Andrew J. Muha

Andy is a member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group. For over 20 years he has represented policyholders in matters involving issues and disputes under a variety of insurance coverages, including general liability, excess liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, employers’ liability, employment practices liability, crime and employee defalcation, and cyber liability. In this role, he has helped clients recover hundreds of millions of dollars of insurance coverage through both litigation and the negotiation of insurance claim settlements, policy buy-backs by insurers, and coverage-in-place agreements. He has also provided advice to clients on contractual indemnification and other means of risk management beyond insurance provided by third parties, and he has counseled clients on insurance and risk management issues arising in mergers, acquisitions, and other combinations of business entities.

Experience

Representative matters

In re ON Marine Services Company, LLC, No. 20-20007-CMB (Bankr. W.D. Pa.): Counsel for the debtor in a chapter 11 case intended to resolve all existing asbestos claims against the debtor and cancel the debtor’s corporate existence

In re Purdue Pharma L.P., No. 19-23649 (RDD) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.): Special insurance coverage counsel for the debtors, manufacturers of opioid painkillers, in one of the largest chapter 11 cases in U.S. history. Tasked with addressing certain insurers’ objections to “insurance neutrality” provisions in the debtors’ chapter 11 plan on the eve of the confirmation hearing. Successfully resolved the objecting insurers’ evidentiary objections for the confirmation hearing. The bankruptcy court rejected the insurers’ “insurance neutrality” objections in confirming the debtors’ plan.

In re Dravo LLC Subchapter G Dissolution, GD No. 18-10151 (Ct. Comm. Pleas Allegheny Cty., Pa.): Insurance recovery counsel for a dissolved limited liability company. Assisted a dissolved company with recovering proceeds under excess insurance policies to fund the runoff of asbestos claims asserted prior to the statutory bar date as part of a statutory dissolution proceeding under Pennsylvania law.

In re The Fairbanks Company, No. 18-41768-PWB (Bankr. N.D. Ga.): Counsel for the debtor in a chapter 11 case in which the bankruptcy court confirmed a reorganization plan that included a § 524(g) asbestos claims trust. Represented the debtor in litigation with the insurers over the debtor’s claims for insurance coverage and the insurers’ claims against the estate. Negotiated settlements with the objecting insurers that were approved as part of the plan confirmation process and provided funding for the section 524(g) trust.

In re Oakfabco, Inc., No. 15-27062 (Bankr. N.D. Ill.): Counsel for the debtor in a chapter 11 case in which the bankruptcy court confirmed a plan that included a non-§ 524(g) trust to resolve all existing asbestos claims against the debtor and provided for cancellation of the debtor’s corporate existence. Negotiated settlements with the insurers that resolved various issues (including lost policy issues) and litigated the bankruptcy court approval of settlements over objections by asbestos claimants.

In re Rapid-American Corp., No. 13-10687 (DSJ) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.): Counsel for the debtor in a chapter 11 case in which the bankruptcy court confirmed a plan that included a non-§ 524(g) trust to resolve all existing asbestos claims against the debtor and that provided for cancellation of the debtor’s corporate existence.

In re North American Refractories Co., No. 02-20158-JKF (Bankr. W.D. Pa.) and In re Global Industrial Technologies, No. 02-21626-JKF (Bankr. W.D. Pa.): Counsel for the debtors in two related chapter 11 cases that involved the creation of § 524(g) asbestos trusts with participation by non-debtor third-party former parent entities of the debtors. Litigated with various insurers who objected to the confirmation of the chapter 11 plans and negotiated (and received bankruptcy court approval for) several insurance settlement agreements that funded the reorganization structure. After 11 years of litigation, obtained confirmation of the chapter 11 plan in Global Industrial Technologies for both a § 524(g) trust for asbestos claims and a § 105(a) trust for silica claims.

In re Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, No. 00-22876-JKF (Bankr. W.D. Pa.): Counsel for the debtor in a 16-year chapter 11 case that posed complex issues involving the scope of relief available for non-debtor shareholders of the debtor under §§ 105(a) and 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code, as well as the nature and viability of objections to the plan confirmation by the non-settling excess insurers of non-debtor shareholders. Litigated various issues throughout the history of the case, including the trade committee’s appeal of the order establishing a fund dedicated exclusively to asbestos claimants’ recoveries, confirmation of the chapter 11 plan, district court affirmation of the bankruptcy court’s order confirming the plan under § 524(g), and appeals of confirmation and affirmation orders to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Recognitions

Selected through peer review for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© for Insurance Law, 2024-2025

Credentials

Education

The George Washington University Law School, 2001, J.D., with high honors; Order of the Coif, Managing Editor, The George Washington Law Review – Andrew’s case note on GTE New Media Svcs Inc. v. BellSouth Corp., 199 F.3d 1343 (D.C. Cir. 200), was published in Vol. 69
Allegheny College, 1998, B.A., Economics, summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa; Economics Senior Project Prize for outstanding senior thesis in economics (1998)