October
2025
Gfeller Laurie Attorneys Obtain Summary Judgment in Commercial Property Insurance Coverage Dispute in the District of Connecticut
Gfeller Laurie LLP attorneys Robert Laurie and Anthony Biraglia obtained summary judgment for an insurer client on a first-party commercial property claim in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. In a well-reasoned decision, Judge Sarala V. Nagala held that an earth movement exclusion and a settlement exclusion each separately applied to preclude coverage for the plaintiff’s claim for repair costs to a commercial building following the collapse of a main floor joist. Plaintiff sued the insurer in the Connecticut Superior Court, initially asserting claims for declaratory judgment, breach of contract, common law bad faith, and violations of the Connecticut unfair trade practices and unfair insurance practices statutes. Attorneys Laurie and Biraglia removed the case to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and Plaintiff ultimately withdrew its common law and statutory bad faith claims when faced with a motion to dismiss those claims. Judge Nagala’s decision on the motion for summary judgment can be found here.