HNRK Coverage Corner

On April 25, 2019, Justice Sherwood of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Westchester Fire Ins. Co. v. Schorsch, 2019 NY Slip Op 31188(U), holding that a D&O policy's “insured versus insured” exclusion did not preclude coverage for claims against corporate officers by a Creditor Trust. In Schorsch, corporate officers sought coverage under the corporation’s D&O policies for claims brought against them by a Creditor Trust set up in the corporation’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.  Two of the excess insurers disclaimed coverage based on an ...

On December 6, 2018, the Second Circuit issued a decision in Patriarch Partners, LLC v. Axis Ins. Co., Case No. 17-3022, holding that a Warranty Statement executed in connection with the issuance of an Excess D&O policy barred coverage because the insured had knowledge prior to the issuance of the policy of “facts or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to result in a Claim.”

The coverage dispute in this case arose from an SEC investigation of Patriarch Partners, a private equity investment firm.  The investigation began as an “informal inquiry”, but on June 3, 2011 ...

On September 10, 2018, Justice Sherwood of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Freedom Specialty Ins. Co. v. Platinum Mgt. (NY), LLC, 2018 NY Slip Op 32233(U), denying a D&O insurers’ motion for summary judgment based on a prior and pending litigation exclusion (the “PPL Exclusion”). Freedom Specialty is a D&O coverage litigation arising from a criminal securities fraud prosecution in the EDNY against officers of Platinum Partners, a New York hedge fund.

Last December, Justice Sherwood issued a preliminary injunction directing three excess D&O ...

On July 7, 2018, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Jiang v. Ping An Ins., 2018 NY Slip Op 31534(U), holding that coverage under an excess D&O policy was not triggered because the insured settled its coverage claim with the primary insurer for less than the policy limit and did not “absorb the gap” between the settlement amount and the policy limit.

In Jiang, a corporate officer sought coverage for the defense of a federal criminal prosecution and a parallel SEC enforcement action.  The corporation had $5 million in primary D&O coverage ...

This blog previously covered Justice Sherwood's decision in Freedom Specialty Ins. Co. v. Platinum Mgt. (NY), LLC, 2017 NY Slip Op 32728(U), which granted a preliminary injunction directing three excess D&O insurers to advance attorneys' fees and costs for the defense of a securities fraud prosecution and a related SEC enforcement action.  (N.B. HNRK Partner Bradley J. Nash represented one of the insureds and argued the preliminary injunction motion on behalf of all the insureds.)  On March 22, 2018, the First Department denied the motion of one of the excess insurers (Freedom ...