Webster Szanyi, LLP partner Andrew Miller recently obtained a court order requiring a large insurance company to defend and indemnify his client, the former owner of an apartment building.
In the mid 1990’s, Mr. Miller’s clients owned a large apartment building in Buffalo, New York. Nearly twenty years after selling the building, they were sued by a tenant who alleged injuries stemming from exposure to lead-paint while living in the building as infants. Mr. Miller’s clients tendered the claim to their insurance carrier, which refused to provide insurance coverage on the grounds that the relevant insurance policy excluded claims arising from lead paint.
On behalf of his client, Mr. Miller commenced a lawsuit challenging the insurance carrier’s disclaimer of insurance coverage. Mr. Miller moved for summary judgment and argued that the language within the insurance policy’s lead paint exclusion was ambiguous and unclear; therefore, the exclusion was unenforceable. The trial court agreed with Mr. Miller’s arguments and ordered that insurance company to defend and indemnify Mr. Miller’s clients in the underlying lead paint lawsuit.