Insurance Coverage

Robert Chemers and Dave Larson won in the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District, when the Court affirmed the summary judgment entered in Sangamon County for their insurer client. The Appellate Court affirmed the judgment that our insurer client did not have a duty to defend the insured architecture firm for no less than 23 pending ...

Robert Chemers and Dave Larson obtained a judgment for their insurer client in federal court in Chicago against the insureds, a condominium association and its property manager, in connection with the failure of a unit owner to complete the sale of his condominium due to the alleged refusal to produce financial and other records

Jim Sipchen, John Scheid, Matt Tibble, and Kelly Franklin recently secured a victory in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County on behalf of a trustee of a multi-million-dollar trust in a dispute involving distributions made to the trust beneficiaries. A beneficiary had challenged the trustee’s distributions claiming that he was underpaid, ...

Robert Chemers and David Larson won an affirmance in the Appellate Court, First District, of the summary judgment entered by the circuit court for their insurer client in a coverage dispute with a plaintiff insurer over whether the plaintiff insurer’s named insured was an additional insured on the policy issued by our insurer client to ...

Robert Chemers and Rich Burgland won a summary judgment for a professional liability insurer that it had no duty to defend its insured personal injury attorney who along with his employee, who had been an officer of an existing business, allegedly surreptitiously obtained confidential information and trade secrets from the existing business which they used ...

Robert Chemers and Rich Burgland obtained summary judgment in the Circuit Court of Cook County for a professional liability insurer that it had no duty to defend its lawyer insured in connection with a Hollywood movie production deal involving multiple complex issues deftly handled by Rich, who took the lead on the dispositive motion.

Robert Chemers obtained a judgment for an insurer client in federal court in southern Illinois that there is no duty to defend an underlying BIPA class action complaint where the allegations fell within the “Recording & Distribution of Material and Information in Violation of Law” endorsement exclusion which exclusion included a specific reference to the ...

Robert Chemers and Dave Larson won a summary judgment and default declaratory judgment in federal court in Springfield, IL for an insurer client based on the insured providing notice of an accident 16 months after it occurred and notice of suit some 9 months after it was filed. The district judge held that the notice ...

Robert Chemers and David Larson obtained a summary judgment for an insurer client in federal district court in Chicago that there was no duty to defend based on 17-month late notice to the insurer by the business sophisticated insured. The Court weighed the recognized factors and found 4 of the 5 weighed against the insured, ...

Robert Chemers led a team including Ed Ruff and John Scheid in a challenge to 735 ILCS 5/2-1303, the amendment to the Code adding pre-judgment interest effective July 1, 2021. The challenge motion was brought in a medical malpractice case pending in Cook County, and on May 27, 2022 the Circuit Court declared the statutory ...

Robert Chemers and Dave Larson obtained summary judgment for an insurer client against its Insured, which Insured was defended by the carrier through personal counsel under reservation, no settlement occurred, and the Insured tried the underlying business tort case (conversion, detinue, and two tortious interference claims) and lost with an adverse judgment entered for $8.3M, ...

Richard M. Waris, Brendan J. Nelligan, and Quinn P. Donnelly obtained the dismissal with prejudice of a complaint filed against an insurance broker alleging that the broker was negligent in procuring coverage and negligently misrepresented the scope of the coverage procured, when the insured was denied coverage for economic losses they allegedly sustained as a ...

  Robert Chemers – Insurance Coverage and Appellate Matt Egan – Civil Litigation, Professional Liability, and Employment Law Ed Ruff – Class Action Mass Torts,  Products Liability, Medical Malpractice, and Business Litigation Richard Waris – Business Litigation and Professional Liability We congratulate Robert, Matt, Ed, and Dick for again being recognized for their outstanding legal ...

  Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys, Michael Barry, Rich Burgland, Tom Draths, and Matthew Reddy, were named emerging lawyers by Leading Lawyers Magazine. Click here to learn more about their practices that span insurance coverage, professional liability defense, commercial litigation, medical malpractice and general tort defense  

  In a significant victory for the insurance industry, Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys, Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman, prevailed today for an insurer in the Supreme Court of Illinois. The court issued its opinion this morning reversing the trial court and the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District, and directing the trial court to enter judgment ...

  Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys, Rich Burgland, Robert Chemers, and Paula Villela, obtained a summary judgment for their insurer client that it had no duty to defend or indemnify the insured for various motions for sanctions and attorneys’ fees and the resultant judgment against the insured for more than $1.1 million in fees, costs and ...

  Shareholder, David Bennett, recently hosted an interactive webinar titled, Tort Liability for Drowning: Wrongful Death, Personal Injury, Defenses.  David taught strategies to defend drowning and swimming injury cases.  His co-faculty member for this 90 minute webinar was plaintiff’s attorney Douglas J. McCarron, partner at The Haggard Law Firm, Corel Gables, Florida.  Access the course ...

Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman, recently obtained a summary judgment in a 39-page Order for an Illinois professional liability insurer in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The pro se plaintiff filed a direct action suit against the insurer and several attorneys and law firms. The Court held, among other things, that the insurer did not insure any ...

Pretzel & Stouffer partners, Robert Chemers and Scott Howie, succeeded in having an adversary’s appeal dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District. In a declaratory judgment action, the circuit court entered judgment for the firm’s client, an insurer, holding that it had no duty to defend its insured ...

  Pretzel & Stouffer shareholder, Robert Chemers, was recognized by Best Lawyers for his work in insurance law. He has been so recognized since 2006.

Pretzel & Stouffer attorneys Richard Waris, Jim Sipchen, Quinn Donnelly, and Scott Howie obtained an affirmance in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, of the dismissal of an action against several defendants, including an insurance company and another law firm. The appeal concerned the alleged settlement of a previous tort action during the trial of ...

Robert Chemers, Rich Burgland, and Paula Villela, recently secured summary judgment for their client, a liability insurance carrier, which was found to have no duty to defend a general contractor in an action alleging construction defects and conversion of the claimant’s property. The underlying claimant brought an action against the general contractor for negligence in ...

Robert Chemers and Jonathan Federman successfully argued on appeal for a modification of a judgment against its client in a stacking case in Southern Illinois. In a published Opinion, the Appellate Court, 5th District agreed that coverage within a policy of insurance could not be stacked four separate times. The Court agreed that an amended ...

Robert Chemers and Rich Burgland obtained a major victory for their insurer client in the Mississippi Supreme Court. With the help of local counsel, Dorrance Aultman, Robert and Rich successfully defended an appeal by two claimants. The claimants sought coverage for a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of the death of their adult son who ...

Brendan Nelligan and Dave Larson, recently won an appeal in the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District, which affirmed an order of summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action brought on behalf of Pretzel’s client, an insurance company. The appellate court adopted Pretzel’s argument that their insurer client owed no duty to defend or indemnify an ...

Two motions for summary judgment granted for two clients in two counties on one day.  Donald Eckler, Matthew Ligda, and Jonathan Federman obtained summary judgment for two insurers on a claim of bad faith in one case and an alleged violation of the Consumer Fraud Act in another. The bad faith case arose out of ...

Richard Waris, Brendan Nelligan, and Matthew Ligda, successfully defended an insurance producer against a claim for negligent procurement of insurance brought in federal court by a minor-league hockey player who lost an eye during a game. In 2014, the injured player sued the league and obtained an $800,000 judgment. Thereafter, the player brought a declaratory ...

David Bennett and Rich Burgland recently obtained summary judgment in favor of their insurer client. The court found that their client had no duty to defend an underlying lawsuit seeking damage to residential apartment units from the insured’s allegedly faulty roof work. The court agreed with Dave’s and Rich’s arguments that both counts against the ...

Following the submission of an amicus brief prepared by Pretzel & Stouffer partners, Richard Waris, Matthew Egan, and Brendan Nelligan, on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court recently entered a very important victory for insurance producers and insurers in American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Krop, 2018 IL 122556. ...

Pretzel & Stouffer partner, Robert Chemers, is once again the author of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education – (IICLE) chapter on Insurance Coverage for Environmental Claims in the 2019 Edition of Environmental Law in Corporate and Real Estate Transactions. The chapter addresses the fundamentals of environmental coverage as well as policy defenses, policy ...

Pretzel & Stouffer partner, Rich Burgland, has been appointed by Illinois State Bar Association President-Elect David Sosin, to be a member of the ISBA Insurance Law Section Council. Rich concentrates his practice in insurance coverage and appellate litigation.

Richard Waris, Matthew Egan, and Brendan Nelligan recently filed an amicus brief with the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois relating to a case of statewide importance to insurance producers. The Supreme Court’s ruling could have a major impact on two statutes that were drafted by the IIA with the help of ...

Robert Marc Chemers won a significant appeal in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 7th Circuit held that the insured’s 21-month delay in notifying his carrier of the accident was “inexcusable.” State Auto Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Brumit Serv’s, Inc., 877 F.3d 355 (7th Cir. 2017). The insured, an owner of a ...

Richard Waris, Brendan Nelligan, and Donald Patrick Eckler recently secured a significant victory for an insurance client that was directly sued for spoliation and, in the process, made new law regarding the applicable statute of limitations for such claims. The underlying dispute arose out of an automobile accident in which the client’s insured is alleged to have caused ...