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The tragedy of loss of human life and damage to the environment when discussing the BP Oil Spill cannot be overstated. The important role that accountants and business interruption experts will play helping prove financial loss cannot be overstated either. Experienced professionals like Bob Glasser, noted in yesterday’s Are Lawyers Pandering for BP Oil Spill Clients Going to Get Sued for Malpractice in Follow-up Class Actions? A Guest Blog Regarding Business Claims By Bob Glasser Explains and Guest Blogger Bruce Smith, who wrote The Forensic Accountant’s Role In Business Interruption And Business Income Claims, should be in high demand from businesses and entities that lose revenue and income as a result of this oil spill. Attorneys presenting these lost income claims should consider hiring such individuals as consultants and financial expert witnesses.…

Continue Reading Accountants and Business Interruption Experts Will Play an Important Role Recovering BP Oil Spill Income Loss Claims

(Note: This Guest Blog is by Michelle Claverol, an attorney with Merlin Law Group in the Coral Gables, Florida, office. This is the part of a series she is writing on business interruption claims). 

New York-based drugstore chain, Duane Reade, must feel like it is Ground Hog Day every time their attorneys call to give status on their case against St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Duane Reade, recently acquired by Walgreens, owns and operates 200 drugstores in and around New York City, including 124 in Manhattan. Duane Reade has been battling its carrier for almost 8 years in a protracted insurance coverage dispute arising from the September 11, 2001, destruction of its single most profitable store, formerly located on the main concourse of the World Trade Center. After a bench trial, four Federal District Court opinions, an appraisal and two appeals, the business interruption saga finally came to an end.…

Continue Reading The Duane Reade Saga — Understanding Business Interruption Claims, Part 16

(Note: This Guest Blog is by Michelle Claverol, an attorney with Merlin Law Group in the Coral Gables, Florida, office. This is the part of a series she is writing on business interruption claims). 

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” – Oscar Wilde

I picked up a couple of pointers worth sharing in an article published by the University Risk Management and Insurance Association titled, "Case Study-Business Interruption: An Exposure by Many Names," by William Austin, et al., (2005). The article examined a case study similar to what some academic institutions near the Gulf Coast experienced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The business interruption case study, however, was analyzed in a scenario where a catastrophic fire damaged a state of the art research facility at a higher education institution that thrived on revenue from its prestigious research and development programs.…

Continue Reading Learning from Other’s Mistakes — Understanding Business Interruption Claims, Part 15

(Note: This Guest Blog is by Michelle Claverol, an attorney with Merlin Law Group in the Coral Gables, Florida, office. This is the part of a series she is writing on business interruption claims).  

Several weeks ago, in a blog titled To Consider the Economy, or Not to? ‘That is the Question’, I examined two diverging legal views regarding the use of post-loss market conduct in business interruption claims. In that blog, I borrowed information from an article published in the July/August 2009 issue of Coverage titled “Measuring Business Interruption Loss in Wide-Impact Catastrophes: Insurance Against Catastrophes or Only Against Insured Damage from Catastrophes?” by Richard Chattman and Gregory Miller and I explained that:…

Continue Reading Post-Loss Market Earnings Ignored in Mississippi – Understanding Business Interruption Claims, Part 14

In general, business interruption insurance is intended to return to the insured’s business the amount of profit it would have earned, had there been no interruption of the business or suspension of its operations….
Continue Reading Consequential Loss Exclusions – Understanding Business Interruption Claims, Part 13

In this business, everyone has their own style of “working a claim.” There are, however, healthy techniques of claim presentation that practitioners should follow to effectively present a business interruption claim….
Continue Reading Strategies for Claim Resolution — Understanding Business Interruption Coverage, Part 12

In these tough economic times, many businesses are looking to cut expenses and trim their budgets. While it is tempting to reduce insurance coverage to minimize operating costs, business owners should not skimp on insurance protection to trim budgets….
Continue Reading In Tough Economic Times, Extra Expense Coverage Should Survive Budget Cuts – Understanding Business Interruption Claims, Part 11

I represented a Houston based hotel management company last spring regarding Hurricane Ike insurance claim disputes with eleven hotels they owned or managed in Texas. Some cases simply go right, and this one settled after two months. My client’s owners went out of their way to call to my attention that managers in the hospitality and real estate management business needed to be taught about the insurance claim game. The next thing I knew, they were putting a phone to my ear and I was talking to Stephen Barth of HospitalityLawyer.com.…

Continue Reading The Hospitality Industry Has Significant Insurance Coverage Issues: Lessons Taught at the 2010 Hospitality Law Conference

In general, business interruption coverage is supposed to provide the capital needed to sustain a business while its operations are suspended as a result of damage caused by a covered peril….
Continue Reading How does the Period of Restoration Affect the Valuation of a Business Interruption Claim? Florida Valuation Issues, Part 10