Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP

Managing Partner: Richard H. Nicolaides, Jr.

Founding Partners: Matthew J. Fink, Richard H. Nicolaides, Jr., Monica T. Sullivan, Sara M. Thorpe

Number of Partners: 36

Number of Attorneys: 81

Firm Overview:

Nicolaides is dedicated to exclusively representing the interests of the insurance industry around the world. The firm’s attorneys evaluate insurance coverage issues and litigate insurance coverage disputes involving complex risks and exposures arising under a variety of insurance products. For more about the firm, as well as the nature and scope of its insurance coverage practice, please visit www.nicolaidesllp.com.

Main Areas of Practice:

Appellate:

The firm’s nationwide appellate practice handles all aspects of writs and appeals, briefing and argument, in state and federal courts.

Bad Faith:

The firm’s attorneys aim to bring bad faith claims to early resolution and, if necessary, aggressively litigate them to conclusion.

Bermuda Market:

Domestic and European insurers, who participate in programs utilizing Bermuda forms, regularly retain the firm to serve as counsel in claims relating to product liability, transportation, health care, pharmaceuticals, professional liability, and management exposures.

Commercial Transportation:

Firm attorneys regularly advise clients on the complicated liability and policy issues involved in commercial transportation coverage forms, such as business auto coverage, truckers coverage, motor carriers coverage (including MCS-90 endorsements), uninsured/underinsured motorists endorsements, and railroad liability/railroad protective.

Construction Defect:

The firm represents clients in complex litigation relating to construction defects nationwide, including additional insured obligations, wrap policies, EFIS, mold, and other exclusions which limit coverage, trigger, and stacking of limits.

Cyber Liability:

The firm’s attorneys have experience in all aspects of cyber liability. They provide coverage analysis of first-party breach or security events and guide insureds through the breach response process to mitigate liability, risks, and exposures.

Environmental/Toxic Tort:

Firm attorneys counsel clients on a myriad of coverage issues relating to conventional and environmental contamination claims such as those involving asbestos, benzene, silica, and mold, and new emerging claims including fracking, climate change, genetically modified organisms, and developing technologies.

First-Party Property:

The firm has considerable experience advising on and litigating first-party property coverage issues, such as all-risk, inland marine, commercial crime, equipment breakdown, business income/extra expense, and service interruption.

Intellectual Property Infringement:

Firm attorneys help clients assess their coverage obligations and formulate cost-effective plans for investigating, handling, and resolving intellectual property infringement claims.

Managed Care and Health Care:

The firm’s attorneys have been involved in managed care and healthcare litigation for decades and have actively protected the firm’s insurance and reinsurance clients from the far-reaching impacts of such claims.

Policy Drafting & Claims Management:

The firm regularly educates its clients on how to minimize litigation risk in the claims handling process and provides in-house regulatory compliance workshops, seminars on cutting-edge legal issues, and policy drafting and writing sessions. Its claims management services include ensuring that clients’ coverage positions are timely, consistent, and legally sound.

Pollution Liability:

The firm advises insurers on a wide spectrum of claims arising under pollution legal liability policies ranging from workplace exposure to climate change.

Primary and Excess General Liability:

The firm’s attorneys have extensive experience litigating and arbitrating primary and excess general liability claims under a wide variety of domestically created and international policies.

Professional / Management Liability:

The firm’s attorneys evaluate coverage, advise, and defend clients on claims-made policies issued to a wide range of traditional and non-traditional professionals and managers, including directors and officers, attorneys, accountants, and realtors.

Trial Monitoring:

As successful appeals begin long before trial or verdict, the firm’s appellate team often becomes actively involved at critical pre-trial stages and during trial, partnering with the firm’s trial lawyers to help posture the case for a successful resolution.