PRACTICE AREAS
Counseling and Risk Management
EDUCATION
DePaul University College of Law, J.D., 2000
The University of Notre Dame, B.S., 1997
ADMISSIONS
Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
MEMBERSHIPS
Chicago Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Joseph P. Lang is a partner who concentrates his practice on liability insurance coverage and commercial litigation matters. Joseph serves as coverage and litigation counsel to various domestic and international insurers. His practice focuses on complex insurance coverage disputes in diverse disciplines, including environmental contamination, construction defect, product recall, trademark infringement, product liability, premises liability, bad faith, and toxic mold.
Joseph has been successful in obtaining favorable resolution of disputes through mediation, arbitration, summary judgment, and trial. He welcomes the opportunity to lecture on emerging issues in his practice, and recently lectured on the evolving nature of coverage for pollution-related liability in Indiana.
As a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee, Joseph seeks to mentor associates and foster professional growth.
SIGNIFICANT DECISIONS
Columbia Cas. Co. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa., No. BC402657 (Cal. Super. Ct. Oct. 26, 2011) Obtained jury verdict in favor of excess insurers against a claim for failure to settle within policy limits. Jury found that insurers did not act in bad faith in rejecting settlement demands in underlying personal injury lawsuit, which ultimately resolved for $32 million. Defeated claim for Brandt fees by arguing that equitable subrogation claim by excess insurer for bad faith failure to settle did not involve recovery of any sums owed on policies issued by lower-tiered excess insurers.
Gateway Hotel Holdings, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 275 S.W.3d 268 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008) Appellate Court affirmed summary judgment in case of first impression in Missouri. The court enforced an athletic participant’s exclusion to preclude coverage for a claim that the insured failed to provide adequate medical care to a boxer after a fight that resulted in permanent brain injury.
Ne. Reg’l Commuter R.R. Corp. v. Am. Int’l Specialty Lines Ins. Co., No. 07 CH 171 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Feb. 17, 2010) Summary Judgment granted in favor of insurer. Trial Court held that underlying settlement amount paid by co-insured did not reduce named insured’s obligation to fully fund self-insured retention.
In rRe Oral Sodium Phosphate Solution-Based Prods. Liab. Action, No. 1:09-SP-80000 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 26, 2012) Represented excess insurers in the development and implementation of claimant’s settlement valuation matrix for mass tort, multi-district litigation.
Advanced Envtl. Recycling Techs., Inc. v. Am. Int’l Specialty Lines Ins. Co., 399 F. App’x 869 (5th Cir. 2010) Fifth Circuit affirmed district court’s grant of summary judgment, finding that a class action settlement for defective mold resistant decking was not an “occurrence” and found that umbrella policy did contain a “your product exclusion,” which precluded coverage for the settlement.
PUBLICATIONS
Electronic Discovery: An Overview and Practical Pointers, Oct. 2005 (link)