When I saw my colleague Mike Pappitoninio, who sponsors Mass Torts Made Perfect, started advertising for what must have been his first ever seminar on the intricacies of a property insurance policy, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Mass Tort Lawyers would start to file their lawsuits and ask the Federal Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the litigation.
This is a significant change. All the previous lawsuits filed could get swept up before one judge who will manage the litigation. Here is a copy of the petition for MDL treatment.
The number and quality of the lawsuits has also risen with the number of mass tort and class action firms entering the fray. Here are three such lawsuits which provide a much greater explanation why they believe the policyholders are entitled to relief:
1. Gio Pizzeria & Bar Hospitality v. Certain Underwiters at Lloyd’s
2. Café International Holding Company v. Chubb Limited
3. Truhaven Enterprises v. Chubb
I want to give a big shout out to John Houghtaling. Immediately after this tragedy, John filed the first lawsuit. Jonathan Wilkofsky and I talked about the driving force John has been for the new federal legislation. John has pushed other political leaders into a discussion about business income coverage and from day one has simply been working for policyholders suffering due to this tragedy. The recent lawsuits often cite news articles and political leaders as a result of John Houghtaling making the news or getting those leaders involved.
Cheers to John!
