Media Coverage
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
04.12.23
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on behalf of Pillsbury client Cocrystal Pharma Inc. by vacating a Delaware federal court decision granting Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc. summary judgment and the right to recoup money it paid to cover Cocrystal’s defense of a 2015 SEC investigation.
“Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant Cocrystal, there is a genuine dispute of material fact whether the SEC was investigating its wrongful acts,” U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro concluded. “We determine the duty to defend based on the possibility of liability at the beginning of the case, not based on its outcome.”
According to the panel, Cocrystal's coverage of $1.1 million in defense costs depends upon whether the SEC was “investigating Cocrystal for a wrongful act at the outset.” If so, the court said the company would be entitled to coverage.
The panel also reversed the District Court’s dismissal of Cocrystal's claim for coverage of defense costs and settlements in three private lawsuits filed after its policy ended.
Pillsbury Insurance Recovery & Advisory partner Tamara Bruno, who represents Cocrystal along with partner Peter Gillon and associate Jesse Vazquez, said, “a reversal was the right result.”
The case is Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc. v. Cocrystal Pharma Inc., 22-2242.