Representative Matters

Successfully tried a complex rescission case in Federal Court that included defense of the associated bad faith counter-claim as well as recovery of approximately $2 million her London reinsurer client had paid in defense and indemnity of its insured.

Recently obtained affirmation by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of the trial court's dismissal of a claim for extra-contractual damages and related claims for her London market clients.

Obtained in excess of $12 million for her insurer client in a mass recovery action involving hundreds of underlying actions and multiple insureds, where her client hoped to obtain a judgment of $2 million.

Achieved a reduction in the total amount paid during a 12-month period as compared to the prior 12-month period by $6 million for the London insurance market with respect to a large construction defect program. Reduced the average paid by claim by one third for the largest category of claims in the program during the same time period.

Successfully defended a tenacious class action alleging an auto insurer's improper use of Preferred Repair Facilities.

News Briefs

Press and Felder Secure Summary Judgment in Premises Liability Case

May 10, 2023

Hendry & Press Foil Plaintiff’s Assertion that Policy Cancellation Notice Was Never Received

Diana Hendry (Of Counsel-Madison, NJ) and Michelle Press (Partner-Los Angeles, CA) obtained a motion for summary judgment on behalf of an insurance company and broker in a case disputing the cancellation of a homeowners’ policy. The plaintiff homeowner applied through his mortgage broker for a homeowners’ policy, which was issued based on the information provided. Shortly thereafter, the insurer discovered that the information provided by the homeowner was incorrect and timely sent a notice of cancellation to the policyholder by U.S. Mail and email. The home was destroyed by fire many months later; plaintiff’s claim was denied and the plaintiff asserted he had never received notice of the cancellation. In support of their motion for summary judgment, Diana and Michelle submitted a certificate of mailing and the emails, which the Court found sufficient to meet the client’s initial burden of demonstrating that it complied with the cancellation requirements in New York Insurance Law and therefore was entitled to the presumption that notice was received. (The emails bolstered the proof of mailing, but were themselves insufficient to comply with the Insurance Law requirement.) However, the plaintiff’s claim that he did not receive the notice was insufficient to meet his burden to prove that the insurer failed to conform with the strict statutory cancellation requirements. On that basis, the Court dismissed the coverage action against our client.

Diana M. Hendry and Michelle R. Press

Michelle R. Press