Professional liability insurance policy covers criminal defense of indicted 'lottery lawyer'
Jason Kurland, who represented the winners of lottery jackpots, had a professional liability insurance policy through Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack of the Eastern District of New York has ordered an insurance company to pay the criminal defense costs incurred by attorney Jason Kurland, whose trial on fraud and money laundering charges is set to begin in the district later this month.
Kurland, a former partner at Rivkin Radler who represented the winners of lottery jackpots, had a professional liability insurance policy through Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. Through his civil attorneys at Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna, Kurland sued the insurer in November after Fireman’s Fund denied coverage for legal fees and costs related to the ongoing criminal case.
Azrack on Wednesday granted Kurland’s motion for partial summary judgment, rejecting Fireman’s Fund’s argument that the criminal case does not constitute a “claim seeking damages” under the terms of the insurance policy.
“Fireman’s Fund must therefore ‘provide a defense’ to Kurland in the Underlying Action until such time Kurland’s alleged acts are ‘ruled either by trial verdict, court ruling, regulatory ruling, or legal admission as dishonest, fraudulent, criminal, or malicious,’” she found.
Azrack ordered Fireman’s Fund to “immediately pay, on a current and ongoing basis and up to the Policy’s Limit of Liability, Kurland’s defense costs in the Underlying Action.”
Azrack found that Fireman’s Fund “could have easily limited” the terms of its coverage to exclude criminal matters, but the insurer “failed to do so.”
She found that her interpretation of the terms used in the policy was further supported by a provision in the policy excluding coverage for claims that arise from “dishonest, fraudulent, criminal or malicious act or omission, or deliberate misrepresentation” while requiring Fireman’s Fund to “provide a defense of such actions until such time as the act is ruled either by trial verdict, court ruling, regulatory ruling or legal admission as dishonest, fraudulent, criminal or malicious.”
“If ‘suit’ and ‘compensatory judgment’ did not encompass at least criminal restitution proceedings, then this provision would, arguably, be superfluous,” she wrote.
White and Williams partner Rafael Vergara represents Fireman’s Fund and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Cohen Ziffer partner Andrew Bourne praised the ruling in a statement.
“We are grateful that the court read the policy as we did,” Bourne said. “Professional liability policies such as the one at issue can provide coverage for criminal defendants.”
Jury selection in Kurland’s case is set to begin on July 11.
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