Executive Risk Indemnity Inc. v. Hamilton

OPINION OF THE COURT

Saxe, J.

The law firm Pepper Hamilton and one of its members, W. Roderick Gagné, were deprived of millions of dollars in professional liability insurance coverage purchased by the firm, by the order of the motion court declaring that the three excess insurance carriers have no obligation to indemnify the firm. The court reasoned that because the law firm knew of misconduct on the part of its client, and of the likelihood that claims would be made against the firm itself based upon its representation of that client while the misconduct took place, it had an obligation to…