Jared Clapper

Full Profile

Jared Clapper is an experienced coverage litigator, having secured numerous summary judgments, dismissals, and appellate victories on behalf of his clients, both directly and by assisting other law firms with preparation of motions. He regularly litigates and counsels insurers with respect to strategy on complex and high-risk matters involving first-party COVID-19 claims, product defects, construction defects, commercial transportation, bad faith, appeals, directors’ and officers’, and professional liability.

Jared frequently speaks on a variety of insurance coverage-related topics and has authored articles in leading insurance industry publications.

Admissions

• Illinois
• Tennessee
• US Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Tenth Circuits
• US District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of Illinois
• US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
• US District Court for the District of Colorado

Education

• J.D., magna cum laude, University of Illinois, 2007
• B.A., magna cum laude, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2004

Experience

• Denial of policyholder’s motion to remand on the basis that the 30-day rule for removal applies only if a complaint is clear on its face that a case is removable and refusing to abstain from exercising jurisdiction based on development of substantial body of case law in federal courts on the issues in this case. Goodman Mgmt. LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. No. 22-243 (E.D. Pa. May 31, 2022).

• Dismissal of business interruption lawsuit on the basis that the insured could not plead direct physical loss of or damage to property, rejecting argument that policy language was distinguishable from appellate authority due to use of phrase “risks of” direct physical loss. Corelle Brands LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 2021-CH-01177 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty. May 16, 2022).

• Denial of policyholder’s petition for appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court of the Circuit Court’s dismissal of lawsuit seeking business income losses due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and resulting government orders based on the lack of direct physical loss of or damage to property and the policy’s contamination exclusion. Crescent Hotels & Resorts, LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2022 WL 1124493 (Va. Apr. 14, 2022).
• Dismissal of lawsuit filed by 26 plaintiffs against 15 insurer-defendants based on improper joinder. 25 W. Hubbard, Inc. v. Illinois Cas. Co., No. 2021-L-00823 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Apr. 11, 2022).

• Summary judgment on the basis that D&O Policy’s Employment Practices Liability Coverage extension did not cover wrongful termination judgment because the judgment debtor stopped being a subsidiary of the named insured a month before the wrongful termination, requirement of a claim against an insured person was not met, and the bad faith and Montana Unfair Trade Practices Act claims failed. Dunluck v. Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. – UK Branch, 2022 WL 684377 (D. Mont. Mar. 8, 2022).

• Dismissal of business interruption lawsuit and bad faith claim by restaurant group on the basis that the complaint failed to plead direct physical loss of or damage to property, Decontamination Costs, or Civil or Military Authority coverage. Hooters of Am., LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 21-CH-01299 (Ill. Cir. Ct.  Dec. 23, 2021).

