In 1993 there was a landslide in the Spyglass development area in Whittier, California. In the aftermath of the landslide, eight homeowners in the development sued the Spyglass Homeowners Association (HOA) for damages to their homes. Spyglass’ insurers also brought a declaratory relief action against the HOA.
In return Spyglass brought an affirmative bad faith and breach of contract action against its insurers, and filed cross-complaints against over 10 cross-defendants who it alleged were responsible for the landslide, and further brought an affirmative action against Spyglass’ insurance- appointed defense attorneys for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty.
This extremely complex litigation was handled by Callahan & Blaine, and the matter was settled with Spyglass receiving over $4.3 million from the cross-defendants, its former counsel, and its own insurers. In addition, Spyglass’ insurers paid $2.9 in damages to the homeowner plaintiffs with no right to contribution or reimbursement from Spyglass.
Callahan & Blaine has a nationwide reputation as one of the premier insurance litigation law firms in the United States. Under the leadership of the chair of its Insurance Law Department, Edward Susolik, Callahan & Blaine has been on the cutting edge of insurance law, insurance litigation and the representation of policyholder interests for over 25 years.
At Callahan & Blaine, our experience with insurance litigation helps our clients in many ways. When a business client needs to defend a tort or contract claim, we not only work toward realizing the full benefit of your liability coverage, we also know how to pursue cross-claims, counterclaims and indemnification actions – as demonstrated in the Spyglass case.
Contact our office in Orange County, California to discuss your insurance problem with a lawyer who really understands insurance law.