PA to 3^rd Circuit)
• breach of contract and bad faith suit involving the discharge of home heating oil and allegations of diminished value of real property (Eastern District of PA)
• dismissal of a homeowners' actions for breach of contract, common law and statutory bad faith under a lender-placed insurance policy (Middle District of PA)
• modification of an appraisal award that exceeded the agreed-upon scope of appraisal (Maryland Federal to 4th Circuit)
• policyholder's failure to comply with the policy's residence premises condition. (Western District of PA.)
• breach of contract and bad faith causes of action involving reasonable reliance on structural engineer involving commercial building collapse (Chester County)
• dismissal of all tort-based allegations against an individual property adjuster (Delaware County)
• enforcing application of policy suit limitation and statutes of limitation involving res judicata issues and tort-based allegations following homeowners claim and prior litigation. (Delaware County)
• breach of contract and bad faith causes of action following fire loss involving post-litigation (Lehigh County)
• enforcing application of policy suit limitation involving waiver and estoppel arguments. (Philadelphia)
• enforcing application of suit limitation despite waiver/estoppel arguments after total loss fire to residential property (Delaware County, then upheld in Superior Court of PA)