Proskauer

Matthew J. Morris is a Special Litigation Counsel. He works on a variety of disputes concerning insurance coverage, partnership and joint venture agreements, hotel management agreements, revenue-based funding agreements, civil RICO and international arbitration.

Matt's analytical acumen has enabled him to contribute significantly to the Firm's success in difficult appellate matters, including three victories in the New York Court of Appeals: one in a dispute concerning whether the aggregate coverage limit of an excess liability insurance policy covering asbestos claims made against the insured was renewed annually, rather than continued over the three-year period of the policy (16 N.Y.3d 419), and the others in decisions that established that an insured may obtain indemnification for payments made as disgorgement where such payments do not represent the insured’s own illicit gains (21 N.Y.3d 324) and that such payments are not uninsurable penalties (37 N.Y.3d 552).

Other cases included:

• A victory in the New York Appellate Division in a dispute regarding whether an insured that sold asbestos believing its products could be used safely, despite its awareness of possible injuries, did not expect or intend such injuries for coverage purposes (101 A.D.3d 434)
• A successful appeal to the Second Circuit from a decision in which the district court had held that a "hell or high water” agreement barred Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. from arguing that it was constructively evicted from its premises, terminating its rent obligation (570 F.3d 513)
• Representation of The New York Times in a case in which the lower court granted class certification to plaintiffs challenging the right to engage in newsgathering, and the appellate court reversed the certification order (895 A.2d 1173)
• Recent trial victories involving substantial damages in an arbitration regarding a hotel owner’s termination of a hotel management agreement in Mexico and a commercial landlord-tenant dispute regarding a rent rebate provision

Matt authored a chapter on “Appellate Practice in the New York State Courts” in Principles of Appellate Litigation: A Guide to Modern Practice (PLI Press).