Martineau King Recognizes and Congratulates its 2024 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars!
Martineau King Recognizes and Congratulates its 2021 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars!
Lee Thomas Prevails on Summary Judgment in USDC-SC!
Senior Associate Lee M. Thomas recently prevailed on summary judgment in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina in a case where the firm’s client faced exposure exceeding $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The case involved a house fire that occurred in Lexington, South Carolina in 2015. Martineau King’s client was a family-owned electrical business responsible for installing certain wiring at the subject property. After more than two years of discovery, the plaintiffs failed to produce any direct evidence of the client’s alleged negligence. Rather, the plaintiffs relied solely on weak circumstantial evidence. Senior District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. agreed there was no evidence upon which the jury could find liability, and the Court awarded summary judgment in favor of Martineau King’s client. All other co-defendants chose to settle at mediation. Congratulations to Lee and our client!
CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTINEAU KING FOR 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS!!
MK ATTORNEYS SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND COVERAGE DENIAL ALL THE WAY TO N.C. SUPREME COURT
Partners Elizabeth Martineau and Joe Fulton recently achieved a significant victory for a liability insurer facing a potential $4,000,000 exposure in a wrongful death case. The insurer provided auto, homeowners, and personal umbrella coverage to a couple whose son tragically caused the death of a young Marine in an unusual single vehicle auto collision. The son got into a fight at a fraternity house and fled to his vehicle. The victim gave chase and ended up on the hood of the car. The son sped away, ran off the road, and collided with a tree. He was intoxicated at the time and, facing a criminal charge of second-degree murder, ultimately pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
The victim’s estate filed claims against the son for negligence and gross negligence and claims against his father for negligent entrustment and vicarious family purpose liability. The insurer filed a declaratory judgment action and obtained a ruling from the trial court that it had no obligation to defend or indemnify the defendants, except to the extent of statutory minimum limits. The victim’s estate was the only party that appealed.
Elizabeth and Joe argued that the appeal must be dismissed on grounds that the victim’s estate did not have standing to appeal and was not a party aggrieved by the trial court’s judgment. The appeal was fully briefed by the beginning of February of 2019 and in April, the N.C. Court of Appeals granted the motion to dismiss without a written opinion. The victim’s estate appealed further by filing a petition for writ of certiorari to the N.C. Supreme Court. After an anxious six-month wait, the Supreme Court denied the petition, ending just over three years of litigation with a win for the insurer.
ELIZABETH MARTINEAU SELECTED AS NORTH CAROLINA CONSTRUCTION LAWYER FOR 2020
ELIZABETH MARTINEAU TO BE HONORED AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA LEADERSHIP IN LAW TWELFTH ANNUAL EVENT
CONGRATULATES TO ELIZABETH MARTINEAU, JOSEPH FULTON, AND LEE THOMAS FOR THEIR SELECTION INTO 2020 SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARTS LISTS
MK Attorneys Successfully Defend Coverage Denial All the Way to N.C. Supreme Court
10 December 2019
Partners Elizabeth Martineau and Joe Fulton recently achieved a significant victory for a liability insurer facing a potential $4,000,000 exposure in a wrongful death case. The insurer provided auto, homeowners, and personal umbrella coverage to a couple whose son tragically caused the death of a young Marine in an unusual single vehicle auto collision. The son got into a fight at a fraternity house and fled to his vehicle. The victim gave chase and ended up on the hood of the car. The son sped away, ran off the road, and collided with a tree. He was intoxicated at the time and, facing a criminal charge of second-degree murder, ultimately pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
The victim’s estate filed claims against the son for negligence and gross negligence and claims against his father for negligent entrustment and vicarious family purpose liability. The insurer filed a declaratory judgment action and obtained a ruling from the trial court that it had no obligation to defend or indemnify the defendants, except to the extent of statutory minimum limits. The victim’s estate was the only party that appealed.
Elizabeth and Joe argued that the appeal must be dismissed on grounds that the victim’s estate did not have standing to appeal and was not a party aggrieved by the trial court’s judgment. The appeal was fully briefed by the beginning of February of 2019 and in April, the N.C. Court of Appeals granted the motion to dismiss without a written opinion. The victim’s estate appealed further by filing a petition for writ of certiorari to the N.C. Supreme Court. After an anxious six month wait, the Supreme Court denied the petition, ending just over three years of litigation with a win for the insurer.
More information about the case can be found here (file no. 18-1092) from the N.C. Court of Appeals and here (file no. 175P19) from the N.C. Supreme Court.
About the Attorneys
Elizabeth Martineau is the founding partner of Martineau King PLLC and has over twenty years of experience representing insurance companies in coverage disputes. For more information about Elizabeth, please visit her attorney bio page here.
Joe Fulton is a partner with Martineau King PLLC and focuses the majority of his practice on representing insurance companies in coverage disputes. For more information about Joe, please visit his attorney bio page here.
Important Disclaimer: The case mentioned above is illustrative of matters handled by MK Law. Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Not all results in cases handled by MK Law are provided. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
FULTON ACCEPTED TO SOUTH CAROLINA BAR
Partner Joe Fulton was recently accepted for membership in the South Carolina Bar. He was sworn in on November 19th. Joe was originally admitted in North Carolina in 2012 and practices in the areas of insurance coverage, insurance defense, and creditor’s rights. For more information about Joe, please see his attorney bio.
Elizabeth Martineau to be honored at the 2019 NC and SC Lawyers Weekly Diversity and Inclusion Awards
Martineau Delivers at Conference
Partner Elizabeth Martineau recently served on a three person panel in Pittsburgh for the annual commercial claims and litigation conference hosted by Erie Insurance. For more information on Elizabeth and her practice areas, please see her attorney page.
