Farber, Brocks & Zane successfully represented the insurance carrier in securing a favorable appellate ruling that the insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify its insured bar/restaurant in an underlying action involving fatal injuries, based on a clear and unambiguous assault and battery exclusion in the policy. Drawing on the firm’s deep experience in insurance coverage litigation, Farber, Brocks & Zane crafted and presented persuasive legal arguments that led the Appellate Division to reject the notion that coverage could be triggered by the underlying plaintiff’s carefully worded pleadings. The court emphasized that the breadth of the exclusion could not be overridden to delay a coverage determination. It further agreed with the insurer that a ruling on the duty to defend need not await discovery in the personal injury action, reversing so much of the lower court’s decision that had improperly bound the carrier to a defense through the completion of discovery.
