BKB Co-Sponsors the 2009 Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference.
Bovis, Kyle & Burch is delighted once again to participate in sponsoring the Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference. The 2009 meeting will be held on April 29, 2009 to May 1, 2009 at Clearwater, Florida.
Jack Burch will speak about subdivision bonds. In addition, Jack Burch, Tim Burson and Christina Craddock will present a workshop on deposition witness behavior.
David Smith Wins Appeal in Late-Notice Coverage Case
David Russell Smith, a partner in our insurance coverage section, recently won an appeal on a late-notice coverage case. In Advocate Networks, LLC v. Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Case No.: A08A2409, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment for a liability carrier in a case where the insured waited four months before sending a copy of a lawsuit to its carrier. The insured argued that a jury question existed on whether it had a reasonable excuse for the late notice. The complaint had not been served on the insured, and the insured argued that it reasonably thought it could convince the plaintiff to dismiss the suit before it was served and needed to be answered. The insured further argued that the policy's standard notice provisions were ambiguous in that, on the one hand, the policy required the insured to provide notice of a lawsuit "as soon as practicable," but on the other hand, copies of lawsuits were required to be "immediately" sent to the insurer.
The Court of Appeals rejected the insured's arguments, noting that the insured was essentially arguing that it was not liable, which was not an excuse for failing to provide proper notice of a lawsuit. The Court also held the policy's notice provisions were unambiguous. These provisions required different types of notice depending on what the insured knew.
Advocate Networks v. Hartford confirms that an insurance carrier need not prove prejudice in order to deny coverage for a breach of a policy's notice provisions. It also demonstrates that Georgia courts will apply clearly-written policy language even when it results in the insured losing coverage.
Gregory T. Presmanes inducted as Fellow into The College of Workers Compensation Lawyers
Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC announced that Gregory T. Presmanes, partner, will be inducted as a fellow into The College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers at the Mid Winter American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Conference, in March 2009, in New Orleans. Fellowship is extended by invitation only to workers' compensation attorneys who have demonstrated the highest professional qualifications, ethical standards, highest level of character, integrity, professional expertise and leadership, as well as sustained, exceptionally high-quality services and distinguished accomplishments in their field. At the American Bar Association's New Orleans Conference, he will be speaking on return to work issues in workers' compensation cases, and at the SEAK National Occupational Medicine and Workers' Compensation Seminar in Cape Cod, MA, in July 2009, on what employers can do to control their exposure and costs by offering light duty work. Additionally, Presmanes has once again been selected as a 2009 Georgia Super Lawyer by his peers, placing him in the top 5% of Georgia attorneys every year since 2004.
Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC announced that Wayne S. Tartline, associate, has become registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Tartline will continue expanding his practice to include all varieties of intellectual property services, including infringement litigation, advertising injury defense, patent prosecution and trademark and copyright protection and counseling.
Benjamin A. Leonard named of Counsel
Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC proudly announced that Benjamin A. Leonard was named of counsel effective February 2, 2009, continuing his practice of workers’ compensation defense. Leonard was also named a Georgia Super Lawyer 2009 Rising Star, placing him in the top 2.5% of all Georgia attorneys under the age of 40. When not practicing law, he also serves on the Volunteer Committee of the Georgia Kids Chance Association, which provides college scholarships for children of workers who are maimed or killed in industrial accidents. Since 2005, under Leonard's guidance as Race Director for "Kids Chance 5K" annual road race, the scholarship fund has benefited by more than $100,000. Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC welcomes Leonard to the firm, which is located at 200 Ashford Center North, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30338; 770-391-9100; Fax 770-668-0878; www.boviskyle.com. After 36 years at 53 Perimeter Center East, Bovis, Kyle & Burch has moved to accommodate present and future growth. The new offices are located at 200 Ashford Center North, Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30338-2668. The new offices are located on Ashford Dunwoody Road, about 1 ¼ miles north of the old office.
Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC Moves to New Office Space
After 36 years at 53 Perimeter Center East, Bovis, Kyle & Burch has moved to accommodate present and future growth. The new offices are located at 200 Ashford Center North, Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30338-2668. The new offices are located on Ashford Dunwoody Road, about 1 ¼ miles north of the old office.
