David J. Fagnilli

David is a member of the casualty department handling matters involving products liability, trucking and transportation, automobile liability, premises liability, construction accidents, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury. He has represented insureds in business disputes, construction claims, complex litigation and business arbitrations. David has also handled litigation concerning defamation, contractor claims, property use disputes, and commercial and business property losses. He has extensive experience negotiating favorable settlements independently and through mediation and other forms of ADR.

Additional areas of practice include insurance coverage, contract interpretation and analysis for first and third party claims; and defense of coverage disputes and bad faith lawsuits involving commercial general liability, commercial property, commercial vehicle, umbrella, auto and homeowners’ policies; and claims for environmental damage, asbestos and other toxic torts.

David is admitted to practice in all Ohio Courts, all Federal District Courts in Ohio, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. David is a life member of the Eighth District Judicial Conference. He is a member of the American, Ohio State, Cleveland Metropolitan, and Lake County Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute, the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, the Cleveland Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, and the Justinian Forum.

A shareholder with an AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell rating, David has also been selected by his peers as an Ohio Super Lawyer annually since 2010, as published in Cincinnati Magazine and Northern Ohio Live Magazine and one of The Best Lawyers in America publication annually since 2009.

David received his B.A. from Southern California College in 1980, and his juris doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1985.

Honors & awards

Attorneys Listed by Best Lawyers in America
- Insurance Law, 2009-present

AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell

Ohio Super Lawyers
2010-2020

Year joined

2016

Results

Summary judgment for insurance broker and two Lloyds syndicates.

Insurance Services
March 1, 2020

We obtained a ruling granting summary judgment in favor of an insurance broker and two Lloyds syndicates in a case pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The case involved a claim arising from a fall from a tree stand at a hunting camp.

Thought Leadership

Marshall Dennehey Announces 2018 Ohio Super Lawyers & Rising Stars

December 6, 2017
Marshall Dennehey is pleased to announce that David J. Fagnilli and Stacy A. Starcher, shareholders in the firm's Cleveland office, have been selected to the 2018 edition of Ohio Super Lawyers magazine.

Marshall Dennehey Adds Shareholder in Cleveland

February 9, 2016
Seasoned trial attorney David J. Fagnilli, Esquire, has joined Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin as a shareholder in the firm’s Cleveland office.

Ohio Supreme Court holds that general contractor’s CGL insurer is not obligated to defend suit alleging subcontractor’s faulty workmanship.

Insurance Services
April 1, 2019
The Ohio Supreme Court has revisited, affirmed and applied its earlier decision in Westfield Ins. Co. v. Case Law Alerts, 2nd Quarter, April 2019

Legal Updates for Coverage and Bad Faith

Cleveland
Insurance Services
March 20, 2019
Edited by Allison L. Krupp, Esq.

Exclusion for operator in violation of his driving conditions was held enforceable.

Insurance Services
October 1, 2018
The Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the insurer, finding that a driver operating a vehicle with a temporary permit, but no licensed driver in the vehicle, was not entitled to insurance coverage under the policy. Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2018

Ohio Appellate Court questions whether an Amish buggy can be an uninsured motor vehicle.

Insurance Services
October 1, 2018
In a case involving a horse drawn buggy and a motorcycle, the Wayne County Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a decision granting summary judgment to the insurer, and found that the buggy was not an uninsured motor vehicle. Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2018

A sagging roof is not a collapse. Exclusion for fungi, wet rot, dry rot or bacteria precludes coverage for sagging trusses.

Insurance Services
April 1, 2018
In 2014, the insured reported that the trusses holding up its roof had moved and were sagging. Case Law Alerts, 2nd Quarter, April 2018

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Classes/Seminars Taught

Insurer, Adjuster and Agent and Broker Liability: A - Z, National Business Institute, August 26, 2016, presenter

Ten Commandments of Working with Expert Witnesses, June 13, 2013, CLM Transportation Conference, panelist

Anatomy of a Complex CGL Claim, Additional Insureds - Ohio Anti-Indemnity Statute, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, November 2, 2012

Insurance Law from Basic to Advanced - Claims Handling Process, Akron Bar Association October 30, 2012

What Civil Court Judges Want You to Know, National Business Institute, November 4, 2011, moderator

Ohio Tort and Insurance Case Law Update, Akron Claims Association, April 14, 2010

Insurance Law in Ohio, Lorman Educational Services, March 21, 2003, co-author and presenter

Insurance Law in Ohio: Third Party Coverage in Ohio, National Business Institute, March 14, 1996, co-author and presenter