Larry D. Mason

Larry D. Mason is a renowned trial and appellate litigator and counselor to many national and international businesses across diverse industries. Based in Chicago but with experience litigating and counseling clients through complicated and high-profile matters across the country and internationally, he dedicates most of his practice to insurance coverage, reinsurance, commercial litigation, environmental and toxic torts, and complex insurance regulatory matters. He also focuses on professional liability for clients in construction, environmental, and related industries; products liability; and identifying emerging risks. He brings his extensive experience to leadership positions in the firm, where he is chair of the Environmental and Mass Torts Coverage and Construction Coverage subgroups.

Formidable and respected as a trial and appellate litigator, Larry also regularly provides assistance to underwriters concerning policy and endorsement drafting, market strategy, and the development of new insurance products. Larry’s risk and litigation avoidance practice helps his business clients to avoid litigation by working with business leaders, risk managers, and underwriters to identify risks in developing fields and to proactively address emerging risks, devise risk management strategies and solutions, and offer general counsel to top-level executives.

For nearly three decades Larry has been a thought leader in the insurance-law community. Inside the courtroom he has been a pioneer, litigating many cases of first impression advancing new interpretations of law and new defenses. Outside he has written and spoken on the most pressing issues in insurance and related fields. And he has served as an expert witness or arbitrator in complex, multi-issue cases.

Larry’s experience includes commercial litigation involving involving multiple lines of insurance and reinsurance; first-party property and third-party liability; product liability; contracts; bad faith; toxic torts; technology and cybersecurity; intellectual property disputes; rescission; reformation; life and disability; D & O/E & O; EPL; professional-liability defense for construction companies and their executives, architects, engineers, and contractors; and complicated cross-discipline cases arising from environmental, structural, or other catastrophic damages, including business interruption and lost revenue.

Widely known as “The Problem Solver,” Larry has a practice encompassing a broad spectrum of first- and third-party coverage, reinsurance, and defense issues. He frequently is called on to protect the interests of insurers and reinsurers in complex insurance coverage disputes and to defend their insureds concerning a variety of third-party liability issues. He has applied his extensive experience in handling large catastrophe losses and the complex cross-discipline problems that arise from these claims to a wide array of business interests.

In his environmental defense practice, Larry also offers clients in-depth knowledge of state and federal regulations, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and others. He also litigates matters involving contamination and exposure to chemicals and substances such as acetyl propionyl, asbestos, benzene, diacetyl, 1,4-Dioxane, glyphosate, mold, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), nanotechnology, lead, silica, Legionella, and COVID-19. In addition to handling adversarial matters, Larry counsels clients concerning litigation avoidance by providing strategic advice regarding environmental compliance and strategy.

Larry has continued to diversify his cross-disciplinary practice over the years, in keeping with the philosophy that has driven his entire career: An insurance attorney’s success has to rest on a foundation of diverse, deep, and balanced engagement with the dynamic and multifaceted issues involved in underlying claims. This belief propelled Larry to the forefront of developing fields, including asbestos and other environmental and construction hazards, cyber risks and cyber insurance, and liability issues related to climate change - all practices in which he is a recognized authority. This breadth of substantive experience facilitates the synergy Larry brings to his practice and to his clients, as he’s been able to provide coverage as well as defense counsel.

Larry’s clients benefit from his wide-ranging curiosity and the passion it brings to his work. His lifelong interest in architecture and construction, for example, fuels his deep and robust understanding of the challenges his clients in property insurance, construction and related fields face. His experiences in executive, financial, and project management positions at his synagogue, as well as his roles on the Board of Directors and Investment, Audit, and Independent Committees of the Spinnaker Insurance Company equip Larry with an uncommon fluency in business, finance, management, and risk management. He understands the work his clients love as well as he does the legal concerns that would keep them from it.

His experience in property- and liability-insurance coverage dovetailed with his interest in construction, pushing him to explore environmental law and its frequent applications to property and liability cases. Early in his career, Larry handled declaratory judgment actions stemming from the Penn Mutual and One Meridian Plaza fires in Philadelphia, where he took a leading role on all environmental matters.

Larry is a regular host and featured guest of Goldberg Segalla’s Timely Notice podcast, the insurance industry’s on-the-go source for sharp takes and expert analysis of the latest trends, breaking news, and sea-changes in global insurance law and the insurance marketplace. He also frequently contributes to the firm’s Global Insurance Services webinar series, presenting on emerging legal issues involving the insurance industry, and is a regular contributor to the firm’s award-winning Environmental Law Monitor blog.

Experience Highlights

Environmental and Mass Torts Coverage

Larry oversees this nationally recognized team of attorneys, who have successfully litigated in state and federal courts on a wide variety of issues, including the interpretation of pollution, asbestos, and occupational-disease exclusions, what constitutes a suit, allocation of costs, and successor liability. He himself has worked closely with environmental consultants and scientists in cases involving asbestos, PCBs, microbial exposure, benzene, Diacetyl, and other toxic torts. And he was among the first attorneys to explore the field of liability involving climate change.

