Author archives

Before starting his own firm in 2011, Robert Friedman served as head of the Insurance Coverage Practice at Gunster in West Palm Beach, where he founded the firm’s insurance practice in 2006. Before joining Gunster, Friedman worked for seven years in the Insurance Coverage group of Dickstein Shapiro LLP in New York. Prior to that, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Friedman graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1998 and at the top of his class at Cornell University in 1995. He is a member of the bar in Florida and New York. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of New York, and Eastern District of New York, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Friedman has written extensively about insurance coverage and other legal issues for national and regional publications, including National Underwriter, Business Insurance, Risk & Insurance, Daily Business Review, South Florida Business Journal, and the Harvard Law Record. He has been quoted as an expert on insurance law issues in numerous national and local publications. He has presented seminars on commercial insurance topics to business and legal groups, including the Practicing Law Institute. He also has advised the State of Florida on insurance policy issues. Mr. Friedman has served on the board of directors of the alumni association of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell, as well as the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. He currently serves on the board of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.

Insurer Recovers Fla. Stat. 627.428 Fees

No, all of that insurance industry money flowing into the Florida legislature has not led to a change in Fla. Stat. 627.428, Florida’s one-way attorney fee shifting statute. Loyal readers of Insurance Law Florida know that Fla. Stat. 627.428 allows policyholders to recover their attorneys fees upon the successful completion of coverage litigation. The statute’s …

AIG Three-Peats!

Once again AIG placed dead last in the Harris Interactive “Reputation Quotient” survey released last week. It is the third year in a row that AIG has been listed as America’s least reputable company. It would have been a five-peat if not for Freddie Mac’s slightly lower rating in 2010. AIG maintained the bottom spot despite undertaking a massive rebranding …

Florida Non-Joinder Statute, Fla. Stat. § 627.4136, Prevents Direct Action of Bad Faith Claim Under Fla. Stat. § 624.155

The recent appellate decision from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in GEICO General Insurance Company v. Harvey, No. 4D12-1525 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 23, 2013) demonstrates the limitations of Florida’s non-joinder statute, Fla. Stat. 627.4136, when it comes to asserting direct action bad faith claims. Harvey arose out of a horrific automobile accident in which the …

Insurance Policy Interpretation CLE: January 31, 2013, 1:00pm-2:30pm EST

Please join me for a CLE webinar sponsored by Strafford Publications on insurance policy interpretation and construction. I will be presenting along with Verne Pedro at Goldberg Segalla in Princeton, NJ and Jeremy Evans at Foley Hoag in Boston, MA. The program runs from 1:00pm-2:30pm EST. We will discuss various doctrines of insurance policy construction, including contra …

Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Chinese Drywall Coverage Claim Under Total Pollution Exclusion

I previously discussed the American Building Materials coverage cases here. ABM II was decided against the policyholder under Massachusetts law. Judge Bucklew of the Middle District of Florida entered summary judgment in the insurer’s favor after finding that Granite State’s Total Pollution Exclusion unambiguously excluded coverage for the Chinese drywall claims. Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed …

Whose Burden Is It, Anyway?

Insurance coverage litigation is a lot like improv. You often deal with uncertain underlying facts, and you need to adapt quickly on the fly. One of the more difficult coverage claims to litigate is the “mysterious disappearance” claim. It seems there are a lot of claims out there where nobody knows exactly when something went …

The “Eight Corners” Rule to the Duty to Defend: When Eight is Not Enough

In most jurisdictions, an insurer’s duty to defend is determined based on what is commonly referred to as the “eight corners rule”. Under the eight corners rule, the only relevant pieces of information when determining the duty to defend are the coverage promises contained within the four corners of the insurance policy and the allegations …

Commercial Insurance Issues Raised by Superstorm Sandy

Disputed hurricane and windstorm insurance claims have been a common occurrence in Florida and the southeast U.S. Unfortunately, businesses and residents in New York and New Jersey face the prospect of similar coverage battles after the waters from Sandy subside. The destruction left by post-tropical storm Sandy may not rival Hurricane Katrina, but likely will …

Myth #5: Certificates Of Insurance Add Additional Insureds

There has been so much going on lately that I have not had a chance to get back to my installment series, “Top 10 Commercial Insurance Myths & Misconceptions”. To recap, we have covered #1-4: 1. Your Business Is “Fully Covered”. 2. Policy Forms Are “Standard” And Cannot Be Negotiated. 3. Fraud Claims Are Not …

SIR & Deductible Program Slides

Thanks everyone who listened in on the Strafford CLE program on deductibles and self-insured retentions. It was a great turn out and there were so many questions (I guess folks were actually listening). Several people have asked me for copies of the materials. Here is a set of my slides in PDF format. The complete presentation …