Insurance coverage

Charles M. Dalziel, Jr., at various times in his 39 year career, has been the primary insurance coverage lawyer for four different insurance companies in Georgia: Cincinnati Insurance Company; then after a law firm split, Auto-Owners Insurance Company; then after another law firm split, Employers Mutual Casualty Company; and finally, Montgomery Insurance Company( as to its education related policies). Dalziel has made creative use of declaratory judgment actions to cast a pall on what available insurance there might be for plaintiffs in significant cases, and obtained summary judgment of no coverage many times in smaller cases. He has also defended fire claims made under homeowners’ insurance policies in cases of suspected arson, and defended fire subrogation claims. In more recent years, Dalziel has helped policyholders (some small businesses, some giant businesses, some homeowners) claim coverage in disputed situations regarding D & O policies, EPLI policies, CGL policies, homeowners policies, business property policies and used car dealer bonds. Dalziel is a thought leader regarding the ability of parties involved in intellectual property litigation to access their available insurance coverage in defense of such claims.

Insurance Coverage Analysis Is Crucial When Someone or Some Entity Is Sued (And for that matter, when one is about to file suit)

When any incident is significant enough for litigation to be contemplated, and particularly when a Defendant is served with a suit, insurance coverage analysis is crucial. As a plaintiff in Georgia, pre-suit, one has a right to receive information about the insurance coverage the prospective defendants have. It’s easy to understand why personal injury lawyers want to sue doctors, hospitals, truck drivers and trucking companies. The case selection process tilts toward these defendants because they have millions, generally multiple millions, of dollars of insurance coverage. It makes Dalziel smile to see plaintiff’s lawyers talk about how they want to better society by taking on doctors and trucking companies, when reality is that insurance coverage in this range truth is lurking behind their public statements. In one of Dalziel’s cases involving a youth buying synthetic marijuana from a convenience store and then drowning in the home hot tub, the gasoline jobber, with $25 million in coverage, was very insistent that Dalziel, representing the convenience store through its insurer, immediately pay his limits. Its lawyer, from a major Atlanta defense firm, even credited affidavits the plaintiff’s lawyers had obtained from other plaintiff’s lawyers about the value of the case, in an effort to set Dalziel’s insurer up for a bad faith claim. Dalziel found a Georgia statute that actually prohibited his insurer’s paying a penny on the claim, and his insurer paid nothing. On the plaintiff’s side, Dalziel composed a team of lawyers to pursue a very long shot plaintiff’s case involving a permanent brain injury. This was after his partner handling the case had left Gregory Doyle to become a Cobb Superior Court Judge. Dalziel discovered that even though the insurer for one party had initially provided a defense to one of the defendants under the duty to defend portion of its policy, the insurer, again at the direction of another large Atlanta defense firm, withdrew the defense it had been providing. This screamed bad faith to Dalziel, and eventually the Georgia Supreme Court agreed, holding that the insurer incorrectly denied coverage on the ground it had used for the denial. By that time Dalziel’s team had a $16 million judgment against the defendant, positioning his team then to settle the case for an enormous sum which could be used to care for the injured party.

An Excellent Choice As an Insurance Coverage Lawyer, Whether You Are an Insurer or an Insured

Trying to escape coverage for an incident, trying to create coverage leverage for a nasty claim, trying to find coverage unexpected for a claim, trying to maximize recovery from the available coverage—Dalziel has done it all. He even worked on several coverage claims as a law clerk, so Dalziel has over 40 years of experience READING AND INTERPRETING insurance policies. That’s what’s crucial in insurance coverage cases. Dalziel not only can do this important work, he can do it fast. As coverage cases are published Dalziel stays on top of these breaking issues. Best of all, when you hire Dalziel, you get Dalziel. He doesn’t dump your case on a third year associate and go out to land more cases to help his origination. His ability becomes the client’s ability; his experience becomes the client’s experience; his judgment becomes the client’s judgment.

Related Claims

For many years in the various firms he has worked in and managed, at various times, Dalziel was the partner in charge of procuring the firm’s insurance. Thus, he has valuable practical experience about the insurance application process, and when a case can be made to rescind a policy for misrepresentation or non-disclosure. He has valuable legal experience in dealing with and escaping from Insurance Agent/ Broker E & O claims made by insureds, often in creative ways. And, he has valuable business experience, largely from his restrictive covenant practice, concerning agency/broker revenue streams, client relationships and the like, making him an excellent choice for litigation over transitioning employees.

LET DALZIEL LAW FIRM HELP YOU WITH YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE NEEDS AND HELP SOLVE YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE PROBLEMS.