Matthew J. Morris is an Associate in the Litigation Department. He works on a variety of disputes concerning insurance coverage, partnership and joint venture agreements, commercial real estate transactions, RICO and media and communications law.
Matt's analytical acumen has enabled him to contribute significantly to the firm's success in difficult appellate matters, including: two 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 other in a decision 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); its 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); its 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); and its 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).
