Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman attorneys defeated an $8 million claim against a title insurer blamed for derailing a commercial real estate project near downtown Fort Lauderdale.

The firm beat back the lawsuit by a successor lender looking to recover millions beyond the policy cap from Fidelity National Title Insurance Co.—a move attorneys say would have hobbled the insurance industry's ability to price policies and assess risk.

“It was a very creative, very opportunistic lender trying to get money … with what we call a 'Hail Mary' lawsuit,” said Levine Kellogg founding partner Jeffrey C. Schneider, who litigated the case with partner Jezabel P. Lima and associate Chad E. Lipsky.