Supreme Court Win on Declaratory Judgment Action
Tom Costello and Eman Senteno

June 2022

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Tom Costello and Eman Senteno secured a win before the Indiana Supreme Court on an insurance coverage matter, in which Tom and Eman secured a declaratory judgment in favor of the firm’s client.  The case involved an issue of whether a Liquor Liability exclusion applied to preclude any coverage to an underlying complaint in which the plaintiff alleged dram shop claims against the client’s insureds, but also included claims that the plaintiffs’ counsel argued to the Indiana Supreme Court were not liquor liability claims nor related to the same.  The claims alleged that the insured establishment allowed a patron to leave and drive their vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and led to an accident in which a family of four was allegedly seriously injured.  The Indiana Supreme Court agreed with Tom and Eman that all of the claims in the underlying lawsuit arose out of and/or were inextricably intertwined with the excluded conduct, and that the nature of the alleged claims were such that the coverage defenses could not be pled around or avoided.