Our people

Doug is a trial lawyer principally concentrating his practice on representation of policyholders in insurance coverage disputes with their insurance companies.  He has tried insurance coverage cases to verdict in both the state and federal courts.  Both direct claims for policy proceeds and bad faith claims arising from denial of insurance policy benefits to the insured party are the regular subject of his representations of clients.

Doug has twenty years of experience in insurance coverage litigation and counseling.  He has handled matters for clients involving all aspects of property insurance, including cause and origin, valuation, business interruption, contingent business interruption and codependency, valuable papers and records, and sue and labor claims, under the full spectrum of standardized and manuscript policies.  His matters have involved both primary and excess insurance policies.

Doug has represented clients in a wide variety of property insurance matters, including losses involving flooding of mines, fires in high-rise buildings, collapses of bridges and other structures, corrosion of industrial heat exchangers, contamination of food products, catastrophic failure of a glass furnace, and loss of a communications satellite.  Doug also has extensive experience in political risk claims, having handled matters arising out of such diverse circumstances as the U.S. invasion of Panama, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Liberian civil war, civil disturbances in Haiti, and politically motivated bombings in Northern Ireland.

Doug also represents policyholders in connection with presentation of claims to their insurers for losses based on employee theft and dishonesty.  He has represented clients in these claims under standard crime policies and financial institution bonds.

Insurance claims under liability policies are also matters Doug has handled on behalf of clients.  He has represented clients regarding claims under general liability policies, professional error and omissions polices, directors and officers insurance, and numerous specialty liability insurance coverages.  These matters have involved such diverse events as explosions, fires, defective products, defective construction, unintended releases of chemicals, discrimination and harassment, defamation, and many other sources of potential liability.

In addition to conducting litigation with insurers on behalf of policyholders, Doug is also regularly consulted by clients in conducting reviews of existing and proposed insurance programs to advise them as to the scope of coverage afforded and to negotiate with insurers regarding the terms and conditions of proposed coverage.  He is often contacted by clients with respect to the insurance implications of corporate transactions, such as acquisitions, mergers, and divestitures, and frequently drafts language for inclusion in clients’ transactional contracts to address those issues.

Doug also has significant experience with respect to contract surety bonds, including assessment liability under those bonds and indemnity proceedings arising from paid losses, and general commercial litigation.

Publications

• "Katrina, Causation, and Coverage: Which Way Will The Wind Blow?", 41 TTIP Law Journal 885, ABA, (2006)
• "Conflicts of Interest and Litigation Experts", with F. Maloney, reprinted in the ABA Scientific Evidence Review: Current Issues at the Crossroads of Science, Technology and the Law, Monograph No. 7 (2005)
• “Conflicts of Interest and Litigation Experts,” with F.J. Maloney, paper presented at the mid-year meeting of the Property Insurance Law Committee of the American Bar Association, 4/14/2005
• “Coverage Issue Regarding the Y2K Computer Problem,” paper presented at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 3rd Annual Insurance Practice Institute (1999)
• Contributing author to the multi-volume treatise Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts, West Group & ABA (1998)
• "Suspect Classifications – A Suspect Analysis"

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania

Court Admissions

• State Supreme Court - New Jersey
• State Supreme Court - Pennsylvania
• U.S. Court of Appeals - Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court - District of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Professional Affiliations

• CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution Insurance Advisory Board, Member
• American Bar Association
• Philadelphia Bar Association