Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Philadelphia senior partners Bill Shelley and Jack Cohn obtained a major victory for U.S. Fire before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which, in a published opinion, affirmed a U.S.D.C. of Maryland grant of summary judgment to insurers in a long-fought asbestos coverage case.
The policyholder alleged that U.S. Fire and St. Paul, which had long ago exhausted the product aggregates of their policies, were now also responsible to pay its asbestos claims under its operations coverage which during those time period had no aggregate limits. The insurers convinced the district court and the 4th Circuit that in order for such claims to be viable, the policyholder must prove that its asbestos operations were ongoing at the time a plaintiff was exposed, which in this instance, the policyholder had not established. The court also found that most of the claims, which the policyholder claims had been originally mischaracterized as completed operations claims, were barred by the three-year Maryland Statute of Limitations.
On March 26, 2018, Law360 published an article, 4th Circ. Upholds Insurer's Win In Asbestos Coverage Row, which provides more details on the decision. To read the decision, please click here.