L-R: Gretchen Hoff Varner,Michael E. Lechliter, and Benjamin J. Razi of Covington & Burling. Courtesy photos Litigators of the Week: Covington Scores a Major Insurance Coverage Win For Brooklyn Gas Co. Over Gowanus Canal Cleanup Costs
After nearly five weeks of trial, a state court jury in Manhattan sided with Brooklyn Gas Co., represented by Ben Razi, Gretchen Hoff Varner and Mike Lechliter of Covington & Burling, in a dispute over claims for pollution cleanup costs.
April 29, 2022 at 07:30 AM
11 minute read
Brooklyn Union Gas Co. has already spent $200-plus million as part of the project to clean up in and around the Gowanus Canal, the 1.8-mile Brooklyn waterway that doubles as a Superfund Site. The company is poised to spend hundreds of millions more. Thanks to a hard-fought trial victory by the company's lawyers at Covington & Burling, a team led by Ben Razi, Gretchen Hoff Varner and Mike Lechliter, the company's former insurer, Century Indemnity Company, is now set to chip in for part of that cleanup bill.
After nearly five weeks of trial in New York Supreme Court where the Covington team was pitted against the insurer's team at O'Melveny & Myers led by Dan Petrocelli, a Manhattan jury this week sided with their client Brooklyn Union Gas finding that the damage the company caused was overwhelmingly accidental and its notice to the insurer was timely.
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