Greg Veal Successfully Defends Two Financial Institution Bond Claims
Greg successfully defended St. Paul Travelers against a financial institution bond claim seeking accrued interest on fraudulent promissory notes in Citizens Bank & Trust v. St. Paul Mercury (U.S.D.C., S.D. Ga. 2007). The bank sought to recover over $568,000 in "interest" carried on its books as having accrued on completely fictitious "loans" made up by a dishonest officer to cover his embezzlements. (The insurer had paid the principal amounts embezzled.) The district judge agreed with St. Paul Travelers that the cash-out-the-door loss, not the bank's bookkeeping entries, established the loss covered under the policy. The court actually awarded the insurer a refund of over $89,000 overpaid on the principal loss due to unaccounted recoveries by the insured bank. This decision helps to resolve the issue of claimed accrued interest on fraudulent rollover notes, on which only a handful of courts had ruled with mixed results.
Greg also obtained summary judgment in favor of Federal Insurance Company on claims for loan losses based on forged faxes and fraudulently obtained replacement vehicle titles in Alliance National Bank v. Federal Insurance Co. (U.S.D.C., N.D. Ga. 2008). Before motions, the insured bank was persuaded to drop its bad-faith, D&O, and certain other claims. Left for summary judgment were just two claims. The bank's loss based on loans supported only by faxed manufacturer's statements of origin bearing forged signatures was not covered because the bond required originals. Loans supported by original vehicle titles were not covered even though the borrower sold the collateral using replacement titles fraudulently induced from the state; no documents were forged. The court ruled in favor of the insurer just seven hours after submission of the summary judgment motion. This case reaffirms the scope of the financial institution bond where faxes (not originals) and fraud (but not forgery) are involved.
Jimmy Singer Elected President of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association
Jimmy Singer was recently elected president of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association. The GDLA is an association of Georgia attorneys who devote a substantial amount of their professional time to handling litigated cases and whose representation of such cases is primarily for the defense.
Greg Presmanes Named Treasurer of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section
Greg Presmanes has been named treasurer of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Section, and will continue his services as a member of the Board of Directors, where he has served for the past six years.
Wayne Tartline Obtains Primary Custody for Father
Wayne recently represented a father who was not married to the mother of his child. Wayne succeeded in legitimizing the father and obtaining primary custody of his son for him.
David Smith Wins Summary Judgment in Two Coverage Cases
David convinced a federal judge in the Southern District of Georgia to dismiss a $400,000 fire loss by proving that his client, a property insurer, had properly cancelled its policy before the loss. The insured argued that it had not received the cancellation notice and that the insurer should have notified the mortgage holder on its property. Unfortunately for the insured, the mortgage holder was not named on the policy.
David convinced a superior court judge from Gwinnet County, Georgia that a five-month delay in providing a liability carrier with a copy of a lawsuit did not comply with a liability policy’s requirement that the insured “immediately” send copies of all lawsuits to the carrier. The suit had not actually been served on the insured, but it had received a courtesy copy of the suit. The insured argued that whether the late notice breached the policy’s conditions should have been a jury question, since the suit had not been served.
Scott Busby and Ron Negin Settle Subrogation Claim for More than $1 Million
This claim concerned a fire at a plant with conflicting claims regarding causation. Bovis, Kyle & Burch prides itself on being willing to aggressively litigate subrogation matters to a successful resolution. The firm is willing to consider handling large-loss subrogation matters of all kinds on a contingent fee basis, on an hourly basis, or by a hybrid-fee agreement involving a reduced hourly rate and additional fee contingent upon a successful recovery.
Fidelity & Surety Group co-sponsors 19th Annual Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference
The Fidelity & Surety practice group co-sponsored the 19th Annual Southern Surety & Fidelity Claims Conference in Charleston, S.C. on April 9-12. On Thursday morning, Greg Veal co-presented statutory bonds and insurance along with Larry DeVos of Zurich, NA and Chris Indelicato of Liberty Mutual Group. On Thursday afternoon, Greg also moderated the fidelity track of the conference, during which Tim Burson co-presented judicial expansion of the probate surety’s obligation along with Toni Hotzel of State Farm Fire & Casualty. On Friday morning, Jack Burch and Marc Bardack, along with Wayne Walton of Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, presented a three-hour surety law update covering most of the significant cases from the past year.
Bovis, Kyle & Burch Super Lawyers
BKB is pleased to announce that Jack Burch and Greg Presmanes have been selected as 2008 Super Lawyers, putting them in the top 5% of attorneys in Georgia. Since the program began in 2004, Greg Presmanes has been named a Super Lawyer every year by his peers. Ron Negin was selected as a “Rising Star” Super Lawyer in 2007.