Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP

Kevin T. Coughlin (Irish Legal 2019), Karen H. Moriarty (Irish Legal 2015) and Patrick K. Coughlin (Irish Legal 2023) and all of Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP warmly congratulate our colleague, Laura Brady on being named to Irish Legal 100 (2024). "The Irish Legal 100, founded in 2008, is an annual compilation of the most distinguished legal professionals in the United States who share a common bond: pride in their Irish heritage".?Laura (Wefing) Brady; Kevin Coughlin; Karen Moriarty; Patrick Coughlin

Coughlin?Midlige?& Garland?LLP?is pleased to announce that 16 of the Firm's?attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2025 edition of?The Best Lawyers in America?. The Best Lawyers in America?, the oldest lawyer-rating publication in the United States, has been published since 1983 and is based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation in which attorneys cast votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their fields.?Corporate Counsel?magazine has called?Best Lawyers??"the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."? Their selection methodology is available?at: https://lnkd.in/dk2WvSe No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.) Below is a listing of the?Coughlin?Midlige?& Garland LLP's attorneys included in the?2025 edition. Lorraine M. Armenti Laura A. Brady Thomas E. Cohn William T. Corbett, Jr. Kevin T. Coughlin Patrick K. Coughlin David Farkouh Christopher S. Franges James B. Garland Michael Hrinewski Jill Lebowitz Suzanne C. Midlige Karen H. Moriarty Robert W. Muilenburg Adam M. Smith Pandora J. Thompson

New Jersey Appellate Court Enforces Capacity Exclusion in D&O Policy In a matter of first impression, CMG secured a victory for its insurer-client in New Jersey’s intermediate appellate court.?The decision, Mist Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Berkley Insurance Company, was handed down on July 9, 2024 and holds that a capacity exclusion in a Directors and Officers liability insurance policy precluded coverage for a claim in which the director of the insured entity was acting in a “dual capacity” based upon his role with a non-insured entity.?The decision represents a significant ruling for the insurance industry in New Jersey and manifests the New Jersey Court system's willingness to uphold unambiguous restrictions in coverage. One of the indispensable elements to implicate coverage under a D&O policy is the requirement that the alleged wrongful act giving rise to the claim be committed by an insured person in an insured capacity. In Mist, the director at issue had roles at the insured entity as well as a role at a number of related, uninsured entities. The D&O policy at issue included capacity restrictions in its definition of “wrongful act” as well as in its “capacity exclusion.”?The claim involved alleged self-dealing by the director of the insured entity by improperly inserting various entities that he controlled, including the insured entity, as “middleman” in certain transactions, resulting in the alleged diversion of assets from a non-insured entity in which he was also a director. The New Jersey appellate court held that the capacity exclusion was clear and unambiguous, and adopted the 11th Circuit’s reasoning from Langdale Co. v National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, 609 Fed.Appx. 578 (11th Cir. 2015), that if the claim would not exist “but for” the insured person’s status with a non-insured entity, the exclusion applies.?Specifically, the New Jersey court held that the claim against the insured entity arose from and could not have existed but for the director’s conduct in his capacity as a director of the non-insured entity.?Accordingly, the Court held that there was a sufficient basis to implicate the capacity exclusion and concluded that there was no coverage obligation under the D&O policy for the claim at issue. This decision is significant for insurers underwriting corporate entities in New Jersey.?Numerous claims address situations where an individual director or officer is acting in multiple capacities. The Mist decision clearly reflects that, under New Jersey law, the insurance provided by a D&O policy is only involved when the insured’s liability arises from situations in which an insured person is acting in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the insured company, not when their actions arise from the insured person's capacity for a noninsured entity. A copy of the decision is attached to this post

Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP is pleased to announce that Partner Patrick K. Coughlin has joined the NR2F1 Foundation Board as a Director. The NR2F1 Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to those living with rare variants on the Nr2f1 gene that cause a rare neurodevelopmental disorder called Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome (BBSOAS).?Patrick first became involved with the Foundation after his niece, Edith, was diagnosed with BBSOAS, and draws upon his experience as an attorney to advise the board and provide efficient strategies regarding how best to meet the Foundation’s legal needs.?He is proud to assist in the Foundation’s amazing work supporting BBSOAS patients and families and furthering research to identify effective treatments.?Foundation’s amazing work supporting BBSOAS patients and families and furthering research to identify effective treatments.?More information can be found at: https://nr2f1.org/.

Hope you can join us virtually on Thursday for an interesting discussion of critical coverage issues impacting CGL policies under New York law.

Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP is pleased to share that 11 of the Firm's attorneys have been selected to the 2024 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list in their respective practice areas. Of those, seven have been selected for inclusion in the 2024 list of New Jersey Super Lawyers; and four have been named as 2024 New Jersey Rising Stars. The Coughlin Midlige & Garland attorneys recognized by Super Lawyers with their selected practice areas, include: 2024 New Jersey Super Lawyers Lorraine M. Armenti?-?Insurance Coverage Maria A. Cestone - Estate & Probate Kevin T. Coughlin - Insurance Coverage James B. Garland -?Estate & Probate Jill Lebowitz - Estate & Probate Tanya M. Mascarich - Insurance Coverage Suzanne C. Midlige- Insurance Coverage 2024 New Jersey Rising Stars Patrick K. Coughnlin - Insurance Coverage James F. Layman - Insurance Coverage Michael T. Seeburger - Business Litigation Rachael M. Segal - Insurance Coverage Every year Super Lawyers selects attorneys from all firm sizes and over 70 practice areas?who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement throughout the United States. The annual selection process involves?a patented multiphase process that includes a?state-wide?survey of lawyers, peer nominations and evaluations, as well as independent research. Only five percent of eligible attorneys are selected to?Super Lawyers, and half of that percentage are included in the service’s?Rising Stars?list.?The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in?Super Lawyers Magazines?and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country.?Super Lawyers Magazines?also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in the practice of law.?For more information on the selection process visit: https://lnkd.in/e-FBKV2t

Learn from Adam Smith, Partner of Coughlin Midlige & Garland LLP and some of the best in the business at the Crittenden Medical Liability Conference in Charleston, SC. He and top executives from other companies will be speaking and networking at the conference. Register today at https://lnkd.in/dyKgB8Yg .? .? .? #MedMalConference #MedicalLiabilityLaw #HealthcareLaw #PatientSafety #RiskManagement #MedLaw