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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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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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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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
Four CMN attorneys were recognized as 2009 Leading Lawyers in Illinois. Bill Chittenden, Don Murday and Joe Hasman were named Leading Lawyers in Commercial Litigation and Civil Appellate Law. David Novotny was named a Leading Lawyer in the areas of Class Action Defense, Civil Appellate Law and Insurance/Reinsurance Litigation. Distinction as a “Leading Lawyer” is the product of a rigorous selection process that focuses on recommendations from peers in the lawyer’s particular practice area followed by extensive discussion with other highly regarded lawyers in the same area of practice. Less than 5% of all lawyers in the State of Illinois are selected for this distinction.
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William A. Chittenden, III
Donald A. Murday
David J. Novotny
Joseph J. Hasman
Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC proudly announces that Law & Politics Magazine and the publishers of Chicago Magazine have again named Bill Chittenden a 2009 “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 scroes. The attorneys chosen represent the top 5% of attorneys in the State of Illinois.
Related Member
William A. Chittenden, III
Don Murday spoke at the Association of Life Insurance Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting held at the Hotel Del Coronado in California on May 5, 2009. The topic of the presentation was: “E-Discovery: Addressing the Information Logjam Without Getting Rolled.” See attached article.
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Donald A. Murday
Joseph R. Jeffery
Related Associates
Craig M. Bargher
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 44-2 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 473 (Winter 2009).
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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
