Brent Brougher pursues insurance coverage on behalf of policyholders in complex, high-profile matters in jurisdictions across the country. Mr. Brougher has an extensive background in this area, and in other commercial litigation and arbitration. He is the Co-Team Leader of the firm's Insurance Coverage practice. Mr. Brougher's primary client emphasis is on insured businesses. He represents clients in lawsuits and ADR proceedings seeking insurance recovery on various lines of business, including commercial general liability policies, excess policies, directors and officers policies, errors and omissions policies, and other property, liability, employee, disability and insurance policies. Mr. Brougher's clients are located throughout the United States, and he has handled matters in every geographic region in the U.S. and abroad. Before joining the firm, Mr. Brougher was a partner resident in San Francisco with a national, San Francisco-based firm, where he served as Office Chair of the Recruitment Committee. He was named a 2008 Georgia "Rising Star" in the area of Business Litigation by SuperLawyers magazine and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Professional & Community Activities Hastings Law Journal, Former Member Experience Interface, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Insurance Company, The firm served as lead counsel in representing Interface Flooring Systems, Inc. and affiliated entities (Interface), the world's leading producer of soft-surfaced modular floor coverings (carpet tiles), against Hartford Fire Insurance Company (Hartford) with an important and complex insurance coverage case. Interface filed suit against Hartford in August 2005, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, seeking millions in damages for Hartford's refusal to defend or indemnify Interface under commercial general liability policies with respect to several lawsuits across the country that were filed against Interface alleging that Interface's carpet tiles and the manner of their installation were defective, leading to damage to concrete slabs and an unpleasant odor in buildings. Following the successful resolution of the underlying cases, Interface received favorable rulings in the Hartford insurance litigation with respect to a motion to disqualify counsel, and on important discovery issues, including orders compelling Hartford to produce certain underwriting and claims documents. The case then settled on a confidential basis shortly thereafter in June 2008.
Interface, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., No. 1:05-CV-02079TCB (N.D. Ga. filed Aug. 10, 2005). Litigation counsel to a financial services company *, Successfully represented a financial services company in a dispute over the validity and enforceability of a contract to reinsure workers' compensation carve-out losses. Accounting malpractice jury trial for national accounting firm *, Successfully represented a national accounting firm in a 10-week accounting malpractice jury trial in which the plaintiff alleged $300 million in damages. The trial court granted non-suit, which was upheld on appeal. Bad faith suit for a semiconductor chip manufacturer *, Successfully represented a semiconductor chip manufacturer in a bad faith insurance coverage lawsuit arising out of a toxic tort putative class action brought against the manufacturer, in which the manufacturer sought coverage under its worker's compensation / employee liability policy. The case included a published California opinion regarding the mandatory recusal of a trial judge. The matter settled favorably before trial. D&O coverage for the costs of responding to a grand jury investigative subpoena, After our client entered into an "amnesty" agreement with the Justice Department that obligated our client and its directors and officers to cooperate with an investigation of possible Sherman Act violations involving alleged bid rigging, we filed suit against the directors and officers liability insurance carrier to recover the significant costs incurred in responding to a grand jury subpoena issued as part of the government's investigation. Following a ruling by the trial court holding that the grand jury subpoena and the ensuing investigation could be construed as an "administrative or regulatory proceeding" and hence a "claim" against the insured directors and officers of the company, the matter settled.
