The Tennessee Court of Appeals on Friday let a group of insurance companies off the hook for a nearly $150 million jury award to Simon Property Group, notching a win for a pair of Dentons attorneys in Atlanta.

Simon, which sued over damages suffered when Opry Mills Mall in Nashville flooded in 2010, claimed the policy had a $200 million limit, while the insurers claimed their liability was capped at $50 million.

The appellate panel agreed with the insurers that they were only liable for the $50 million they had already paid, ruling that—even though the mall was not on a list of “high hazard flood locations” that were subject to the cap, according to the policy—another clause in the contract said the limit applied to any location listed as a “high hazard flood zone” under the National Flood Insurance Program.

It is “undisputed” that Opry Mills was “partially or totally situated” in such an area, the appellate opinion said.

The attorneys who led the appeal for the insurers, Dentons partners J. Randolph Evans and Anthony Morris, were not at liberty to discuss the ruling.

The plaintiffs are represented by Nashville lawyers Donald Capparella of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella and Gregory Cashion of Smith Cashion & Moore, and Andrew Detherage and Charles Edwards of Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis. They did not respond to requests for comment.

As detailed in the opinion, Opry Mills Mall was completely submerged when the Cumberland River flooded in May 2010.

After surveying the damage, a claims adjuster determined that Simon's policy limited coverage to $50 million. The insurers paid over that amount, and told Simon they were denying coverage for any sum in excess of that.

Simon and Opry Mills Ltd. sued 15 insurance companies that provided “layers of coverage” between $50 million and $200 million in Davidson County Chancery Court asserting multiple claims, including breach of contract.

A trial jury awarded $204 million in damages. The trial judge reduced the award by the $50 million already tendered and other deductions, bringing it down to $147 million.

The insurance companies appealed. The opinion issued by Court of Appeals Judge Frank Clement, with the concurrence of Judges D. Michael Swiney and Richard Dinkins, said the policy at issue clearly limited the insurance companies' liability to $50 million.

“[T]his court finds no ambiguity in the policy provisions at issue,” Clement wrote.