This article originally ran in The Legal Intelligencer on August 4, 2020. All rights reserved.
This week, Flaster Greenberg announced the return of Lee Epstein and John Koch to the firm, as well as the addition of attorney Matthew Goldstein, all formerly of Weisbrod Matteis & Copley in Philadelphia. The trio joined as shareholders effective July 31st, bringing with them a nationally known Insurance Recovery Practice and over 55 years of combined legal experience.
Lee Epstein and Alan Zuckerman, FG's managing shareholder, were both quoted extensively in a Legal Intelligencer article on the groups arrival. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
“We wanted to expand our insurance coverage capabilities across the firm, since the group has clients they serve nationally,” said Zuckerman. “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.
“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.
“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,” said Epstein.
“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,” indicated Epstein.
“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,” Epstein said.
“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."
