In a 90-minute video hearing before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, the firm’s Mark Lanier advocated for a national consolidation of the growing number of COVID-19-related business interruption claims against insurers.
Mr. Lanier told the seven-member panel that centralizing those cases in federal court would create a consistency among any differing interpretations of policy language.
“Leading the charge for a single, nationwide proceeding was Mark Lanier of the Lanier Law Firm, who told the JPML (in a phrase repeated by other plaintiffs’ lawyers who presented arguments) that all of these cases are governed by five words: ‘direct physical loss or damage,’” according to a Reuters article. Mr. Lanier, whose clients are seeking an MDL in the Northern District of Illinois, noted that those five words are a common thread running through these coverage disputes.
“By and large, every state has the same basic principle of contract interpretation, that you give plain and ordinary meaning to contractual terms,” said Mr. Lanier in Law360’s coverage of the hearing.
To read the Reuters article, go here.
To read Law360’s article (subscription required), go here.