Larry’s success in environmental and mass torts coverage includes:

•Serving as coverage, trial, and appellate counsel in several multi-party insurance coverage declaratory judgment disputes arising out of thousands of complaints where the underlying plaintiffs alleged bodily injury caused by exposure to benzene and asbestos-containing materials
•Serving as lead trial counsel in a successful defense of international animal nutrition manufacturer in multiple actions alleging worker exposure to diacetyl and other toxic chemicals from historic plant operations
•Providing trial and appellate counsel in a multi-party insurance coverage declaratory judgment action involving a liability claim pertaining to PCB contamination of the Lower Fox River in Wisconsin

Cyber Risk Coverage

Larry is co-chair of the firm’s cyber-risk coverage. In his work in insurance coverage and commercial litigation, he has maintained his position at the forefront of advancing technologies and their risks and liabilities. An authority and driving force in the effective use of technology in legal practices and in courtrooms, Larry helped shape the role technology would play in the practice of law, pioneering the use of electronic briefs, document coding, and databases, and he continues to lead in the field, helping clients draft contracts and insurance policies that include cybersecurity and risk-avoidance provisions. His clients call on him to identify emerging risks: Recent work has touched on opioids, wildfires, drones, cyber liability, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, glyphosate, right to try legislation, cannabis, and Fin-Tech (financial technologies). Among our successes in this area are:

•Representing a domestic insurer in high-profile insurance coverage litigation stemming from the Sony PlayStation data breach. We obtained a dismissal of the insurer, who issued a cyber- insurance policy to the insured.
•Counseling numerous insurers on the scope of coverage under their cyber-insurance policies in relation to the outbreak of class-action litigation involving the capture and/or disclosure of personally identifiable information, invasion of privacy claims, and alleged violation of state and federal statutes
•Counseling insurer client in drafting media in the scope of coverage under their cyber insurance policy requiring specialty knowledge and industry experience in types of media and intellectual property intended to be covered and exclude certain risks

Product Liability

Larry’s experience with product liability-related insurance and reinsurance coverage challenges, including product recall, contamination and liability risks, includes the successful defense of manufacturers against claims of negligent product design, failure to warn, and breach of warranties. He has counseled clients in litigation-liability prevention, product-recall campaigns, and the development of product package warnings and owner/operator manuals. His successes in this area include defending multiple products liability charges against North America’s largest bus manufacturer, including charges of faulty design and failure to warn

Insurance Product Development

Environmental and mass tort coverage specialists, who have co-authored multiple innovative environmental-liability insurance products widely used in the excess and surplus lines insurance market to address environmental pollution and environmental professional risks. Formidable and respected as a trial and appellate litigator, Larry regularly provides assistance to underwriters concerning policy and endorsement drafting, market strategy, and the development of new insurance products. Larry’s risk- and litigation-avoidance practice helps his business clients to avoid litigation by working with business leaders, risk managers, and underwriters to identify risks in developing fields (like cyber liability).

Appellate

Larry began his career as an appellate and insurance coverage lawyer. He had a passion for oral advocacy, though, and understood that his success as an appellate attorney would be limited without a foundation of trial experience. He went on to train under the preeminent property insurance lawyers of the late 1980s and early ‘90s, and has since been involved in many of the nation’s most complex property and casualty liability cases.

•Providing trial and appellate counsel for 12 insurers in a multi-site environmental coverage action involving claims exceeding $700 million (which, due to its complexity, set the record for the longest civil case ever tried in the state of Washington)
•Provided trial and appellate counsel for 11 insurers in an environmental lawsuit involving claims exceeding $500 million, resulting in favorable summary judgment rulings and/or settlements below the cost of defense
•Provided trial and appellate counsel representing six insurers in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $1 billion lawsuit to remove asbestos from all of its buildings, resulting in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ landmark ruling affirming summary judgment in the clients’ favor

Architecture, Engineering, Surveying, and Design

Larry routinely represents architects, engineers, contractors, and owners in a number of complex cases including breach of contract, failure of duty, environmental, and building design. Among his successes in this area is a case in which he defended an engineering firm named in a multi-party suit by the city of Hammond, Indiana’s water department. The suit alleged that the engineering firm and several other businesses involved as contractors or subcontractors in the construction of a municipal sewer had damaged underground pipes carrying drinking water through the town, causing a multimillion-gallon gusher. Larry persuaded a judge to release the firm from the suit.

