Trial Team: H. Minor Pipes, III and Catherine F. Giarrusso
Copper wiring and electrical components were removed from an industrial property in Tennessee after the lessee went out of business, resulting in insurance claims under two commercial property policies issued to the lessee and lessor. Siding with the lessor, the district court held the underlying lease governed priority of coverage and relieved the lessor's insurer of any obligation to cover the loss. The firm represented the lessee's insurer on appeal to the Sixth Circuit and obtained reversal, persuading the court that the lease terms were not controlling because there was no evidence that the lessee's insurer intended its policy to cover the insured's lease obligations and instead the loss should be prorated between the insurers.