Stephen P. Brown

Stephen P. Brown is a member of the firm’s Insurance Law Practice Group in the Bloomfield Hills Office.  His area of specialty is representing insurance companies in complex insurance coverage disputes involving a wide spectrum of issues, including insurance coverage for underlying product liability and environmental contamination claims, among others. He has also represented corporate entities in complex product liability litigation.

Additionally, Mr. Brown has extensive experience in handling bad faith and failure to settle claims on behalf of insurance companies. His insurance coverage practice also includes a number of defense cost disputes where the reasonableness and necessity of defense costs incurred by an insured were at issue. 

Mr. Brown has been successful in obtaining summary judgment on a number of key insurance coverage issues and authored numerous coverage opinions for insurance carrier clients on a wide range of topics, including coverage for advertising injury claims, sexual harassment, racial and sexual discrimination, assault and battery, defective products, and claims made/claims reported issues.

The principal author of several Plunkett Cooney national legal compendiums, Mr. Brown has also given carrier-specific presentations and seminars about various insurance coverage issues and topics.

Representative Client Work

• Represents insurance carriers as regional coverage counsel in numerous coverage matters involving issues such as construction defects, bad faith, class actions, mass torts, environmental, defective products, asbestos, mold, contaminated foods, general liability (primary and excess), assault and battery, employers liability and workers compensation policies, errors and omissions and professional liability
• Represented insurance carriers in several noteworthy coverage cases, including the Stryker defective knee product liability litigation, Dow Corning breast implant coverage litigation, 3M breast implant coverage litigation, Dow Chemical pollution coverage litigation, Indiana Gas pollution coverage litigation, American Bumper intentional tort/wrongful death coverage suit, and Consolidated Industries defective furnace coverage litigation

Notable Cases

• American Bumper and Mfg. Co. v National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA; Court of Appeals of Michigan, obtained reversal of denial of summary disposition as to duty to defend intentional tort/wrongful death suit.
• Watson v Travelers Indemnity Company; Court of Appeals of Michigan, obtained affirmance of grant of summary disposition as to pollution exclusion application to toxic roof fumes.
• Remar v Trumbley v Citizens Insurance Company of America; Court of Appeals of Michigan; obtained affirmance of grant summary disposition based upon prejudicial late notice.
• Damrow v The Post Bar v Century Surety Company – Michigan Court of Appeals; obtained reversal of denial of summary disposition with respect to duty to defend underlying assault and battery suit.
• Nugent Sand Company v Century Indemnity Company; United States District Court – Western District of Michigan, obtained summary judgment as to pollution exclusion application to groundwater contamination.
• Stryker Corporation v National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA; United States District Court – Western District of Michigan, obtained summary judgment with respect to number of occurrences issue and applicability to insured’s self-insured retention.
• Arch Specialty Insurance Company v Correctional Health Resources, Inc.; United States District Court – Western District of Michigan, obtained summary judgment on basis of late notice/reporting issues.
• Chippewa Valley Schools v National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA; United States District Court – Eastern District of Michigan, obtained summary judgment on notice/claims reporting issues.
• West River Sound and Lights, Inc. v Reliance National Indemnity Co., United States District Court – Eastern District of Michigan, obtained summary judgment as to insured status.
• Gencorp, Inc. v AIU Insurance Co., United States District Court – Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, USDC, Northern District of Ohio, obtained affirmance of grant of summary judgment based on lack of exhaustion of underlying insurance.
• Donna Morgan v Century Surety Company, et al; Lake County Circuit Court, Indiana, obtained summary judgment as to coverage for underlying assault and battery suit.
• The Lamson & Sessions Co. v Aetna Casualty and Surety Co., Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, obtained summary judgment as to application of pollution exclusion to historical releases of pollutants.
• Peoples State Bank v Federal Insurance Company; Oakland County Circuit Court, Michigan, obtained summary disposition as to application of pollution exclusion to indoor toxic carpet glue fumes.
• Citizens Insurance Company of America v Coloredge and Modar; Berrien County Circuit Court, Michigan, obtained summary disposition as to application of business risk exclusions.

Professional Affiliations

• State Bar of Michigan
• Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter – (successfully completed 5 of 10 CPCU courses) 

Publications and Lectures

• The Wayne Law Review; Insurance Law, Wayne State University – Detroit, MI; Vol. 49. No. 2 – Summer 2003