Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst has enjoyed many successes serving clients and helping to advance the insurance industry. Below is a representative list of some these successes:

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a class action against a carrier represented by Michael R. Nelson, G. Franklin McKnight, and Mark H. Rosenberg in case alleging that the insurer was violating Pennsylvania's "made whole" doctrine. In Jones v. Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company, the Court held that insurers may reimburse their insureds' deductibles on a pro rata basis after a subrogation recovery by the insurer rather than reimbursing its insureds' deductibles in full before keeping any of the money recovered. Nationwide's position received amicus support from the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, National Association of Subrogation Professionals, Pennsylvania Defense Institute, Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania and Harleysville Insurance. NLdH initially prevailed on preliminary objections, which were later appealed.

William O. Krekstein and Elizabeth R. Dill obtained summary judgment in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of an insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith action arising out of extensive water and mold damage to a large commercial property. The court rejected the plaintiff's argument that the insurer's failure to provide an advance payment and delay in adjusting the claim caused additional damage. Instead, the court held that the policy did not require the insurer to provide an advance payment, the delay in payment was reasonable given the insured's failure to provide requested documentation, and any additional damage to the property was not the responsibility of the insurer since the plaintiff failed to mitigate the damage, as required by the policy.

Robert Runyon, III and C. Scott Rybny obtained summary judgment on all counts in a suit alleging breach of contract and bad faith damages in excess of $250,000. In a case of first impression in Pennsylvania, the trial court agreed that the insurer's application of the policy's "functional replacement cost" endorsement was both reasonable and correct. The court also rejected plaintff's request for an order compelling appraisal, since the parties' disagreement over the proper framework for calculating damages constituted a coverage question falling outside the scope of the appraisal provision.

On May 17, 2011, Michael R. Nelson argued before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against class certification in Justice v. Nationwide Affinity Ins. Co. of America. The case concerns the passive antitheft discount provisions found in the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, specifically sections 75 Pa. C.S. 1791.1 and 1799.1.

On May 10, 2011, Michael R. Nelson argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Jones v. Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company, a class action concerning application of the "made whole" doctrine and Pennsylvania's deductible reimbursement regulation, which provides that reimbursement of a policyholder's deductible be made on a proportionate basis. In the case, Plaintiff seeks class action status for policyholders who were not reimbursed their full deductible after a subrogation recovery. The Pennsylvania Superior Court and Court of Common Pleas previously dismissed Plaintiff's claims. The issues in the case are significant to insurers and the matter is being watched by the insurance industry. Similar class actions have been brought against a number of other insurers in Pennsylvania.

William O. Krekstein successfully litigated a case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of an insurer in a matter involving a loss of business income claim. The plaintiff sought more than two-million dollars plus allegations of bad faith. After various pretrial motions filed on behalf of the insurer were granted by the court, including dismissal of plaintiff's demand to compel appraisal in November 2010, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case in its entirety.

NLdH attorneys Michael J. McLaughlin and Robert M. Runyon III secured a voluntary discontinuance following the initial deposition in a property damage and bad faith claim involving water damage to the insureds' residential property. By pursuing an aggressive discovery strategy focused on key fact witnesses, NLdH attorneys established that the insureds had actual or constructive knowledge of damage that pre-dated the reported loss.

Kymberly Kochis and Jason M. Kurtz won summary judgment in Suffolk County, New York involving a claim of partial collapse of a gasoline station. NLdH successfully argued that the alleged damage did not constitute a collapse under the applicable commercial property policy and that the loss was excluded under the policy's faulty workmanship exclusion.

Michael A. Hamilton and C. Scott Rybny prevailed in the Supreme Court of North Carolina, obtaining a ruling in April 2010 that their client had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured, a manufacturer of insect resistant apparel, against a multi-million dollar trademark infringement and false advertising lawsuit brought under the Lanham Act.

Cynthia L. Bernstiel handled a property damage/fraud claim on behalf of a national insurer where the insured filed a $1.4 million breach of contract/bad faith case in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania arising from alleged wind and water damage to modular townhomes. During the investigation, Ms. Bernstiel uncovered substantial evidence that the damage pre-existed the policy issuance and that the insured lied during the investigation. This caused the insured to completely walk away from his case in the middle of litigation.

