Insurance Defense

For over 40 years, Roberts, Carroll, Feldstein & Peirce’s Insurance Defense team has represented dozens of insurance companies and self-insureds in hundreds of matters in the state and federal courts of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as through arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Our focus is always to provide a cost effective defense. By carefully analyzing and evaluating the merits and risk of exposure at the very outset of a case, our attorneys help clients decide whether negotiating a resolution or mounting a vigorous defense is the right plan of action.

We also provide coverage advice to carriers and monitor high-profile litigation.

Representative Matters

  • Obtained summary judgment, which was affirmed on appeal, on behalf of client insurer in an insurance coverage dispute.  The insured sought independent counsel, at the insurer’s expense, as a result of an alleged conflict of interest arising from the insurer’s reservation of rights to deny punitive damages coverage.  However, the Court agreed with the insurer, finding that a mere “adversarial communication,” as opposed to a lawsuit, did not trigger an insurer’s duty to defend.  See Quality Concrete Corp. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am., No. 2010-263-Appeal, slip op., 2012 WL 1267790 (R.I. Apr. 16, 2012) available at the Court’s website.
  • In the spring of 2011, successfully defended an accountant in a lengthy jury trial in which the plaintiff claimed that he lost his business because of employee embezzlement
  • Represented carrier in declaratory judgment action involving uninsured motor vehicle coverage where plaintiff sought determination that policy limits were $1,000,000, as opposed to the $50,000 which the insurer maintained were at issue.
  • Obtained summary judgment for client warehouse, and recovered all attorneys’ fees and defense costs under indemnity agreement, in case involving personal injuries caused by goods which fell from truck during unloading.
  • Prevailed on summary judgment motion for insurer, in federal court coverage dispute involving parachutist colliding with rotating airplane propeller, based upon policy exclusion for airport-related activities.
  • Represented elevator manufacturer in case where plaintiff claimed a malfunctioning door trapped her arm causing severe injuries.
  • Represented title insurer in case involving misappropriated funds from real estate refinance transaction, investigated bank records to trace disposition of funds, and negotiated return of substantial portion of funds from transferee.
  • Prevailed in products liability claim brought against the distributor of a well-known imported beer.