Seth A. Schmeeckle

Liability Decisions

• Weyerhauser Company v. Burlington Ins. Co., et al., (5^th Cir. 7/14/23), 74 F. 4^th 275: Misnomer in underlying petition that insurer should have put insurer on notice of which entity was actually intended to be sued did not trigger insurer’s defense obligation to putative additional insured or otherwise require them to provide third party beneficiary status to a complete stranger to the contract)
• Daxtreme, Inc. v. Lafayette-City Parish Consolidated Government, et al., 2021-418 (La. App. 3 Cir. 12/15/21), 332 So.3d 1257 (affirming summary judgment dismissal of city’s additional insured claim against our client, finding that peremption statute, La. R.S. 9:2772, applies to additional insured claims).
• Gilchrist Const. Co., L.L.C. v. Travelers Indemnity Company, et al., (5^th  Cir. 5/8/20), 811 Fed. Appx. 262 : No general liability coverage was afforded to a construction company found liable for $5.6 million in damages to property because there was no “occurrence” where the construction company intentionally and maliciously buried rubble/debris in and around the property and underpaid for the dirt it had paid to excavate for its own use.
• Cassandra Lewis v. Nail Studio Professional Nail Care et al., Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, No. 2017-09862, 7/15/19, unpublished: Application of professional services exclusion precluded coverage for bodily injuries sustained during a pedicure service.
• La. United Bus. Ass’n. Casualty Ins. Co. v. J&J Maintenance, Inc. et al., (E.D. La. 10/13/16), 2016 WL 6038031: In finding no additional coverage was available for allegations solely premised on the putative additional insured’s own negligence, the court held that the only complaints to be considered are complaints filed against the putative additional insured and not other pleadings filed by other parties against other parties.
• Maldonado v. Kiewet Louisiana Co., (La. App. 1^st Cir. 3/24/14), 2014 WL 120744: No additional-insured status extended to General Contractor under Subcontractor’s policy for multi-million dollar bodily injury trial verdict despite the plaintiff being an employee of the Subcontractor because the plaintiff’s allegations did not contain any allegations of fault attributable to the Subcontractor/Employer.
• Burrows v. Executive Property Management Co., (La. App. 4^th Cir. 3/12/14), 2014 WL 1028541 (employer’s liability exclusion precluded coverage for injuries occurring during course and scope of employment despite contention by plaintiff that they were alleging non-employment related causes of negligence)
• Weinstein, et al, LLC v. Anthony Hinyard D/B/A Acadian Paint Contracting, et al, (La. 3^rd Cir. 3/11/13), unpublished: Reversal in favor of insurer finding the owned property exclusion and the real estate manager exclusion barred coverage in a multi-million dollar construction defect case.
• In re Jillian Morrison, L.L.C., (5^th Cir. 6/4/12), 482 Fed. Appx. 872: Question of additional-insured status not ripe where party seeking additional-insured status has not yet been sued.
• Little v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co., (5^th Cir. 4/2/10):Breach of contract case by employer against policyholder did not seek damages for malicious prosecution and therefore Coverage B was not implicated and no defense of the policyholder was required.

