Lee Epstein of Flaster Greenberg in Philadelphia. (Courtesy photo)
Flaster Greenberg has welcomed back Lee Epstein and John Koch, along with new addition Matthew Goldstein, to bolster their insurance recovery practice in Philadelphia. All three joined as shareholders, making the move together from Weisbrod Matteis & Copley, also in Philadelphia.
The group, which brings a national practice to the firm, will be based in the Philadelphia office of the Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based firm—but will primarily serve clients remotely, as the rest of the firm has been doing, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We wanted to expand our insurance coverage capabilities across the firm, since the group has clients they serve nationally," said Alan Zuckerman, managing shareholder of Flaster Greenberg.
"Our strategic plan is to continue to grow this practice group. Especially now, due to the pandemic, there will be an even greater need for insurance recovery lawyers," he said.
There are now five attorneys in Flaster Greenberg's insurance recovery practice, including the new group.
Flaster Greenberg has 55 attorneys, including about 20 in Philadelphia. It also has offices elsewhere in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as New York, Delaware and Florida.
Epstein, a civil litigator and trial lawyer, was a Flaster Greenberg shareholder from 2013 to 2016, after he and his partner, John Fried, merged their boutique law firm, Fried & Epstein, with Flaster Greenberg.
Epstein focuses on securing insurance recoveries for corporate and individual policyholders in response to all forms of liabilities, as well as first-party and business interruption losses arising from catastrophic events and commercial crimes.
"As the pandemic has revealed, like so many facets of life, diversity is a significant advantage at this point in my career," Epstein said.
"The ability to offer diverse services to our clients is a benefit, and if there is a dip in one area, you can compensate in another," he said, adding that the move also presents an opportunity for Koch and Goldstein to develop and diversify their practices.
Epstein has represented market leaders in the satellite television, airline, chemical, financial, mining, food and HVAC&R industries. He currently represents Dish Network in a series of matters and major packaging manufacturer Rettig.
He said he anticipates that his clients will make the move with him back to Flaster Greenberg.
In terms of COVID-19, many insurance policies are somewhat vague as to whether a pandemic of this nature can be covered.
Zuckerman, a corporate transactional and tax lawyer, said, "Under many policies, primarily commercial, business losses and business interruptions claims will be made, and we anticipate they will be denied, which will necessitate legal action to obtain coverage.
"We anticipate that our existing clients will need these services, and new clients will need these services, as well as other services that our firm can provide," he said.
Epstein—who is litigating insurance coverage disputes throughout state and federal court, many pandemic related—agreed. "When the pandemic hit, I was speaking to many clients and potential clients, and I was struck by the variety of language in the insurance policies that could potentially apply," he said,
"Insurance companies took a steadfast position in the beginning: There was no pandemic coverage. But as I have reviewed policies, I have found that [position] to be founded in some policies, while other policies called for a good, thorough examination to determine if coverage was available," he said.
What type of loss was sustained and what type of coverage was purchased are considerations, explained Epstein, and the pandemic has highlighted the need to consult with legal counsel and others to determine what coverage is available in response to business interruptions of this kind.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, asbestos and environmental liabilities were exploding, and insurance companies evolved to address these situations by adopting exclusions, which generated significant litigation," Epstein said.
"We may revisit this type of insurance coverage litigation in terms of the variety of virus-related exclusions that the insurance industry is utilizing," he said.
Koch started at Flaster Greenberg as an associate in 2007 and was promoted to shareholder in 2013. He returns to the firm as a member of the insurance recovery, litigation, and environmental practice groups. He focuses on policyholder-side commercial insurance recovery and environmental law. His practice also includes commercial litigation, dispute resolution, litigation management involving insurance-funded defenses, and transactions counseling, among other matters.
Goldstein also joins Flaster Greenberg's insurance recovery and litigation practice groups. He focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation in both state and federal courts, and represents clients in insurance coverage, business disputes, and financial litigation. He has extensive experience representing clients in class action, derivative and mergers and acquisitions litigation in state and federal courts.