Practice Areas and Results

We are proud of the success we have had for our clients. Our lawyers have delivered the following results for their clients.

Property Insurance Litigation

The lawyers at Yates Law Firm spend a considerable portion of their time working in property insurance coverage litigation—often referred to as “first party property insurance litigation.” The following is a list of successes that our lawyers have had for their clients in property insurance litigation.

• Obtained a trial verdict dismissing all claims against a national commercial property insurer, for breach of contract and bad faith that totaled over $8 million for damage to a hotel while it was under construction.  At trial, the court determined that the client  had no liability under the policy’s resulting loss coverage provisions.  The ruling was upheld on appeal, which is cited as:  Continental Cas. Co. v. Landmark Hotels, LLC, 184 Fed.Appx. 649 (9th Cir. (Cal.) 2006).  The opinion can also be viewed here.

• Obtained summary judgment in favor of national property insurance client, where the plaintiffs sought approximately $30 million dollars for alleged property damage and bad faith damages associated with a series of water damage events at a hotel.  The dismissal of all claims was affirmed on appeal; which is cited as:  CWCapital Asset Mgmt. LLC v. Wausau Bus. Ins. Co., No. 04-08-00457-CV, 2009 WL 1900413 (Tex. App.—San Antonio July 1, 2009, no pet.) (mem. op.).  The opinion can also be viewed here.

• In Lyon Metal Products, L.L.C. v. Protection Mut. Ins. Co., 321 Ill.App.3d 330, 747 N.E.2d 495 (Ill.App. 2001) we successfully defended a national property insurance client in a $5,000,000 insurance bad faith case brought by a large metal manufacturer in Illinois state court.  The bad faith claim was dismissed on the eve of trial and, following a two-week trial, the jury found in favor of the client on plaintiff’s claim for additional business interruption losses.

• Obtained dismissal of a case on summary judgment in favor of a national insurance carrier against plaintiff’s allegations of breach of contract and bad faith.  The dismissal of plaintiff’s claims under commercial crime insurance policy for employee embezzlement resolved the lawsuit with no liability for the client.  The Court’s opinion is cited as:  Wausau Bus. Ins. Co. v. US Motels Mgmt., Inc ., 341 F.Supp.2d 1180 (D. Colo. 2004).  The opinion can also be viewed here.

• Successful negotiation and resolution of litigation against a national commercial property insurer.  The plaintiff sought approximately $1 million for retaining walls that failed because of defects in soils engineering, design, and construction.  A declaratory judgment action sheltered the client from potential additional exposure and attorney fees, allowing the matter to be resolved for only a small fraction of the damages sought by the plaintiff.

• Resolved, without litigation, a dispute for a former Denver Bronco after he was initially denied insurance coverage for substantial water damage to his home.  Coverage for the client was obtained by negotiated agreement and the client received full recovery for the damage.

• Negotiated through mediation a substantial settlement for a media company that sued  its insurance broker for negligence after the client suffered a fire loss of over $6 million that was inadequately covered by its property insurance program.

• Pursued appraisal, rather than litigation, for clients in multiple insurance cases to resolve or narrow disputed issues.  For example, by successfully moving courts to stay litigation while appraisal is conducted, clients have been able to reduce the risk and cost associated with determining such issues in litigation.

Construction Litigation

• Achieved a favorable resolution for a university in litigation over claims for construction and design defects following damage to a building after a large snowstorm, where the contractor and architect’s motions to enforce contractual waiver provisions were defeated.

• Obtained arbitration award of treble damages and attorneys’ fees on behalf of a contractor in dispute over delayed construction where owner refused payment due to weather related complications.

Products Liability Litigation

• Obtained multi-million dollar settlement for a national company in a lawsuit involving mechanical failure resulting from a defective system that shut down a large mining operation.  The settlement was secured after defendant’s two unsuccessful  appeals  to the Supreme Court of Nevada.

• Obtained favorable resolution for a Denver manufacturing company that sued for improper installation and maintenance of electrical equipment that resulted in substantial property damage and lost manufacturing production.

