Surety and Fidelity Representative Matters

Notable surety cases handled by our attorneys include:

• the defense of two American surety companies against multi-million dollar bond claims regarding the construction of oil production and storage platforms in Brazil;
• the defense of the surety on bond and fraud claims and prosecution of an electrical subcontractor's affirmative delay and disruption claims regarding the construction of a major hotel project in Times Square, New York City;
• we successfully represented a Philadelphia-based surety company on performance bond claims and related indemnity claims involving the multi-million dollar expansion of a retirement community in Philadelphia's suburbs;
• together with our surety client's electrical subcontractor principal, we mediated the resolution of multiple claims arising out of the construction of two luxury condominium projects in Philadelphia;
• we represented a European surety, in regard to bonds written in Germany, on indemnity claims against a bankrupt American corporation and an insolvent American insurer. After litigation in Texas and New York, we obtained over $13 million for our client, after the client had previously decided that the prospects for recovery were hopeless;
• we represented a surety in an action on an agreement of indemnity to recover the amounts paid by the surety in settling a performance bond claim. By a motion for summary judgment, we overcame the indemnitors' arguments that the surety was not entitled to any recovery because its settlement of the performance bond claim was not made in good faith. We recovered the full amount of the surety's losses and expenses from the indemnitors;
• we successfully represented a surety in an action against an owner who released contract funds without the surety's consent. This release of funds deprived the surety of its interest in the contract funds, which would have reimbursed the surety for claims that it had to pay against its payment bond. The owner was required to pay to the surety that amount that it had released to the surety's principal without the surety's consent;
• we successfully represented a surety in an adversary proceeding in Bankruptcy Court to establish the surety's right in and to contract balances held by an owner. The surety had satisfied the claims against the payment bond that it had issued for its principal, the debtor. The court held that the surety, by reason of its right of equitable subrogation, had an interest in the funds that was superior to any interest of the debtor's bankruptcy estate or the debtor's secured creditor.