Servidyne, Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., No. 1:07-cv-96-TCB (N.D. Ga. November 4, 2007). Insurance coverage for asbestos abatement equipment supplier, Served as lead counsel representing a major supplier to the asbestos abatement industry in its effort to secure insurance coverage for an explosion and fire allegedly attributed to a "negative air machine" that seriously injured two individuals in Southern California and for which a multimillion dollar lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court. We successfully secured full coverage for the client and its affiliates from numerous local and foreign carriers, thereby avoiding a trial in the underlying matter. Trade secrets litigation for a software developer, The firm served as lead counsel for a Georgia-based software developer in a factually complex theft of trade secrets case involving the copying and misappropriation of source code files relating to the e-mail attachment viewing technology used in handheld devices. Suit was filed on behalf of software developer in October 2003, alleging claims against competitors, and former executives of competitor for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and other claims. Defendants' motion to dismiss was defeated, and developer successfully moved to compel production of defendants' source code pertaining to the technology in question, and defeated defendants' omnibus motions for summary judgment and Daubert motions. The case settled for a confidential amount shortly before a three-week trial was scheduled to begin. Lawsuit against broker and major insurance carriers for market misconduct, The firm served as lead counsel in litigation against our client's insurance broker and several major insurance carriers, including AIG, Travelers, Zurich and ACE, alleging that various agreements between the carriers and the broker providing for payment of so-called "back end" or "contingent" commissions violated Florida law. The lawsuit included claims for breach of fiduciary duty, RICO, antitrust conspiracy and other state law claims. Disagreeing with rulings (later overturned by the Third Circuit) entered by a federal court in New Jersey rejecting federal antitrust and RICO claims alleged in a purported nationwide class action, the Florida trial court issued what was the first significant ruling upholding the state law causes of that had been alleged. After three more years of vigorous litigation and discovery involving production by defendants of more than 18 million pages of documents and 38 depositions, the case settled.
Office Depot, Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., 21 Mealey's Litig. Rep. Ins. Bad Faith 20; 2007 WL 3339228 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Palm Beach County Sept. 24, 2007). Bad faith claims counsel for large grocery chain *, Successfully represented a large grocery chain in a bad faith suit to secure benefits under its commercial general liability policy for the cost of defense and indemnity in an underlying class action arising out of alleged food contamination. This case settled favorably on the first day of trial. Litigation for a national food service research and development company, The firm served as lead counsel representing a research and development company serving the food industry in its declaratory judgment action to terminate a technology license agreement with a food service equipment manufacturer. A Dallas-based arbitration tribunal awarded termination of the license agreement and a monetary award to the client after a two-week arbitral hearing. Litigation counsel to a financial services company *, Successfully represented a financial services company in a lawsuit regarding the enforceability of an arbitration provision contained in a contract ceding worker's compensation losses. Fraudulent marketing claims of one of the nation's largest fast food franchisors, Successfully represented one of the nation's largest fast food franchisors and its franchisees in an investigation of claims associated with a fraudulent marketing test conducted by the client's vendor, a major beverage company. The case received national media attention and the client secured a multimillion dollar settlement prior to initializing litigation as a result of our efforts. Atlanta National League Baseball Club Inc. v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., The firm served as lead counsel in representing the Atlanta Braves in its effort to recover benefits under a disability insurance policy compensating the Braves for time that former pitcher Mike Hampton was "disabled" by injury. Hartford Life, the carrier under the insurance policy, had paid the Braves for the time that Hampton missed from 2005 through 2007, but took the position that Hampton's left torn pectoral muscle--sustained while warming up in the bullpen minutes before his first start during the first week of the 2008 season--was not covered under the policy because it was unrelated to his prior arm injuries. In February, we brought suit against Hartford Life in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia. After some discovery and a mediation, the case settled on a confidential basis. *Experience gained by attorney prior to joining Kilpatrick Townsend Publications 01 August 2010, D&O Liability Coverage for U.S. Governmental Investigations
Source: Willis Guide to Executive Risks, Articles 26 March 2010, Case Study: Fortney V. American Manufacturers
Source: Law 360, Articles 09 March 2010, New Sixth Circuit Decision Grants Coverage to General Contractor When Defective Construction Work Causes Damage to Other Work or Property, Legal Alerts 18 June 2008, Intellectual Property Innovations Class: Trends in Insurance Coverage for Intellectual Property Disputes, Podcasts 23 January 2008, Directors' and Officers' Insurance May Cover Costs Incurred in Responding to a Government Subpoena, Legal Alerts News 12 November 2008, Maximizing Your Insurance Assets (With a Specific Focus on D&O Insurance), Events 05 June 2008, IP Innovations Class: Trends in Insurance Coverage for Intellectual Property Disputes, Events |