Hilary M. Henkind

 

Hilary M. Henkind engages in both property and liability insurance coverage litigation, as well as general commercial and insurance litigation. She represents insurers in claims involving natural catastrophes, terrorism, professional liability, complex environmental contamination, mold, insurance brokers’ liability, fraud, and business interruption. Ms. Henkind is admitted to the bars of New York and Massachusetts. In addition, she has participated in litigation in the federal courts of California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Ms. Henkind graduated magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law, where she was an editor of the American Journal of Law and Medicine, and cum laude from Union College. She received a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1996, and received a Certificate of Achievement for attaining the highest cumulative grades of all Boston Chapter 1996 designees.

Honors

  • Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, received 1996; received Certificate of Achievement in recognition of attaining the highest cumulative grades of all Boston Chapter 1996 designees

Representative Matters

Various COVID-19 insurance coverage decisions, including:

  • Carrols Rest. Group v. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., No. 815430/2021 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Erie Cty., Nov. 4, 2022)
  • Rainbow USA Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 163 N.Y.S.3d 387 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings Cty. 2022)
  • 6593 Weighlock Drive, LLC v. Springhill SMC Corp., 174 N.Y.S.3d 386 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Onondaga Cty. 2021)
  • Crescent Hotels and Resorts, LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 108 Va. Cir. 402 (2021)

Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, Ltd. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 2014 WL 642993 (4th Cir.) – summary judgment granted in a case involving contingent business interruption coverage and discussing whether an entity was a “direct” supplier of the insured.

Jane Street Holding, LLC v. Aspen American Ins. Co., 2014 WL 28600 (S.D.N.Y.), aff’d 581 Fed. Appx. 49, 2014 WL 5287051 (2d Cir.) – obtained summary judgment on breach of contract and bad-faith claim involving Sandy flood damage.

Ranger Pipelines, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2013 WL 1809003 (N.D. Cal.) – motion to dismiss granted on suit limitation ground.

Five Star Electric Corp. v. Zurich American Ins. Co., 101 A.D.3d 802, 956 N.Y.S.2d 115 (2d Dept. 2012) – obtained summary judgment on a breach of contract claim against an electrical subcontractor involved in the construction of CitiField.

Huey, et al. v. Super Fresh/Sav-A-Center, Inc., E.D. La. – obtained defense verdict in Katrina breach of contract and bad-faith action involving damage to a supermarket.

Royal Indem. Co. v. Retail Brand Alliance, Inc., 33 A.D.3d 392, 822 N.Y.S.2d 268 (1st Dept. 2006) – affirmed order granting summary judgment to insurer for a retail store’s extended business interruption claim following destruction of World Trade Center.

Newsroom

Bylined Articles

  • ‘Tonoga v. New Hampshire’ and the Applicability of Pollution Exclusions to PFAS,” with Ananda ZhuNew York Law Journal, October 4, 2022
  • Looking At The Limitations Of The Delay Exclusion,” Law360, June 14, 2017
  • “Let Me Be Direct: Direct is Not an Ambiguous Term,” FC&S Legal, March 3, 2014
  • “Coverage Implications Related to the Eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull Volcano,” co-authored with Francis Montbach, Costantino Suriano, Frank DeAngelis, and Marc Haas, Journal of Reinsurance, Volume 17, Number 3, Summer 2010
  • “Getting Rid of Mold, Fungus and Rot,” Mealey’s Litigation Reports: Mold, November 2002
  • “Something’s In The Air,” Global Reinsurance, 2001
  • “Seeing is Believing,” co-authored with Wayne Glaubinger, Best’s Review, December 2001
  • “Ski Injury Litigation” and “Breach of an Insurer’s Duty to Defend,” The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly

Admissions

New York, 1993
Massachusetts, 1992
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2014
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2013
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2010
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2001
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1997
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1997
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 1993
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 1993

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, Boston University School of Law, 1992; Editor, American Journal of Law and Medicine
B.S., cum laude, Union College, 1989

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