A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Illinois Supreme Court Deciding a Routine Duty To Defend Insurance Coverage Case
Presented by: Jeffrey S. Youngerman Esquire, of Flaherty & Youngerman PC
On November 30, 2023 the Illinois Supreme Court rejected decades of lower court decisions refusing to find insurance coverage for general contractors, developers and subcontractors under their standard CGL polices when they were sued for property damage arising out of construction defects. Illinois has joined the much more insurance coverage friendly majority view adhered to by most of the rest of the country. While the ruling does not mean all repair costs will be covered by insurance, it will likely result in valuable coverage in many situations.  For example, it will pay for lawyers to defend you, and will likely pay for the damages your work causes to other parts of the project other than your work.  Some insurers remove this kind of coverage by slipping in a special endorsement you would not necessarily recognize.  If you are an owner of a building this ruling may make a big difference in whether you are able to make a recovery from the contractor whose faulty work damaged your building. If you are a forensic architect or engineer investigating building damages, you need to know how to document conditions to maximize the owners’ potential insured recovery.  If you are an insurance broker you need to advise your clients on available coverages, and possibly seek resubmittal of existing claims.
 About the Presenter
 For over 25 years Jeffrey S. Youngerman Esquire, of Flaherty & Youngerman PC has litigated construction and professional liability issues on behalf of or against Owners, Developers, Contractors, Architects and Engineers primarily in multi-party defect claims and related insurance coverage litigation. He has handled numerous appeals involving construction law including appearing twice before the Illinois Supreme Court in groundbreaking rulings on enforceability of arbitration clauses in multi-party litigation and warranty law. He has been a speaker on construction law for various organizations, including consulting with local media for construction related stories like the 2003 Chicago deck collapse. He is a member of ASTM E06 on Performance of Buildings.  For many years he served as an instructor for Lorman Education Services teaching a class on construction law and risk management to Architects and Engineers. For decades he argued for Illinois to join the majority view in favor of insurance coverage for construction defect damage. On November 30, 2023 the Illinois Supreme Court agreed with him, joining the majority view. The Illinois Supreme Court relied on his detailed coverage triggering allegations in the underlying construction defect complaint he prepared resulting in this landmark shift in insurance coverage law expected to benefit Owners, General Contractors, and Sub-contractors for years to come.
This meeting will take place at:
Waterview
350 W Wolff Point Plaza
15th Floor,
Chicago, IL 60654
The committee meeting will start at the usual time 5:00 pm in the Waterview Lounge with drinks and appetizers. At 6:00 pm we will adjourn to the LaSalle Room for our business meeting and technical presentation.
Do you have a program you would like to share with the committee, please feel free to reach out to our program coordinator at jose.estrada@clarkdietrich.com
