HWW Wins Summary Judgment On Duty to Defend and Bad Faith.

HWW attorneys Joe Hinkhouse, Rich McDermott, and Josh Boggioni recently prevailed in a summary judgment motion filed on behalf of their client in The Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. The client-insurer had issued domestic liability policies to a mining and lead producing company at times between 1996 and 2009.  The insured sued HWW’s client seeking defense costs and bad faith damages related to underlying lawsuits alleging bodily injury taking place in South America.

The insured sought insurance coverage to defend the lawsuits and extra-contractual damages for the client’s allegedly unreasonable refusal to defend.  HWW filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the insured was not entitled to coverage under the CGL policies on the grounds that the underlying lawsuits allege bodily injuries taking place outside of the policies’ territorial limitations.  The court agreed and entered summary judgment in favor of HWW’s client.