There is no broader area of insurance risk analysis and coverage disputes than those faced by commercial business operations. Our insurance attorneys experience covers nearly every facet of insurance coverage procured by businesses, at all levels of insurance and involving all types of commercial insurance. Corporate Risk can include claims for the liability of agents and brokers, for commercial coverages at the primary, excess and umbrella levels, property insurance for all real and personal property of the business used, leased or owned, to be acquired or constructed, all commercial general liability exposures, D & O liability, E & O liability, environmental liability, maritime risk exposures, insurance of transportation of goods by land, sea or air, and specialized off-shore operation exposures. Because of the breadth of issues that are implicated, the vast majority of our work falls within the scope of Corporate Risk.

Construction generally speaking encompasses a variety of issues including the building of residential, industrial, and commercial buildings, the construction of infrastructure such as sewers, roads, bridges, and tunnels, as well as specialty trades such as welding, concrete, painting, electrical work and plumbing. As a result of the various facets of the industry and the individuals that play a role in construction, from the design and planning, to the site preparation, construction and finish work, losses in large complex construction projects can trigger coverage under a variety of insurance policies and coverages including Commercial General Liability, Builders Risk, Commercial Property, E & O and sometimes Environmental Liability. Our coverage attorneys have had experience with nearly every facet of insurance coverage procured in relation to a construction project. Additionally, due to the breadth of our practice, our insurance lawyers have relationships with construction, forensic, accounting, engineering and architectural experts in the southeast and across the country that assist in the analysis and litigation of the various types of construction coverage claims that arise.

For air, sea or truck transportation, our attorneys have both defended carriers from liability and litigated insurance coverage related to a variety of cargo and property damage cases under Motor Truck Cargo liability policies, Ocean Cargo Liability policies and Air Freight liability coverages. Our lawyers handle transportation claims, arising in goods moving intrastate, interstate or internationally that can involve contractual efforts to limit liability under a package or weight limitations as found in bills of lading, warehouse receipts, invoices, and other contract documents subject to state law, federal law and regulations, and international treaties. Our insurance and defense attorneys have experience handling these claims under state law regimes, Carmack (interstate transportation issues), COGSA (Carriage of Goods at Sea Act), and various international conventions covering air and sea transportation of goods worldwide such as the Hague-Visby rules, Warsaw Convention, Montreal Protocols or other international conventions.

Maritime operations involve everything from the port warehousing operations, loading and unloading of vessels, navigation of vessels in state and international waters and all loss, damage or injury to stevedores, vessel, crew, passengers and cargo during all of these maritime related operations. Losses in the Maritime industry can implicate insurance claims under a number of insurance policies, including Marine Liability policies, Marine Hull policies, Commercial General Liability policies and Commercial Property policies. Our insurance lawyers have extensive experience with the insurance coverage issues that abound in this area and the defense of liability for these losses. Our attorneys counsel clients and litigate insurance coverage under numerous liability and property policies specific to the marine industry, including but not limited to: Comprehensive Marine Liability, Tower's Liability, Terminal Operator's Liability, Stevedore's Liability, Ship Repairer's Liability, Charterer's Liability, Wharfinger's Liability, Excess Marine Liability and Bumbershoot coverages, the Taylor Hull form, and Protection and Indemnity Clauses.

Nearly every commercial business has some exposure to environmental liability, whether because they acquired contaminated property, caused environmental contamination from long term operations, or are exposed to the risk of suffering some catastrophic failure or causing an accident that releases some manner of pollutant or contaminate which causes environmental property damage or bodily injury. Our attorneys' insurance coverage and defense of environmental liability experience began in the early 1980's and has continued for more than two decades. Our lawyers have a great depth of knowledge from experience based upon all of the different types of insurance forms issued over the last 50 years that have been called upon for environmental liability coverage arising from environmental contamination to soil, water, and to real property and personal property occurring in the ocean, on land, inside commercial structures or emanating from products.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are over 14,000 warehouse facilities in the United States as of 2006. Often times those providing the warehouse services also provide cross-docking, packing or re-packing and transportation services as well. Those charged with storing goods and providing packaging and transportation services obtain specialized warehousing coverage to insure the risks attendant to those services. Our attorneys have handled all manner of warehousing losses arising from theft, fire, flood, lack of refrigeration, missing inventory, damage during handling, insufficient facility maintenance and a variety of other causes. Whether from the defense or insurance coverage perspective, our attorneys have experience analyzing not only the warehousing risks but also the contractual agreements through which the warehousing services are provided and the limitations on recovery that can be associated with such warehousing agreements, bills of lading, warehouse receipts and invoices issued for the goods stored.

Museums, art dealers, art galleries, private collectors, musicians, avant-garde businesses that own, use, display, store, transport, or otherwise handle fine arts are all exposed to risks covered by Fine Art policies. Those dealing in fine arts face risks to classically considered art, historic pieces, antiques, fine musical instruments and a myriad of other special items that can broadly be considered art. Policies that provide coverage for such pieces are often specific to the item being insured and involve manuscript terms. Our coverage lawyers have experience in these types of insurance disputes, as litigating coverage under these policies requires a strong understanding of coverage principles and the construction of insuring terms, conditions and exclusions because minimal legal precedent exists addressing the unique field of fine art insurance coverage.

Professionals, including lawyers, medical providers, brokers, agents, engineers and architects are insured under professional malpractice policies or E & O policies. Those policies generally provide protection against a professional's error, omission or negligence during the performance of their professional's services. Policies that provide coverage for professionals often vary from insurer to insurer and contain manuscript terms and unique clauses not found in other liability policies. As the nature of these coverages vary and often the courts have not addressed in any depth the policy terms of E & O policies, our insurance attorneysŐ depth of experience in analyzing a variety of insurance coverages and understanding of the fundamental elements of insurance at the primary, excess and umbrella levels provide an essential foundation for our coverage analysis and the litigation representation of clients in this area.