Handel, Julie Van

Michael Hamilton chairs the firm's National Insurance Coverage Group.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance coverage disputes, bad faith defense and commercial litigation. Mr. Hamilton has extensive trial and appellate practice experience in both state and federal courts. He represents insurers in all aspects of insurance coverage litigation, including claims involving construction defects, bankruptcy matters, and complex property and business interruption losses. Mr. Hamilton's expertise includes litigation involving intellectual property, e-commerce and other technology-related insurance claims. He also represents clients in complex commercial disputes, with an emphasis on class action and appellate litigation.

As a complement to his extensive litigation experience, Mr. Hamilton frequently publishes articles and gives speeches on critical issues affecting the insurance industry. In addition, he has recently achieved the following favorable results for his clients:

• Prevailed before the North Carolina Supreme Court on a multi-million dollar coverage dispute involving insurance coverage of false advertising, trademark infringement and other intellectual property claims.
• Served as trial and appellate co-counsel for a domestic insurer in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit in the World Trade Center Property Insurance Litigation, which involved attempts by leaseholder of the World Trade Center to recover insurance proceeds after September 11.
• Obtained a significant victory for the client and the insurance industry, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that claims for faulty workmanship do not constitute an occurrence under commercial general liability policies.
• Represented client before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, resulting in a ruling of first impression that self-insured commercial entities are not liable under Pennsylvania's bad faith statute.