General Liability Defense

When it comes to bodily injury or property damage claims, most state laws favor plaintiffs and consumers. To make matters worse, juries like people; they don’t like corporations. This means that when you are faced with a claim or a lawsuit as a defendant or their insurance carrier, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

A general liability policy protects you if you get sued. A general liability policy pays for your lawyer if you get sued and pays to settle a claim or pay a judgment. The attorneys at Kopka Pinkus Dolin represent businesses and insurance companies throughout the Midwest, providing strong and successful general liability defense against all manner of claims. For practical pre-suit litigation strategy or if you’ve already been served with a complaint, contact Kopka Pinkus Dolin at any of our several offices located in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin. We offer skilled and experienced legal representation coupled with unparalleled customer service to make sure your legal matter is dealt with appropriately and according to your needs.

Every company needs general liability insurance

As an employer, business owner, or property owner, you can take several steps to reduce the frequency of accidents in your business or on your property. You can hire experienced workers; provide training and supervision, including regular meetings to explain and remind workers of safety policies and the use of safety equipment; and you can take care to maintain your premises in a safe condition.

None of these steps, however, should relieve you of the necessity for a commercial general liability (CGL) policy. CGL insurance might even be required by your landlord, the bank issuing you a mortgage, or certain customers you want to work with. CGL can be purchased on its own or bundled with commercial property insurance (business owner’s policy) at a discount or combined with cyber liability, product liability or other insurance specific to your unique needs.

CGL insurance helps you avoid liability for a variety of claims, including:

• Bodily Injury Claims
• Property Damage Claims
• Medical Payments
• Advertising Injuries, such as copyright infringement or defamation claims

If you have a business that is open to the public, if you own or rent commercial property, or if you manage property on behalf of a client, then general liability insurance is essential to protect you. Whether you are fully insured, self-insured or uninsured, the general liability defense attorneys at Kopka Pinkus Dolin can help you if you get sued.

We know negligence liability claims

The experience of our attorneys extends across the spectrum of liability claims, including automobile and trucking/transportation claims, employment law and EPLI, product liability, workers’ compensation, and bad faith insurance and coverage disputes. Our lawyers investigate every aspect of a liability claim, gathering the facts and applying the law to each element and availing our clients of every available defense in issues of:

• Duty of Care, including whether a special relationship gave rise to a specific duty, or whether any relationship (and duty) existed at all
• Breach of Duty (negligence)
• Causation, including both the cause in fact and the proximate (legal) cause of a claimed injury
• Damages

With offices in nearly half a dozen different states across the Midwest, our attorneys are familiar with comparative fault laws in different jurisdictions, from pure comparative negligence to the 51% bar rule. Where the plaintiff’s own negligence caused or contributed to the alleged injury, we’ll bring out the facts that prove it and make sure our clients don’t pay any more than they are responsible for. We work with medical experts as well to determine the extent of an alleged injury and the probable value of the claim. Whether settling or litigating a claim in our clients’ best interests, we use all our skills and experience to help keep our clients from being unfairly blamed for any negligence they are not responsible for.

Help Is Here With General Liability Defense

The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove a liability case against a defendant, but it’s a low standard of proof. You need an experienced legal team on your side with a record of success to help you get the best result. The attorneys at Kopka Pinkus Dolin have over 100 years of combined experience and a record that includes more than 300 trials successfully taken to verdict. For help with general liability defense in the Midwest, call Kopka Pinkus Dolin at our offices in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you with your needs.