Practice Areas & Industries: Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

As a leading insurance industry trial firm, we advise carriers and their insureds on a wide range of coverage disputes. We defend insurers against denial of coverage allegations, and represent insurers in first-party litigation against their insureds.

We provide effective litigation and coverage advice in the volatile arena of errors and omissions disputes involving corporate directors and officers, and in the arena of bad faith litigation.

Our lawyers advise on controversies that involve:

• Shareholders' actions against officers and directors
• Employee dishonesty and breach of fiduciary duty
• Legal, medical, school leader, broker and agent, and construction professional liability
• Nursing home liability allocation
• Claims against officers and directors of failed financial institutions
• Coverage litigation when an insurer has denied an E&O policy claim
• Carriers in connection with an underlying lawsuit when there are coverage issues
• Insurers' interests in connection with third-party litigation against their insureds
• Declaratory judgment actions regarding coverage determinations for an underlying lawsuit
• Insurers sued by insureds for a determination of coverage, alleged wrongful denial of coverage, and/or extra-contractual claims

Our litigation services to insurers encompass numerous commercial litigation controversies that underlie potential coverage disputes. For example, we have:

• Assisted several insurance carriers in a commercial matter involving a broker commissions dispute
• Defended an insurer in the retrial of a claim that the insurer's defamatory remarks caused the demise of a major law firm
• Represented a major U.S. insurer, recovering a judgment for the insurer against the insured following the insurer's settlement of uncovered claims against the insured under a reservation of rights agreement

Finally, because our courtroom experience is so extensive, we are skilled at providing insurers with proactive counsel that helps avoid or reduce the need for litigation. For both new and established insurance companies, we have extensive experience advising on policy wording, exclusions, underwriting decisions, setting up claims departments, written claims handling guidelines, and training underwriters and claims handlers - all designed to minimize or eliminate concerns about bad faith claims. We help manage risks in even the most difficult insurance markets, such as our longtime representation of a malpractice carrier who exclusively insures anesthesiologists and pain management specialists.

Insurance Coverage

Our firm's insurance attorneys are known nationally and internationally for their skill in representing insurance company clients. We defend major insurance companies in complex coverage issues that involve single and multi-plaintiff cases and class actions, counseling them from discovery through trial and appeal.

Two important and complex coverage areas in which we have particular strength are defense of environmental claims and defense of claims against corporate directors and officers. Our environmental experience includes defense of insurers and their insureds in matters involving:

• Allocation of coverage responsibility in toxic exposure and property contamination claims
• Response to enforcement actions and subpoenas brought by federal and state regulators
• Representation in air, water, solid waste, and groundwater contamination claims alleged by the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
• Defense of toxic tort and CERCLA actions
• On the D&O claims side, our experience includes litigation and coverage advice in shareholders' actions against officers and directors, including claims related to failed financial institutions and alleged securities violations. We have also represented insurers in coverage litigation involving errors and omissions policies where an insurer has denied an E&O claim.

Our work in these areas is extensive, and we have handled matters that involve both environmental and D&O coverage disputes. In a 2003 case heard in U.S. District Court and affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, we defended an insurance carrier in the first litigation that applied Texas law to interpret a pollution exclusion in an insurance policy that provides coverage for directors and officers against securities and shareholder derivative lawsuits. The trial court affirmed the right of insurance companies to define the circumstances under which D&O coverage can be denied, and the appellate court agreed that the pollution exclusion clause in our client's policy insulated the carrier from any obligation to reimburse defense costs or indemnify the policyholder.

We often handle novel coverage disputes in other claims besides environmental and D&O matters. In another federal court case, we represented an insurance company that sought a rare action to recover an amount paid in a settlement for claims that were actually not covered by the insurance policy. This case turned upon novel and still evolving areas of insurance coverage law, illustrating the strength and creativity of our lawyers. But we are equally adept at resolving more typical coverage disputes that insurers face in the normal course of doing business. For example, we have:

• Represented an insurance carrier in a coverage dispute concerning the scope of an additional insured endorsement and products completed operations hazard exclusion, and obtained a summary judgment in a typically insured-friendly Texas county.
• Represented different carriers in numerous nursing home cases where complex coverage analysis was provided on a matrix of successive-year primary and excess policies, resulting in favorable rulings and settlements.
• Represented various insurance companies in multiple complex coverage matters involving issuance of coverage opinions, prosecution of declaratory judgment actions, and defense against bad faith claims.
• Represented several insurance companies in defense of flood loss claims involving commercial and multi-unit residential building complexes.
• Tried several alleged misrepresentation/bad faith cases to defense verdict, including denial of medical insurance, mold cases, and a case filed by an elderly woman against an insurance agency and its agents over alleged misrepresentations about coverage for a storm-damaged home.
• Represented various insurance carriers in several large commercial property mold contamination coverage disputes.
• Assisted insurance carriers in various foundation damage coverage claims.
• Represented carriers in broker/agent disputes.