Insurance Coverage

Third-party insurance—or liability insurance—is insurance that provides defense and indemnity to an insured who has been sued. Tully Rinckey PLLC has dealt with all layers of coverage, including their interplay in complex, multi carrier, multi policy year cases and analysis of complex risk management programs.

Tully Rinckey PLLC has in-depth experience addressing coverage and extra-contractual issues under general liability (CGL), commercial auto, workers’ compensation/employer’s liability,  Employment Practices Liability (EPLI), and many other specialty policies.

Notable Representations Include:

• Defense and coverage counseling of wrongful death claims implicating disputed insurance coverage under BAP, CGL and excess/umbrella policies.
• Defense of suits for wrongful failure to settle within available policy limits under liability policies.
• Defense and prosecution of allocation claims among carriers in the context of underlying defense and indemnity claims among their insureds involving primary and excess policies.
• Representation of clients in construction defect disputes involving allocation among insurance carriers.
• Advising clients on the availability of coverage and strategic recommendations through service as coverage counsel behind the scenes in major cases.
• Advising clients on drafting contractual provisions regarding insurance and indemnity which seek to transfer risk.

Tully Rinckey’s experience with first-party policies and claims allows us to effectively and efficiently obtain the best outcome for our clients.  Tully Rinckey PLLC has in-depth experience addressing coverage and extra-contractual issues that arise with property damage or storm claims, UM/UIM claims, and ERISA claims, among others.

Notable Representations Include:

• Representations involving disputed hail, wind, water and accidental loss claims under commercial and residential property policies.
• Defense of complex business interruption loss claims.
• Advising clients regarding potential extra-contractual claims, including recommendations for handling to obtain optimal results.

The employer/employee relationship can give rise to a host of issues. Decisions such as hiring, firing, demoting or disciplining an employee may result in a claim against the employer. A business can also face claims by employees who allege they were wrongly discriminated against or harassed. Recent attention to the problem of workplace sexual harassment has some anticipating a coming wave of employee sexual harassment suits. While many may be familiar with class action lawsuits against large, multinational companies, smaller companies may also face employment-related disputes.

If a company has an Employment Practices Liability Insurance (“EPLI”) policy, it may seek coverage to offset some of the cost of defense and a judgment or settlement, if any.

EPLI is a form of liability insurance that is specifically tailored for employment-related disputes.

However, an EPLI policy is not meant to cover all employment-related disputes. Typical EPLI policies may exclude from coverage employee-related claims such as wage and hour disputes, ERISA disputes, and violations of the “WARN Act.” Coverage disputes can develop as to whether a claim is covered, whether it was timely reported, allocation (when a claim involves some allegations that may be potentially covered and other allegations that are not), and disputes concerning interrelated claims. An experienced coverage attorney can navigate these issues.

Tully Rinckey PLLC insurance law attorneys are experienced in representing businesses in EPLI claims. Our attorneys are skilled at problem solving, whether through informal resolution or litigation. Our attorneys have handled EPLI disputes concerning reinstatement of coverage, allocation of defense costs, and policy interpretation and construction.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or “ERISA” applies to most private sector employee benefit plans. Such plans may include disability, accident, and medical benefits. ERISA litigation is handled much differently than first-party insurance disputes under non-ERISA plans.

ERISA disputes are generally litigated in federal court, are not tried to a jury, and damages are limited. Claims available under state law may be preempted by the ERISA statutory scheme. There are also differences in discovery and the evidence on which the matter is decided, typically referred to as the administrative record.

The court may, in its discretion, award reasonable attorney’s fees to a party in an ERISA action.

ERISA does not apply to all retirement plans. Plans by Federal, state, or local government are not covered by ERISA. Plans that meet the criteria of “church plans” are also not governed by ERISA.

In addition to disputes between a plan participant or beneficiary and the plan administrator, ERISA may be implicated in disputes over provider reimbursement claims.

Tully Rinckey PLLC insurance law attorneys are experienced in representing insurance companies in ERISA disputes. Our representative matters include defending a carrier in a dispute alleging ERISA and state law claims over life insurance proceeds and a coverage dispute concerning a claim under an accidental death policy, among others. Our attorneys are capable of representing clients in ERISA claims in federal courts throughout Texas.