• Severance of lawsuit filed by 7 plaintiffs against 4 insurer-defendants based on improper joinder, Wyckoff Properties v. Selective Ins. Co., No. BER-L-7036-20 (N.J. Super. Ct. Oct. 13, 2021), which then led to voluntary dismissal with prejudice after removal of severed action. Taste Buds, LLC v. American Zurich Ins. Co., No. 21-cv-19346 (D.N.J. Dec. 16, 2021).
• Judgment on the pleadings on the basis that the that the SARS-CoV-2 virus did not cause direct physical loss of or damage to clothing store’s property, that the Tenants Prohibited Access coverage was not implicated, that the Contamination Exclusion barred coverage, that an Amendatory Endorsement – Louisiana did not apply outside of Louisiana, and that Section 155 claim failed. United ​States of Aritzia, Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2021 WL 6776241 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Nov. 10, 2021).
• Judgment on the pleadings on the basis that the SARS-CoV-2 virus did not cause direct physical loss of or damage to restaurant group’s property and that Microorganisms Exclusion barred coverage and did not render Microorganisms Coverage illusory. Bottleneck Management, Inc. v. Zurich Am.Ins. Co., 2021 WL 6776242 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Oct. 12, 2021). Obtained affirmance on appeal. 2022 IL App (1st) 211462-U.
• Summary judgment declaring that the Auto Business Exclusion and Suspended License Exclusion barred coverage for auto auction and its employee under primary and excess policy issued to auto dealership following incident where auto auction employee accelerated uncontrollably through crowed, injuring and killing multiple people. Motorists Com. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hartwell, 2021 WL 3054993 (D. Mass. July 20, 2021).
• Summary judgment declaring that CGL insurer had no duty to defend and no duty to indemnify opioid distributor against 77 underlying lawsuits filed mostly by government entities alleging that the distributor’s improper distribution of opioids injured people and caused the entities to incur various increased costs like additional police and ambulance services and economic losses like lost tax revenue and diminished property values. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Quest Pharma., Inc., 2021 WL 1794754 (W.D. Ky. May 5, 2021) reconsideration denied 2021 WL 4513715 (Oct. 1, 2021). 
• Dismissal of business interruption lawsuit by restaurant group on the basis that the Contamination Exclusion barred coverage and the Amendatory Endorsement – Louisiana did not apply nationally to remove the word “virus” from the exclusion. Firebirds Int’l, LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2021 WL 2007870 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty. Apr. 19, 2021). Obtained affirmance on appeal—the first appellate ruling in the country on this issue.  2022 IL App (1st) 210558.
• Summary judgment affirmed in favor of insurer in North Carolina Court of Appeals concerning the applicable trigger of coverage, method of allocation, and estoppel argument relative to various lawsuits alleging exposure to a chemical in the insured's product cause leukemia. Radiator Specialty Co. v. Arrowood Indem. Co., 850 S.E.2d 624 (N.C. Ct. App. 2020).
• Summary judgment holding that CGL coverage part of client's primary OCIP policy, provided only a single USD 5 million completed-operations aggregate liability limit, regardless how many projects sustained damage; defeated argument that USD 5 million aggregate limit was owed for each of 71 scheduled projects. Obtained affirmance on appeal. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. Fed. Ins. Co., 213 F. Supp. 3d 1333 (D. Colo. 2016), aff'd, 734 F. App'x 586 (10th Cir. 2018). 
• Dismissal of complaint against excess insurer seeking coverage for lawsuit alleging that insured misrepresented its insurance to the underlying plaintiffs to induce them to settle for less than their damages. Southern Illinois Asphalt Co., Inc. v. Turubchuk, No. 17-cv-405 (S.D. Ill. Jan. 23, 2018).
• Awarded costs and motion to review taxation of costs granted, tripling client's recovery. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. Fed. Ins. Co., 2017 WL 4163352 (D. Colo. Sept. 19, 2017).
• Summary judgment for excess insurer less than four months after moving to intervene in primary insurer's declaratory judgment action when court found that driver facing USD 14 million in underlying judgments did not qualify as an "insured" under an auto dealership's policy, due to the fact that the dealership did not own the car at the time of the accident, despite lack of sale documentation before the accident. Obtained affirmance on appeal. Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Winton, 2015 WL 874371 (W.D. Okla. Feb. 27, 2015), aff'd sub nom. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Winton, 818 F.3d 1103 (10th Cir. 2016).
• Partial summary judgment on late-notice and allocation arguments in Colorado construction-defect case, leading to favorable settlement for excess insurer. LNC Communities II, LLC v. Am. Safety Risk Retention Group, Inc., Case No. 2011-CV-2997 (Dist. Ct. Denver Cnty. Colo. Feb. 1, 2013).

Presentations

• Co-Creator and Presenter: “Bad Faith Claims – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and the Sneaky,” Hartford, June 2022

• Creator and Presenter, “Persuasive Brief Writing,” Chicago, May 2022

• Co-Creator and Presenter: “Underwriter Depositions in US Litigation – Practicalities and Pitfalls,” Virtual, May 2022

• Co-Presenter: “Litigating in North America:  An Insurer’s Guide to U.S. Courts,” London, April 2022

• Co-Presenter, “Covid Litigation and Class Actions,” Virtual, July 2021

• "Underwriting Issues in Litigation," New York Training Seminar, 2019

• "Something Doesn't Taste Right! CGL Coverage in the Context of Food Product Claims," Houston Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Houston, Texas, June 2017

• "Bad Faith and Insurance Practices," New Jersey Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Warren, New Jersey, 2016-2019

Publications

• "An Integration Clause Does Not Prohibit Consideration of All Parts of a Multi-Document Insurance Contract to Harmonize Facial Contradictions," Insurance Insights, 2018
• Co-Author, "Loss of Perspective: How Courts Expanded Loss of Use Property Damage Coverage Beyond Damages Stemming From a Complete Inability to Use Property," DRI Covered Events, July 2017