Los Angeles Partner, Gary Lorch, and Associate, Elizabeth Vanalek, obtained summary judgment on behalf of their client, a global holding company for wholesale brokerage for managing general underwriters and managing general agencies. Plaintiffs, the owners/developers of a residential development located in San Jacinto, California, and a bank that had provided mortgage financing for the development, brought suit against our client, as well as against the insurance company for which our client provided underwriting services, claiming damages exceeding $10 million. The insurance company had rescinded the subject property insurance policy covering the development on the grounds of misrepresentations in the insurance application. Plaintiffs claimed that our client breached duties owed to them with respect to underwriting of the policy, and with respect to a claim made for coverage under the policy.
The Los Angeles Superior Court rejected Plaintiffs’ claims that our client owed Plaintiffs a duty of care and further held that even if a duty was owed, it was not breached. The Court further agreed with Gordon & Rees’ arguments that the client was not an insurance company, nor broker acting on behalf of Plaintiffs, and therefore could not be liable to Plaintiffs.