Burns Bowen Bair Represents Afghan Asylees

Burns Bowen Bair has recently taken on a new pro bono project, representing three Afghan asylees who came to the United States via the Kabul airlift or shortly thereafter. Read more

Tim Burns Recognized Among Nation’s Top Attorneys by Chambers USA

Tim Burns, co-founder of Burns Bowen Bair, is one of only 30 attorneys named to the list of the premier trial lawyers in the nation in the area of Insurance Dispute Resolution by the 2022 edition of the elite Chambers USA legal directory. Read more

Objections Filed to Diocese Insurance Deal

The U.S. Trustee’s Office and two claimant groups filed objections to the proposed deal with the New Jersey Diocese and its insurers.  They argue the settlement should be incorporated into the Diocese’s Chapter 11 plan instead of settled separately.  The U.S. Trustee is claiming the deal is unreasonable and the two claimant groups argue that the deal would improperly force the claimants to give up their claims against insurance carriers and other parties.  The other claimant group of abuse survivors disagree and argued the settlement cannot release their claims because under New Jersey law, the bankruptcy of an insured party does not release insurers from policy liability.  “Thus, the statute contractually gives the survivors the opportunity to pursue claims directly against the insurers in the event insolvency of the Diocese prevents satisfaction of a judgment,” it stated.

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Law360 Features Tim Burns in “Attys Say State High Courts Should Weigh Covid Issues”

In putting together its recent COVID article, Law 360 reached out to Burns Bowen Bair’s own Tim Burns to weigh in on this issue.

Tim Burns of Burns Bowen Bair LLP, who counsels policyholders, described what’s going on at the Seventh and Sixth Circuits — another federal appellate court that has put out several rulings — like a dinner scene in the 1983 comedy film, “Reuben, Reuben” where an arrogant upper middle class type drones on to a Scottish poet about taking a speed-reading course.

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Tim Burns Speaks to Law360 On New Jersey Diocese Bankruptcy Case

In a roundup of top New Jersey cases to watch in the coming year, Law360 lists a Roman Catholic diocese in southern New Jersey whose clergy have been accused of sexual abuse. The case is currently being litigated in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, with the diocese attempting to declare some of its assets off limits.

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Restaurant Operator Argues for COVID-Related Insurance Relief

Law360 recently spoke to Burns Bowen Bair co-founder Tim Burns regarding a restaurant operator seeking relief from pandemic-related shutdown orders. The operator, Gavrilides Management Co. LLC, is seeking an appeal of a trial court’s July 2020 decision that said there needed to be tangible, physical damage to its properties in order to warrant coverage. Read more

Blue Bell Claims Insurer Has a Duty to Defend in Listeria Suit

Two Travelers units filed a declaratory action in June to avoid covering a 2017 shareholder suit against Blue Bell Creameries, filed in the wake of a listeria contamination. The two units — Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut  — cite exclusions in the ice cream maker’s commercial general liability policy in their bid for summary judgment. Read more

Hotels Argue for Insurance Coverage Before Seventh Circuit

A recent article in Law360 details several businesses, including a Ritz-Carlton in Texas and a Quality Inn in Illinois, arguing before a Seventh Circuit panel that they each had insurance coverage wrongly denied after suffering losses resulting from pandemic-related government shutdown orders.

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Pizza Companies Ask Eleventh Circuit to Reverse Virus Coverage Decisions

Attorneys Tim Burns, Jeff Bowen, Jesse Bair, and Freya Bowen are representing Gio Pizzeria & Bar Hospitality LLC of Coral Springs and Gio Pizzeria Boca of Boca Raton. The pizza companies recently asked the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a string of lower court decisions denying them insurance coverage after pandemic-related shutdown orders forced them to close their business.

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Native American Tribes Seek Pandemic-Related Relief

Several Native American tribes and nations have had difficulty obtaining insurance coverage after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them into closing resorts and casinos.

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