• Obtained a settlement in excess of $12 million for the Colorado Department of Transportation in a products liability case against Dow Chemical Company arising out of the use of the defective product Sarabond, a masonry mortar additive, in the Eisenhower Tunnel, which carries Interstate 70 under the Continental Divide in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway system.

Environmental Litigation:

• Obtained multi-million dollar settlement for the City of Denver in City and County of Denver v. Adolph Coors, Inc., et al. for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or “Superfund,” claims against 38 potential responsible parties seeking costs of cleanup of the Lowry Landfill site.  On the day before trial, the defendants agreed to pay the City for over eighty percent of the cost of cleanup.

• Representation of the City and County of Denver in a CERCLA matter for costs of cleanup of a Superfund site against 23 defendants.   The plaintiff had requested $68 million damages in the case.

• Settlement of a CERCLA case in western Michigan resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a multi-party group of potential responsible parties.

Personal Injury and Liability Defense Litigation

• Obtained summary judgment for a landowner who was sued for several million dollars as a result of a livestock/automobile collision.  The court agreed that the landowner owed no duty to the plaintiff.

• Negotiated successful resolution to claims against library board members who were sued by a terminated library employee.  The locally publicized lawsuit alleged, among other things, infliction of emotional distress.

Appellate and Written Advocacy

• Briefed and argued to the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals a take-nothing summary judgment in favor of a major property insurance client against a plaintiff who sought approximately $30 million for alleged property damage and bad faith.  The Court  affirmed the trial court’s decision in its opinion cited as CWCapital Asset Mgmt. LLC v. Wausau Bus. Ins. Co., No. 04-08-00457-CV, 2009 WL 1900413 (Tex. App.—San Antonio July 1, 2009, no pet.) (mem. op.).

• Briefed an appeal  challenging a trial court’s dismissal of a a national trade association.  The Texas Third Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision in the opinion cited as Botter v. Am. Dental Ass’n, 124 S.W.3d 856 (Tex. App.—Austin 2003, no pet.). 

• Prepared successful federal court brief in support of an injunction, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, to allow a disabled golfer to try to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open.

Administrative Litigation

• Obtained an injunction for a national fundraising company against the Texas Comptroller over its sales tax policy involving brochure fundraising, which was affirmed on appeal.  See Combs v. Entm’t Publ’ns, Inc., 292 S.W.3d 712 (Tex. App.—Austin 2009, no pet.).

• Favorably litigated and resolved for a national funeral home company a state agency significant administrative penalties.

• Successfully litigated and negotiated resolutions for clients against whom the Texas Comptroller had obtained default judgments for sales and franchise taxes.

Fiduciary and Probate Litigation

• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a client who sought to probate her father’s will.  The client faced a will contest in which the contestant alleged, among other things, that the will was a forgery, that the testator lacked testamentary capacity, and that the testator had undue influence exerted upon him.  The Court ordered that the will contestant take nothing, and awarded significant sanctions against the contestant.  The Texas Third Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s judgment in its opinion cited as Pool v. Diana, No. 03-08-00363-CV, 2010 WL 1170234 (Tex. App.—Austin March 24, 2010, no pet. h.) (mem. op.) (Patterson, J., concurring and dissenting on additional sanctions imposed by appellate court). 

• Obtained through mediated negotiation a successful settlement on behalf of client who challenged the validity of a will.

• Obtained a settlement on behalf of a charitable foundation, as well as other successful representation of fiduciary matters, including trustees, executors, and a charitable foundation.

Real Estate Litigation

• Obtained jury verdict in favor of client in a partnership dispute between real estate developers.  The jury agreed that defendant had wrongfully foreclosed and awarded the client all damages sought, which totaled approximately $500,000.

• Negotiated a settlement of over $1 million on behalf of a real estate development company that sued to enforce its rights to purchase a large commercial lot.

• Successfully resolved a dispute over the purchase of a condominium in Aspen, Colorado.  Negotiated successful resolutions to other commercial real estate purchase and lease disputes.