What We Do
Our Expertise to Assist Policyholders with Insurance Recovery for Covid-19 Losses
Thompson HD attorneys have decades of experience representing policyholders (against the insurers) with property and business interruption insurance claims resulting from unforeseen circumstances like COVID-19. We have represented hotel owners and managers, hospitals, apartments, manufacturing facilities, office buildings, retail stores, golf courses, and other properties. We understand every aspect of these specialized claims: business interruption and contingent business interruption, time element coverage extensions like Civil Authority, Loss of Attraction, Extra Expenses, and the many other details inherent in the pursuit of first-party property insurance recovery. Our first-party claims experience includes losses from:
COVID-19 Losses – we are busy assessing and advising about coverage for losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, for hotel owners and managers and others; we are following the most up-to-date work in this quickly emerging field of insurance recovery.
Viruses and Bacteria – we have previous experience with claims involving Zika, SARS, Red Tide, odors, and other kinds of non-traditional “property loss or damage.”
Terrorism – we have handled some of the largest terrorism-related losses in history.
Hurricanes – We have worked on major hotel, building, government contractor, and other commercial hurricane losses, going back to the 90s, including Katrina (2005), Sandy (2012), Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Maria (2017), and Dorian (2019).
Mold/pollution – We have handled claims involving mold or pollution, as covered under general programs or specialized policies.
Flood – We have worked on numerous flood claims, whether covered under first-party property policies, homeowners’ policies, or specialized flood policies.
Fire/explosion – We have helped our policyholder clients recover from fires and explosions, from manufacturing facilities to residential homes (including California wildfires).
Earthquakes – We have handled earthquake claims in the U.S. and around the world.
Construction/collapse – We have handled all aspects of recovery involving construction defects and accidents (including water intrusion).
Cyber – We have handled first and third-party claims arising from cyber and data breaches.
Representations and Warranties – We have negotiated policy language and placement for deals to protect against future first-party and third-party losses.
Thompson HD also has significant negotiation and litigation experience handling third-party claims that may arise, including under general liability, directors & officers, errors & omissions, and professional liability policies. Members of our team are experienced trial lawyers, with a full range of experience at every step of the property/BI claim recovery process – claim consultation, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation – all the way through successful jury verdicts.
Representative Examples of First-Party Coverage Success Led by Our Attorneys
- $1 million jury verdict (full claim) in a case against Hartford Steam Boiler arising out of refusal to pay for a complex turbine claim.
- $28 million jury verdict (full claim) against Lexington Insurance Co. in a case arising out of a refusal to pay for code work and business interruption caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma to a hotel in South Florida.
- $60 million court verdict (full claim) against a group of excess insurers in a case arising out of a refusal to pay for property repairs and business interruption caused by Hurricane Katrina to two hotels in New Orleans.
- Other successful jury or bench trials or arbitrations for policyholder clients.
- Successfully settled dozens of large property and business interruption claims, in the aggregate worth over $1 billion dollars – including from every major hurricane and the September 11th attacks.
Thompson HD attorneys bill at hourly rates significantly lower than those charged by big firms – by hundreds of dollars per hour – or under alternative fee arrangements. Gary Thompson, Julie Hammerman, and Kristin Davis spent many years at big firms (Gary Thompson, for example, was Managing Partner of Reed Smith’s Washington D.C. office), but now offer the same expertise with billing flexibility.
For further information see www.thompsonhd.com, or contact Gary Thompson, Kristin Davis, or Julie Hammerman at gthompson@thompsonhd.com or kdavis@thompsonhd.com or jhammerman@thompsonhd.com.
