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Michael is a of counsel at the Boston office of Morrison Mahoney, where he chairs the firm’s complex insurance claims resolution group. For the past four decades, he has represented insurers and reinsurers in disputes around the country concerning the application of liability insurance policies to commercial claims involving intellectual property disputes, environmental and mass tort claims and construction defect litigation as well as bad faith claims arising out of such disputes. Michael has also served as an AAA-certified arbitrator in numerous insurance coverage matters and has testified as an expert in matters involving coverage and reinsurance issues arising out of such claims. He has taken a leading role in the major defense bar associations, including DRI, FDCC and IADC and is a founding member and Immediate Past-President of the American College of Coverage Counsel, a peer-reviewed group of the pre-eminent insurance lawyers in the United States and Canada.
Michael has delivered over a hundred papers on issues relating to insurance coverage, bad faith, emerging liability topics and, most recently, cognitive issues involving the reading of digital briefs by appellate judges; cyber-threats to the U.S. energy grid and the potential impact of the American Law Institute’s Restatement of Law, Liability Insurance on the scope and prosecution of insurance coverage and bad faith claims in the United States.
Noteworthy Accomplishments
- Phoenix Bay Construction Corp. v. First Financial Ins. Co., No. 19-P-743 (Mass. App. Ct. May 18, 2020), review denied (Mass. 2020) – Cross-Liability Exclusion for injuries to employee of “any insured” precluded additional insured coverage for general contractor
- All American Ins. Co. v. Lampasona Corp., 95 N.E.3d 79 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019) – application of Exclusion J.5 to negligently installed floor substrate
- Engrassia v. Federated Mut. Ins. Co., 205 A.3d 206 (N.J. 2019) -whether public policy bars application of “step down” clause in commercial auto policy
- AIG Property & Cas. Co. v. Cosby, 892 F.3d 35 (1st Cir. 2018) – whether sexual misconduct exclusion extends to defamation suits based upon insured’s denial of rapes
- Fallon v. Bond Brothers, Inc., 15-P-875 (Mass. App. Ct. March 2, 2017) –alleged bad faith failure to settle
- Mount Vernon Fire Ins. Co. v. VisionAid, Inc., 76 N.E.3d 204 Mass. 2017 – amicus filing for AIG on the issue of whether an insurer’s duty to defend encompasses prosecuting a counter-claim
- New Jersey Manufacturers Ins. Co. v. Federated Mut. Ins. Co., (N.J. App. Div. November 30, 2016) – whether public policy bars application of “step down” clause in commercial auto policy
- Rass Corporation v. Travelers Companies, Inc., 90 Mass. App. Ct. 643 (2016) – “pre-tender defense fees”; allocation, bad faith
- Hansen v. Sentry Ins. Co., No. 13-1940 (1st Cir. 2014) – whether former executive officer may claim coverage under corporation’s policy for corporation suit against him for disparagement and theft of trade secrets
- Klairmont v. Gainsboro Restaurant, 465 Mass. 165 (2013) – declaring that Estate cannot recover 93A consumer bad faith damages for wrongful death recovery
- Narragansett Electric Co. v. OneBeacon America, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 123 (2013) – whether trial court held that environmental liability claims against excess insurer are barred by statute of limitations
- Plantation Pipeline Co. v. Highlands Ins. Co. in Receivership, No. 12-0029 (Tex. App.—decision argued December 4, 2012—decision pending) -whether insured must fully exhaust underlying limits to trigger high level excess insurance
- Rhodes v. AIG, 461 Mass. 486 (2012) – amicus filing for American Insurance Association on constitutionality of punitive damages award for insurer bad faith
- Cynosure, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 645 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2011) – availability of “personal and advertising injury” coverage for junk fax claims
Honors & Awards
- Named the Best Lawyers© 2022 Insurance Law – “Lawyer of the Year” in Boston
- Paul F. Gibbs Outstanding Service Award, Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (2020)
- Elected by his peers to The Best Lawyers in America© to the Insurance Law guide (2019-2022)
- Selected to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers magazine list in Insurance Coverage (2008-2022)
- Who’s Who Legal: Insurance & Reinsurance (2020)
- Thomas E. Segalla Award from American College of Coverage and Extra-Contractual Counsel (2017)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated in Legal Ability & Ethical Standards
- Chambers USA (Tier One, Insurance Law)
