Putting Our Experience and Reputation to Work For You

Putting Our Experience and Reputation to Work For You

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PROFESSIONAL/EMPLOYMENT

Malpractice & Excess Liability Defense

Professionals and businesses are attractive lawsuit targets. Plaintiffs expect them to have big insurance policies and substantial assets.

Insurance companies are in the business of selling expensive insurance policies. In most cases, the point of purchasing insurance is to protect substantial personal or company assets of the insured. When you are threatened or sued, as an insured you need insurance coverage and a strong defense.

However, when you are sued the insurance company’s true motives are exposed: insurance profits are driven by sales, and by reducing or eliminating all together the cost to defend you. This is a conflicted relationship with the insured.

When the insured reports the claim, which is required under the insurance policy, the insurance company takes the information from the insured with a mixed motives. Often, statements obtained from the insured are used as a basis to deny coverage.

Some insurance companies exacerbate these conflicts of interest with the insured by sending the insured a lengthy, jargon and legalese filled letter, commonly called a “reservation of rights letter”. Unbeknownst to the policy holder, these letters are intended to shift the defense cost from the insurance company and onto the insured. Worse yet, these letters sometimes end with a conditional or outright denial of all coverage. These letters are typically written by sophisticated lawyers, hired by the insurance company to get the insurance company out of defending the case or covering a claim. These letters are common where the claims are high or the costs of defense are substantial.

No one needs an adjuster or a lawyer assigned to them by the insurance company telling them that there is no coverage.

We work to enforce our client’s rights under the insurance contract. In some cases this is a declaratory judgment action against the insurance company. We confront attempts by insurance companies to avoid obligations under policies. We refute unfounded efforts by insurance companies to impose baseless attempts to reserve rights against insureds.

Our work focuses on advancing the best defense of the client interests, free from the conflicts of interests of the insurance company.

Personal Counsel/Excess Defense
Lawsuits and claims made over the limits of coverage coupled with insurance company efforts to deny coverage have made our personal counsel/excess defense work a front-line necessity for asset protection.

Frequently targeted licensed professionals often have sophisticated insurance policies, which can afford unique rights favoring the insured. Unfortunately, many never know of these rights. We serve our clients as personal counsel. We promote the rights of the insured by working with defense counsel assigned by the insurance carriers, in order to protect and preserve business assets, individual rights and personal wealth.

Lawyers, engineers, nurses, medical doctors, physician assistants, podiatrists, and chiropractors are typical of clients we serve in bringing about prompt finality without personal harm. We know that these claims also often bring with them concerns over public attention, licensure status and we remain highly sensitive to these considerations at all times. In our work we remain mindful that the significance of the professional license is a personal priority to the individual.

Business owners, partners and principals are often targeted along with claims and suits against the business organization. These claims may arise from workplace, employment interactions and behaviors to director and officer duties. In these cases, we appear as personal counsel for the individual.

We have provided counsel in discreet and highly sensitive matters to businesses, owners and professionals where the claims for damages far exceed the limits of insurance. In these matters the claims have often arisen from major catastrophic occurrences or significant business events, giving rise to claims of great losses and great business or personal risk to our clients.

ATTORNEYS SPECIALIZING IN THIS PRACTICE AREA

William F. Ryan, Jr.
William F. Ryan, Jr.
Senior Partner
William J. Keniry
William J. Keniry
Partner
Thomas R. Fallati
Thomas R. Fallati
Of Counsel