Personal Injury & Property Damage Defense

Our emphasis on conducting timely accident investigations and retaining experts promptly has absolved our clients from liability for injury or damage in numerous cases. We are equally effective at proactive counseling that helps contractors and other clients develop written safety standards, conduct safety compliance audits, and respond to federal and state Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) inspections and notices of violation.

Thompson Coe lawyers regularly litigate, mediate, and arbitrate claims over cost, design error, and project management. All key players in the industry turn to us for representation – insurers, sureties, owners, developers, general and subcontractors, and design professionals.

We can represent clients in controversies involving bid protests, mistakes, cost disputes, design errors, defective installations, and contract disputes. We also handle mechanics’ and material men’s liens, and federal and state bond claims. For our insurer clients, we present a thorough knowledge of the complex indemnification issues, whether contractual or common law.

Our team has experience defending alcoholic beverage liability cases in multiple states, with clients ranging from bars, restaurants, entertainment complexes, sports arenas, and theme parks. We have a proven record of obtaining favorable results, including in cases involving catastrophic personal injuries and multiple deaths.

We pride ourselves on the aggressive and cost-efficient manner in which we defend all claims. Our trial record and commitment to early dispositive motions are hallmarks of our success. In liability matters, we employ creative settlement resolutions and resort to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) wherever possible.

Beginning with litigation from the massive explosion of the Steamship Grandcamp that leveled much of Texas City in 1947, through the wind-driven-rain disputes arising out of Hurricane Carla in 1961, the battle over pollution exclusions, and key “bad faith” cases of the 1990s to the mold and hurricane litigation of the present, Thompson Coe has been at the forefront of some of the most important property insurance cases litigated in the last 70 years.

We have vast experience with hurricanes, tropical storms, fires, explosions, collapse, equipment and machinery malfunction, construction accidents, water damage, water main breaks, mold, property theft, property contamination, and other pollution-related matters. Our attorneys assist insurers with claims investigations, coverage interpretation, coverage analysis, policy drafting, and litigation of losses throughout the United States.

Many general liability policies include a duty-to-defend and require insurers to handle their policyholder’s defense or even to indemnify the policyholder if the case leads to damages. However, an insurer’s obligation to defend is based on the allegations in a lawsuit and is triggered even if there is only one allegation that is covered by the policy or even if it is groundless, false, or fraudulent.  Ultimately, the court will compare the policy provisions against the allegations and determine if a duty to defend exists.

We defend cases involving personal injuries that occur to individuals while on the property of the owner or municipality, as well as in the workplace. We represent the insurers of major property owners, including school districts, shopping centers, restaurants, grocery stores, and other establishments where the public is accommodated.

For cases involving claims of negligent security, we offer extensive trial experience with a commitment to early dispositive motions, creative settlement resolutions, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) wherever possible. We frequently handle cases involving alleged failure to provide reasonable security measures, allegations that a security officer or other agent of the facility failed to act to prevent an attack, injuries allegedly caused by security personnel or employees, assault and other violent crimes, and catastrophic personal injuries.

We have extensive experience representing insureds of various companies in automobile-related personal injury accidents. We collaborate with renowned experts in fields such as accident reconstruction, biomechanical reconstruction, and vehicle kinematics, and we are well-versed in cases involving road and highway design. Our firm also has significant experience in matters involving uninsured, underinsured, and supplementary motorist (UM/UIM/SUM) coverage.