BatesCarey LLP is pleased to have been recognized as a "Best Law Firm" in U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" 2015 rankings. BatesCarey received this honor both with respect to the national rankings and the metropolitan Chicago rankings.

BatesCarey LLP was awarded these honors following a rigorous evaluation of firms in 74 nationally ranked practice areas and 120 metropolitan practice areas. The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" annual ranking was based on client and lawyer evaluations, peer review, information provided by law firms, and a new Law Firm Leaders Survey.

Jordon S. Steinway will present a 3-hour course to claims adjusters and risk managers on October 27, 2014 at the home office of Continental Western Group in Urbandale, Iowa. The program is sponsored by The Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, and will address the ability to analyze a claim based on good faith claim-handling practices and litigation strategies. The goal is to ensure that claim professionals and risk managers have a current and working knowledge of bad faith actions, trends, damages, and defenses. By using case studies to provide examples of bad faith outcomes, Jordon will construct a multi-jurisdictional framework for the content of the good faith claim file by identifying and discussing its common and necessary elements. In addition, the course will identify and discuss litigation strategies for defending bad faith claims from the perspective of the claim executive and front line claim professional as they work with defense counsel to achieve a favorable outcome in crucial litigation.

BatesCarey LLP is pleased to announce that Robert J. Bates, Jr. and Scott L. Carey were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2015. Selection to Best Lawyers® is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey of over 52,000 attorneys who vote for the leading attorneys in their practice area. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers® "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."

Who's Who Legal has named BatesCarey LLP partners Robert J. Bates Jr., Scott L. Carey, and Adam H. Fleischer as preeminent attorneys in the insurance and reinsurance field. Who's Who Legal based the selection on extensive peer research conducted by the London-based organization. The 2014 global listing included fewer than 600 attorneys worldwide, and Mssrs. Bates, Carey and Fleischer were 3 of only 28 attorneys selected from the State of Illinois. More information concerning Who's Who Legal can be found here.

Ommid C. Farashahi has been appointed as a General Committee Vice-Chair of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Professionals' Officers' and Directors' Liability Committee for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. The one-year term appointment comes with many responsibilities and obligations. The Committee meets several times a year, and is open to all 25,000 TIPS members. Further information regarding the ABA's Tort Trial and insurance Practice Section can be found here: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_trial_insurance_practice.html. Congratulations to Ommid!

Maria G. Enriquez has been selected as a Top Rated Lawyer in Chicago by the rating service, ALM. ALM rates top lawyers around the nation to be included in a magazine that is distributed with the Wall Street Journal, the American Lawyer, and the National Law Journal, among others. An online version of the magazine will also be available at www.law.com and www.chicagotribune.com. Congratulations Maria!

Maria G. Enriquez was honored and recognized by Martindale-Hubbell in its Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers. The American Registry at Martindale-Hubbell recognizes and rewards excellence with custom awards based on peer review ratings. Congratulations to Ms. Enriquez!

For 2014, Leading Lawyers announced that 11 partners at BatesCarey LLP were leading lawyers in the in the category of insurance coverage. Leading Lawyers is an independent rating service which gathers its list of honorees only after contact with thousands of lawyers in a given state. Lawyers are asked to rate which of their peers they believe comprise the top lawyers in their state in each practice area. Only those lawyers who are most often recommended qualify as Leading Lawyers. This honor is limited to less than five percent of all lawyers licensed to practice law in a given state.

Congratulations to this year's Leading Lawyers:

Robert J. Bates, Jr.
Arthur F. Brandt
Scott L. Carey
Maria G. Enriquez
Stanley V. Figura
Adam H. Fleischer
Maryann C. Hayes
Matthew M. Murphy
Joseph P. Pozen
John E. Rodewald
Mark G. Sheridan

Robert J. Bates, Jr. was elected as a founding member of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel ('ACCEC"). The ACCEC is composed of preeminent coverage and extracontractual counsel in the United States and Canada, representing the interests of both insurers and policyholders. The College is focused on the creative, ethical and efficient adjudication of insurance coverage and extra-contractual disputes, peer-provided scholarship, professional coordination and improvement of the relationship between and among our diverse members. The ACCEC held its Inaugural May Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

The U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, Finds That An Insured’s Defective Work Qualifies As An “Occurrence” Because The Policy Contains A Subcontractor Exception To The “Your Work” Exclusion

Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. R.I. Pools Inc., 11-3529-CV, 2013 WL 1150217 (2d Cir. Mar. 21, 2013)

On March 21, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the judgment of U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, finding that the district court failed to properly consider the impact of the subcontractor exception to the “your work” exclusion in a CGL policy.  The district court granted summary judgment to an insurer on the basis that the underlying construction defect lawsuits alleged only defects in the work itself and, therefore, did not allege an “occurrence” as defined in the policy.  The Second Circuit reversed, observing that the policy also contained an exception to the “your work” exclusion for work performed by subcontractors.  The court concluded that the existence of the subcontractor exclusion meant that the term “occurrence” must also include defects in the insured’s own work.