News: In the News
Insurer Must Defend Shooter's Estate, Pa. Justices Told
Offit Kurman Client Featured in Law360
By Matt Fair, Law360
Law360 (November 9, 2018, 7:32 PM EST) -- A man who was injured in a scuffle as he walked in on a murder-suicide is urging Pennsylvania's highest court to uphold a decision finding that Erie Insurance Exchange was responsible for the cost of defending the gunman's estate in a lawsuit over the incident.
Richard Carly, who said he was inadvertently shot as he struggled with Harold McCutcheon after McCutcheon murdered his ex-wife, argued in a brief on Thursday that Erie had based its bid to avoid coverage on a “self-serving” interpretation of the shooting as an intentional act despite the clear allegations in his complaint that the gun had discharged by accident.
Carly is represented by Meghan Finnerty of Offit Kurman PA.
"Said Ms. Finnerty, 'At its heart, this is a duty to defend case about whether the insurance company has to accept the well pled facts as true, or whether they can choose to disbelieve those facts if the policyholder's alleged accidental conduct was committed in close proximation to a separate crime. Decades of settled Pennsylvania precedent says Erie is required to accept the allegations of the Complaint as true.'"
ABOUT MEGHAN FINNERTY
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Ms. Finnerty is a commercial litigator with a varied practice, with an emphasis on assisting corporate and nonprofit policyholders as they navigate disputes with their insurance companies. Ms. Finnerty also has significant experience assisting companies in products liability and construction accident litigation. She has represented companies in fields such as energy, finance, construction, manufacturing and retail in commercial litigation disputes, and regularly serves as a sounding board for manufacturing clients on a wide variety of legal issues including, insurance losses, risk management, contractual indemnity, employee theft and collection issues.
Additionally, Ms. Finnerty analyzes available insurance coverage for her clients under environmental, boiler & machinery, professional, D&O, EPLI and commercial general liability policies when a company suffers a loss or is named as a defendant in litigation
ABOUT OFFIT KURMAN
Offit Kurman is one of the fastest-growing, full-service law firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. With over 180 attorneys offering a comprehensive range of services in virtually every legal category, the firm is well positioned to meet the needs of dynamic businesses and the people who own and operate them. Our twelve offices serve individual and corporate clients in the Virginia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City regions. At Offit Kurman, we are our clients’ most trusted legal advisors, professionals who help maximize and protect business value and personal wealth. In every interaction, we consistently maintain our clients’ confidence by remaining focused on furthering their objectives and achieving their goals in an efficient manner. Trust, knowledge, confidence—in a partner, that’s perfect.
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