Shumaker represents and counsels clients on the availability of insurance coverage for claims and losses under all types of insurance policies, including comprehensive general liability, environmental, property, errors and omissions, professional liability, employer's liability, directors and officers, financial institution bonds, and cyber insurance policies.
We assist clients by analyzing the applicable insurance policy forms, formulating sound coverage positions, and implementing effective strategies for resolving coverage disputes between policyholders and insurers through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or litigation. In addition to evaluating the availability of coverage under insurance policies, we help clients identify alternative sources of cost recovery, including indemnity rights that may exist under contracts with other parties who are responsible for the losses and liabilities at issue.
Shumaker's lawyers have decades of experience interpreting insurance policies and analyzing complex coverage issues involving a wide variety of claims and losses, including claims involving environmental, asbestos, and other toxic tort injuries and damage, class actions, governmental investigations, defective products, errors and omissions by directors and officers, construction defects, and professional services negligence; and losses arising from commercial crime, employee theft, property/fire events, and business interruption losses. We also help clients resolve coverage issues arising from losses and claims arising from cyber attacks on businesses and financial institutions.
Shumaker's capabilities as a full-service firm give us the ability to bring in attorneys and experts who fully understand the substantive law issues in any type of insurance coverage dispute. This gives our clients access to attorneys in many specialty areas (e.g., employment, environmental, tax, pension, cyber, construction, banking, and more) to assist with the resolution of the insurance coverage matter.
The firm's insurance work includes:
- Cyber Insurance – We assist clients who have experienced a cyber attack on their businesses, including ransomware attacks, fraudulent wire transfer, and social engineering schemes. This includes computer data breaches that compromise the personal protected information maintained by our clients and by other businesses for which our clients manage or process computer information. Our work involves identifying applicable insurance coverage under the client's cyber policies and crime policies, including both first party coverages and third party liability coverages for claims that may be asserted against the client as a result of a cyber security breach. When coverages are not provided by the clients' existing policies, we work with experienced brokers to identify and address potential gaps in the clients' existing cyber insurance coverage programs.
- Captive Insurance – Shumaker also helps business owners with numerous issues associated with the use of captive insurance. Shumaker services include assistance with matters ranging from insurance company feasibility to termination of an existing captive insurance program. This includes assistance with a variety of captive insurance company administrative issues during the life of a captive program as well as providing an independent review of a captive insurance program for Federal tax purposes. We have also provided tax controversy representation related to captive insurance matters in IRS examination, IRS Appeals, and litigation in U.S. Tax Court.
- Mergers & Acquisitions – Shumaker's lawyers have represented clients in significant insurance coverage cases, including cases involving insurance rights of corporate predecessors-in-interest and the transfer of insurance rights in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. We evaluate insurance coverage for long tail liabilities, such as environmental cleanup liabilities and liabilities arising from products manufactured decades ago. We also implement and manage claims-handling agreements and other insurance settlements of pattern tort litigation nationwide, working with both corporate policyholders and the insurance carriers in the process.
- Corporate Transactions – In corporate transactions, we counsel our clients on a wide variety of risk management, insurance, and risk transfer strategies. As part of the due diligence efforts in these transactions, we analyze pending litigation and overall claim experiences and identify available insurance assets. We help draft and interpret corporate merger and acquisition agreements (mergers, asset sales, leases), focusing on the insurance requirements in those contracts and related risk transfer provisions such as indemnity agreements and releases. When claims or liabilities arise from these transactions, we identify and analyze the applicable business insurance policies, and assist our clients with analyzing and pursing applicable coverage. We also help clients identify additional sources of recovery that are available from the other parties to the purchase or sale transaction through contractual indemnity arrangements and the law of successor liability.
- Construction Insurance – Construction law constitutes a significant aspect of our work in the insurance industry. Our team represents construction companies, contractors, sureties, subcontractors, developers, construction suppliers, property owners, lenders, design professionals, individual and families in insurance-related matters on private and public projects, such as breach of contract, delay-damage, damages suits, lien foreclosure, performance bonds and negligence.
- Insurance Litigation – In most instances, our firm has been able to help clients resolve insurance disputes without resorting to litigation. When necessary, the firm's litigation department assists clients who find themselves pursuing or defending declaratory judgement actions regarding the existence or availability of insurance coverage or subrogation claims. If going to trial is necessary, you will be represented by seasoned litigators who have the training and maturity to be effective courtroom advocates.