Lugenbuhl attorneys advise and represent insurers in a wide variety of coverage disputes arising out of commercial entities’ oil-and-gas operations and have experience representing carriers in bodily injury and property-damage claims that occur both on land and in the water. Lugenbuhl’s oil and gas liability coverage practice has a wide breadth, ranging from relatively straightforward property-damage or bodily injury claims to complex cases involving disputes over additional-insured status, contractual-indemnity coverage, and/or contested issues of liability and coverage implicating maritime, worker’s compensation, and other substantive areas of the law.

Representative matters include:

  • Property-damage claim brought by owner of drilling rig damaged when a barge owned by the insured sunk to the bottom of a lake, thereby implicating the care, custody, or control exclusion
  • Bodily injury claim brought by individual working on a wellhead and allegedly injured by negligent acts committed by an employee of the insured
  • Property-damage claim brought by owner of vessel allegedly damaged by underground obstructions in waterway for which the insured allegedly bore responsibility
  • Claim that the insured’s alleged negligence resulted in the “waterization” of a well, depriving the owner of the well of the ability to fully extract and develop its contents
  • Claims brought by various subcontractors alleging coverage for bodily injury claims under additional insured or indemnity provisions in the contract with the insured

In each of these cases and others, our attorneys assist the insurer in determining the extent of its defense obligations, whether removal to federal court is possible, any particular coverage issues that may exist, and whether any alleged bad faith claims are or could become viable. Our attorneys have thorough knowledge of, and familiarity with, relevant coverages and exclusions typically in these policies. Coupled with Lugenbuhl’s unique knowledge and understanding of the oil-and-gas industry’s day-to-day operations garnered through its commercial litigation experiences, Lugenbuhl offers an advanced set of oil-and-gas-liability insurance coverage services to its insurance company clients.

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