When Fortune 500 companies were asked to name the top law firms they turn to when litigation arises, Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC was on their list. CMN is pleased to announce that it has again been named as a 2011 “Go-To Law Firm”® in Litigation and will be featured in the July/August issue of American Lawyer Magazine and the 8th Annual “In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies,” a guide produced by the publishers of Corporate Counsel Magazine. The honor is awarded by ALM Media based on surveys sent to general counsel at each of the top 500 public companies.
Chittenden, Murday & Novotny’s article “Recent Developments in Health Insurance, Life Insurance, and Disability Insurance Case Law” was recently published in the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Law Journal at 45-2 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 397 (Winter 2010).
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Recent Developments Article
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William A. Chittenden, III
Elizabeth G. Doolin
Michael B. Galibois
David F. Schmidt
Joseph J. Hasman
Jennifer S. Stegmaier
Joseph R. Jeffery
Julie F. Wall
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Craig M. Bargher
Georgia J. Joyce
Stuart F. Primack
Vittorio F. Terrizzi
CMN attorney Elizabeth Doolin’s article addressing recent developments in accident insurance cases involving drunk driving was featured in the Defense Research Institute publication, The Voice, on October 20, 2010. See attached article.
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Featured Article
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Elizabeth G. Doolin
Elizabeth Doolin spoke at the ABA’s 20th Annual National Institute on ERISA Litigation on November 14, 2010.
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Elizabeth G. Doolin
Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC was named a 2009 “Go-To Law Firm”® in Litigation by the publishers of Fortune Magazine. Firms recognized for this distinction were named by general counsel of the nation’s largest corporations as their top outside firms for litigation.
CMN attorneys Elizabeth Doolin and Joe Jeffery’s article “Steering Around Defamation Liability When Completing a U-5” was recently published in the Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry magazine’s July-August 2010 edition. See attached article.
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Featured Article
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Elizabeth G. Doolin
Joseph R. Jeffery
Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC proudly announces that Law & Politics Magazine and the publishers of Chicago Magazine have again named Bill Chittenden a 2010 “Super Lawyer” in Business Litigation. The process began with thousands of ballots sent to attorneys across the State of Illinois asking them to nominate the best lawyers they had “personally observed.” A panel of recognized top lawyers in the commercial/business litigation practice area was assembled to review the nominations and evaluation criteria. Through this process, the panel identified the nominees with the highest scores. The attorneys chosen represent the top 5% of attorneys in the State of Illinois.
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William A. Chittenden, III
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind to go to verdict, Sean P. MacCarthy and Craig M. Bargher of Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC in Chicago obtained a full defense jury verdict for CMN client American Family Life Insurance Company in a wrongful death case brought against American Family for alleged negligent issuance of a life insurance policy. In Bryant v. American Family Life Insurance Company, No. 09 L 006659, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department, Law Division (May 20, 2010), the plaintiff alleged that American Family negligently issued a $500,000 universal life insurance policy, insuring the life of Lorenzo Hamilton, after an imposter applied for the policy in January 2001 at the office of an American Family agent. The imposter represented to the agent that he was Hamilton, provided income information, presented an employee identification card with Hamilton’s name on it, and signed the application. Another person represented herself as Hamilton’s fiancée, and was the named beneficiary. Approximately two months after American Family issued the policy, the imposter and another person murdered Hamilton. The imposter fiancée then made a claim for the death benefits. American Family conducted a contestable investigation, quickly learned that the imposter applied for the policy, and denied the claim. The murderers were convicted and sentenced to prison, and the impostor fiancée was convicted of insurance fraud and sentenced to prison as well.
At trial, American Family’s underwriting expert, who had been employed as a home office underwriter for over 20 years, testified that the insurer properly followed all of its policies and procedures and complied with the applicable standard of care. The plaintiff asked the jury to award $1,700,000 in damages but the jury returned a full defense verdict.
This was the first case to be tried in Illinois against an insurance company for the alleged negligent issuance of an insurance policy to an imposter since the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Bajwa v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 208 Ill. 2d 414, 804 N.E.2d 519 (Ill. 2004), which recognized such a cause of action.
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Featured Article
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Sean P. MacCarthy
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Craig M. Bargher
Don Murday spoke at the 2010 Eastern Claims Conference in New York City on March 1, 2010. This year the topic was “Annuities in the The Eleventh Hour — Enhanced Regulatory Scrutiny in Sales to Seniors.” See attached article.
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Presentation Document
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Donald A. Murday
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Craig M. Bargher
Elizabeth Doolin and Joe Jeffery spoke at the 2010 Eastern Claims Conference in New York City on March 1, 2010. This year, the topic was “Dr. StrangeRule, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love e-Discovery.” See attached article.
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Elizabeth G. Doolin
Joseph R. Jeffery