Cynthia L. Bernstiel and William O. Krekstein represented the client in a $500,000 arson/bad faith case where Ms. Bernstiel handled the claim investigation and Mr. Krekstein spearheaded the litigation once the insured filed suit. They claimed the insured committed various misrepresentations during the investigation, and their position became so compelling that the insured dropped the lawsuit in the middle of the case.

In December 2009, Michael A. Hamilton achieved a favorable ruling from a Wisconsin bankruptcy court, a notoriously policyholder-friendly forum, that our insurer client did not breach its duty to defend in relation to proceedings before the bankruptcy court involving the insured and a claimant seeking damages for trademark infringement, unfair competition and violations of the Lanham Act.

As a result of speaking engagements on pandemic exposure presented by NLdH attorneys nationally, the firm was retained to complete pandemic exposure analysis and projections for a major national reinsurer.　

In November 2009, John M. Clark, William Dirk Pastorick and Erin E. Nulty won summary judgment on behalf of a client in a declaratory judgment action brought by an insured that sought coverage under two separate policies of insurance - a warehouseman's liability policy and a cargo policy. The insured alleged that a theft of goods from a moving van, which occurred while the van was in storage at an unscheduled location, should be covered under one or both policies. By counterclaiming for declaratory relief on substantive coverage issues in the answer to the insured's complaint, we were able to move forward on a motion for summary judgment early in the litigation prior to engaging in any discovery, which resulted in reduced litigation time and lower costs for the client.

In February 2009, John M. Clark and Erin E. Nulty successfully obtained summary judgment in favor of a surplus lines insurer and a coverholder in a New Jersey declaratory judgment action in which the insured contested denial of a fire loss claim based on a cancellation of the policy by a premium finance company.

In November 2009, William O. Krekstein and Elizabeth R. Dill successfully defended an auto insurer in its first bad faith case before the Maryland Insurance Administration under Maryland's new bad faith statute. The case involved a commercial property loss where the policyholder was claiming the company committed bad faith by failing to pay for code upgrades after a fire loss. Because the statute was so new, there was natural uncertainty as to how it would be construed. Here, the Administration held that there was no evidence that the company acted arbitrarily or capriciously in handling the claim.

John M. Clark and Erin E. Nulty obtained a favorable decision from the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court affirming the trial court's judgment that the insurer had no duty to defend and indemnify the insured under a homeowner's policy for claims brought against the insured in workers' compensation court.

William Dirk Pastorick successfully mediated a high-profile dram shop case involving a popular Philadelphia nightclub, where one plaintiff died and the other plaintiff sustained serious injuries. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the insurer was very happy with the favorable outcome.

In another dram shop case, William Dirk Pastorick successfully settled a death case and serious injury claim with very favorable terms for the insured.

In a construction accident claim involving a garage collapse that caused very serious injuries, William Dirk Pastorick successfully mediated a high exposure case in which NLdH represented the engineer. The terms of the settlement were confidential, but Mr. Pastorick was able to resolve the case on very favorable terms.

Kenneth T. Levine and Daniel J. de Luca tried a large subrogation matter on behalf of a major national insurer that resulted in a high-value settlement at the close of the plaintiff's case.

Daniel J. de Luca won a substantial binding arbitration award against a product manufacturer and contractor on behalf of his client who was very happy with the award.

In a liability action against an insured and numerous other homeowners by a slip and fall plaintiff, John M. Clark successfully filed preliminary objections to the plaintiff's complaint, which was dismissed with prejudice by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Having the claim dismissed against the insured at such an early stage in the litigation resulted in substantially reduced litigation costs for the insurer.

In the Virgin Islands, which has been referred to as a "Plaintiff's Paradise" due to large jury verdicts in favor of injured claimants, John M. Clark mediated a slip and fall case settling the matter in terms that were favorable for the insured. Focusing on reducing damages by stressing plaintiff's preexisting injuries and refuting his claim of lost wages, Mr. Clark was able to negotiate a reduced settlement. A client representative was present at the mediation and expressed his satisfaction with the outcome.