Property Decisions

• In Re Mt. Hawley Ins. Co., (5^th Cir. 5/28/22), 2022 WL 5360188: Petition of Writ of Mandamus granted in insurer’s favor reversing lower court’s ruling and ordering case be transferred to New York pursuant to the forum selection clause in the property policy.
• Q Clothier New Orleans, L.L.C. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., (5^th Cir. 3/22/22), 29 F. 4^th 252: No coverage for COVI19 related losses to business because there was no “direct physical loss of or damage to property.”
• Jared Miller, et al. v. Sibley Construction Services, LLC, et al., (27^th JDC for the Parish of Louisiana 6/20/21), unpublished: Pollution exclusion in property insurer policy barred all coverage for asbestos remediation necessitated by faulty work of contractor.
• Joachin v. GeoVera Specialty Ins. Co., (5^th Cir. 7/6/20), 964 F. 3d 390: No coverage where residence-at-inception of policy was clear and unambiguous and policyholder did not reside at the property on the date the policy incepted.
• Smith v. Travelers Property Cas. Ins. Co. of America., (5^th Cir. 7/26/19), 932 F. 3d 302: Claim against property insurer was time barred, and the insurer’s post-denial willingness to re-inspect the insured’s property did not operate to nullify the prior accrual date of her claims.
• Johnson v. GeoVera Specialty Ins. Co., (5^th Cir. 9/27/16), 657 Fed. Appx. 301: No coverage under homeowner policy where insured prejudiced insurer where insured demolished property prior to insurer’s ability to participate in appraisal invoked by insured, refused to provide photographs and videos, and refused to submit to an examination under oath.
• Voinche v. Capps., (La. 10/24/14), 150 So. 3d 297): Obtained reversal on summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a UM case involving a death where the evidence established that the insured’s risk manager was authorized to reject UM coverage despite the risk manager never having been expressly told to waive the UM coverage.
• Hoffman v. Travelers Indem. Co. of America., (La. 5/7/14), 2014 WL 1800079): The term “expenses incurred” means only those expenses for which an insured is responsible after application of a contractual write-down amount such that policyholder had been properly compensated and class action of which she was the lone class representative was dismissed.
• Commstop v. Travelers Indem. Co. Connecticut, (W.D. La. 5/17/12), 2012 WL 1883461: Decrease in business income due to increased difficulty in patrons accessing store as a result of a construction project did not trigger either civil authority coverage or business income coverage.
• St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans, (5^th Cir. 3/15/11), 418 Fed. Appx. 305: Exercising its maritime jurisdiction, the Court held that the New York choice of law provision in an excess policy was valid and enforceable such that the insurer were entitled to forego providing a defense to the insured under New York law based on late notice.
• Legier & Company, APAC v. The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut, (E.D. La. 4/28/10) 2010 WL 1731202. The appropriate formula for calculating “actual loss of business income” is [projected net income minus total projected operating expenses] + [actual continuing normal operating expenses [including payroll] – gross profits actually earned.
• Kushner Lagraize v. Phoeinx Ins. Co., (E.D. La. 9/9/09), 2009 WL 2922122: Insurer had no duty to pay for business interruption that occurred before coverage began under the policy terms, which provided that civil authority coverage began twenty-four hours after damage to property within 100 miles of premises subject to civil authority action. And insured made no allegation of direct physical loss or damage.
• Nguyen v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co., (E.D. La. 10/6/08), 2008 WL 4534395: Class action premised on general contractor overhead and profit dismissed because defendant has right to individually assess the damage being repaired to determine if a general contractor was warranted such that class treatment was not appropriate.
• Chauvin v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., (5^th Cir. 8/6/07), 495 F.3d 232: Louisiana’s Valued Policy Law did not apply where total loss of home was caused by both covered and uncovered causes of loss.
• In re: Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation, (5^th Cir. 8/2/07), 495 F.3d 191: Water damage exclusion barred coverage resulting from levee failures inundating homes with water.
• Leaming v. Century Vina, Inc., (La. App. 4^th Cir. 6/1/05), 908 So. 2d 21: No additional-insured status extended to lessor under lessee’s policy where injury occurred in the shopping mall parking lot, which was not part of the lease, and lessee was not responsible for maintaining the parking lot but rather the Lessor.

Professional

• Louisiana State Bar Association 
• Texas Bar Association 
• New Orleans Bar Association 
  • Insurance Committee, Vice Chair (2015-2016) 
• Federal Bar Association 
• Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit 
• Defense Research Institute 

• Benchmark Litigation: United States (National); Louisiana Litigation Star
• Best Lawyers (2018-2025)
• Super Lawyers (2014-2024)
• New Orleans Magazine’s, “Top Lawyers” (2012-2013, 2015–2016, 2018-2020, 2022-2024)
• Inside New Orleans Reader’s Favorite “Elite Lawyers” (2022-2024)
• Leadership in Law (2010)
• Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent Rating

• Jay P. Farmer and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “The Duty to Defend and the Affirmative Defense,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (Apr. 2016) 
• Rebecca A. Moore and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “ ‘Customary Operations’ or a Vacant Building?,”  Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (Sep. 2015) 
• C. Austin Holliday and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “Setoon, Starr and Beyond,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (Nov. 2013) 
• Heather N. Sharp and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “New ISO Forms Impact Construction Contracts,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (Sept. 2013) 
• Sara E. Coury and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “Civil Authority Provisions in Property Policies,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (Nov. 2012) 
• Travis B. Wilkinson and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “Coverage Issues Under Homeowners’ Insurance Policies in Chinese Drywall Cases,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, Vol. 10, No. 8 (Sep. 2011) 
• Wystan M. Ackerman and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “Handling the Flood of Coverage Litigation: Lessons Learned from Katrina,” Coverage, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May/June 2010) 
• Anne E. Briard and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “Is an Insurer Obligated to Defend the Prosecution of Affirmative Claims on Behalf of Its Insured?” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 4 (May 2009) 
• Gregory C. Fahrenholt and Seth A. Schmeeckle, “A New Approach: Disclaiming Coverage for Arson to a Vacant Building in Standard Fire Policy States,” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 10 (Nov. 2008) 
• Seth A. Schmeeckle and Ralph S. Hubbard III, “Selecting Defense Counsel and Controlling the Defense: Who Makes the Call When Rights are Reserved?” Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Apr. 2004) 

• “2019 Year in Review – Significant Developments in Insurance Coverage and Extra-Contractual Liability,” New Orleans Bar Association (Jan. 23, 2020) 
• “Negotiations Strategies with Casualty Claims,” PLRB Central Regional Adjusters Conference (September 5 and 6, 2017) 

• “The Appraisal Clause: Viewpoints from the Policyholder and Defense Counsel,” CLE, New Orleans Bar Association (Jul. 16, 2015) 
• USDC NJ Hurricane Sandy Arbitrator Training Conference (Jul. 23, 2014) 
• USDC EDNY Storm Sandy Mediation Training (May 22, 2014) 
• HarrisMartin’s Superstorm Sandy Insurance Coverage Litigation Conference (Feb. 26, 2013)