Related Practices
The 9/11 Litigation - The "Number of Occurrences" Dispute of the Century
The BriefNovember 4, 2016
Zelle counsel Kristin Suga Heres and partner Patricia St. Peter wrote an article titled "The 9/11 Litigation - The "Number of Occurrences" Dispute of the Century" that was published in the Fall 2016 issue of The Brief which commemorated the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
The insurance coverage litigation arising out of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center shone a spotlight on the “number of occurrences” issue in a way that no other case ever has, or probably ever will again. The dispute over whether the attack on the World Trade Center constituted one “occurrence” or two “occurrences” was no ordinary coverage dispute. In the aftermath of the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor, the coverage dispute was at the center of a larger, public debate—one that often seeped into the legal proceedings that ultimately decided the one- versus two-occurrence question. In addition to the social and political forces at work, the economic consequences of the coverage row were astronomical and unprecedented. It was lost upon no one that an additional $3.5 billion “per occurrence” property insurance program limit was at stake.
To read the article in full, please click here.
