Calfee Insurance Coverage Practice Partner Matthew A. Chiricosta was quoted in the October 24, 2024, Law360 Insurance Authority article, “Mixed Opioid Suit Rulings Complicate Disputes for Coverage.” The article discussed the variety of different outcomes in a myriad of recent insurance coverage litigation cases pitting opioid manufacturing and distributor policyholders against insurers.
Quoting the article, "'You really have a wildly divergent set of judicial rulings that are more or less looking at the same allegations, more or less the same policy language, and coming to wildly different results,' said Matthew Chiricosta of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP, who represents policyholders."
With differing outcomes in the courts, policyholders are currently exploring other insurance recovering options, such as professional liability policies offering D&O coverage or E&O coverage. But the defense costs alone in these types of cases may leave policyholders with little left to pay settlements or judgments.
"Calfee Halter's Chiricosta noted that defense costs erode policy limits. For companies facing hundreds or thousands of expensive, complex opioid-related suits, taking that path to coverage could amount to a long walk off a short pier."
The article's authors noted that several experts are closely watching the ongoing appeal of the Arkansas Walmart case as a possible trendsetter, which Matt Chiricosta believes could be the impetus for the next wave of coverage battles related to these opioid-related lawsuits.
Matt Chiricosta is one of 23 lawyers certified as insurance law specialists by the Ohio State Bar Association, and he is ranked in Band 3 in Ohio for Insurance Law by Chambers USA.
Read the full Law 360 article.
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