Honors & Awards

Martindale-Hubbell Peer-Review Rating: AV Preeminent

Illinois Super Lawyers: Insurance Coverage, 2005-20

Illinois Leading Lawyer in Insurance, Insurance Coverage, and Reinsurance Law and in Products Liability Defense Law, 2012 to present

PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo Outstanding Presentations Award (for long-term commitment to insurance industry education), March 2013

Top-Rated Lawyer in Insurance Law, American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell

Community Involvement

•Congregation Solel
•Historic lay leadership positions: President; Executive Vice President; Vice President, Lifelong Learning; Board Member; Trustee, Endowment Fund; Congregational Merger Exploratory Committee member; Chair, Facilities Strategic Planning Task Force; Co-Chair, Cantorial Search Committee
•North Trail Homeowners Association
•Member of Board of Directors; Treasurer
•Makom Solel Lakeside
•Merger Steering Committee
•Chair, Unification Capital Improvements Project
•Uptown Music Theater of Highland Park
•Member of Board of Directors; Secretary
•Dads Association at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
•Member of Board of Directors

Publications & Events

Publications

•Reinsurance Professional’s Deskbook: A Practical Guide, Chapter 15: “Follow the Fortunes & Follow the Settlements” (Managing Editor and Author), Thomson Reuters, 2019-2020 (Third Edition)
•“The Connecticut Supreme Court’s Occupational Disease Exclusion Decision: Liberating “Occupational Disease” from Workers’ Compensation to Give New Life to an Underappreciated Policy Provision, ” Insurance Coverage Law Report, January 21, 2020
•Quoted in “ 4 Ways Conn. Justices Set Precedent On Asbestos Coverage, ” Law360, October 9, 2019
•“Winning Strategies for Defeating Progressive Injury Claims Under Occurrence-Based Liability Policies,” DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium, November 2018
•“Winning Strategies to Defeat the All Sums Allocation Approach,” DRI In-House Defense Quarterly, Spring 2017
•“The Occupational Disease Exclusion: Making New Law with an Underappreciated Policy Provision, ” FC&S Legal, April 13, 2017
•“Keeping the Faith: First-Party Property Insurance Extracontractual Liability Arising From Preferred Vendors,” Claims Management Magazine, March 15, 2017
•“The Role of Liability Insurance Policy Notice Conditions in Laboratory Liability Claims,” Industry Insights, American Council of Independent Laboratories, No. 4, November 2014
•“Recent Laboratory Legal Developments,” Industry Insights, American Council of Independent Laboratories, No. 1, 2014
•“Common Exclusions in the First-Party Property Insurance Policy and Their Application to Environmental Claims” (Co-Author), Tort and Insurance Practice Journal, Spring 1995
•“The Erosion of the Duty to Cooperate Under CGL Policies: An Overview of Cases Across the Nation,” Emerging Issues LEXIS 209, March 25, 2008
•“Global Warming Has Not Inspired Wave of Lawsuits” (Co-Author), Business Insurance, April 30, 2012

Presentations

•“Ethical Decision Making: Choosing the Right Path,” PLRB Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo, Washington, D.C., March 8, 2020
•“PFAS: Environmental and Coverage Implications for Insurers,” ASCOT Environmental US, New York, New York, November 25, 2019
•“Is Environmental Risk Underwriting Getting Easier or More Difficult?,” Perrin Conferences Environmental Risk & Litigation Conference, New York, New York, June 18, 2019
•“Ethical Decision Making: Choosing the Right Path,” Property and Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, Indianapolis, IN, March 31 - April 3, 2019
•“Time-Limited Demands, ‘Hammer’ Letters and Consent Judgments as Bad Faith Setups,” Starr Companies, January 31, 2019
•“Occurrence Policies and Progressive Injury Claims,” DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Conference, New York, NY, November 29, 2018
•“Emerging CGL Risks: Challenges for 2018 and Beyond,” Property and Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, Orlando, FL, April 15-18, 2018
•“Coverage Strategies and Solutions for Widespread Environmental Harm,” Containing Disasters Seminars, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia, January 22-25, 2018
•“Nanotechnology: Introduction to the Science, Regulation and Emerging Risks,” AIRROC Summer Membership Meeting, July 19, 2017
•“Emerging Risks & Insurance Issues,” HB Northeast Corporate Counsel Forum, Atlantic City, NJ, April 6-8, 2017
•“Emerging CGL Risks: Coverage Issues,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, Boston, MA, March 26-29, 2017
•“Emerging CGL Risks: Coverage Strategies & Solutions,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, San Antonio, TX, April 17-20, 2016
•“The Growing Risk of Cyber liability for Warranty and Service Contract Providers: Proactive Strategies for Protecting Your Company,” GWSCA 2nd Annual Conference on Warranty & Service Contracts, Chicago, IL, September 16-18, 2015
•“Catastrophic Products Liability Claims Adjusting,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, Anaheim, CA, March 29-31, 2015
•“Concurrent Causation in Personal Auto and Homeowners Liability Coverage,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau 2014 Eastern Regional Adjusters Conference, Providence, RI, November 18-19, 2014
•“Proactive Strategies for Reducing Laboratory Litigation Risks,” American Council of Independent Laboratories Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, October 5-8, 2014
•“Concurrent Causation in Personal Auto and Homeowners Liability Coverage,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau 2014 Central Regional Adjusters Conference, Minneapolis, MN, September 16-17, 2014
•“Concurrent Causation in Personal Auto and Homeowners Liability Coverage,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau 2014 Western Regional Adjusters Conference, Bellevue, WA, June 10-11, 2014
•“Catastrophic Products Liability Claims Adjusting,” PLRB Claims Conference, Indianapolis, IN, March 16-19, 2014
•“Concurrent Causation in Liability Cases,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, Boston, MA, March 17-20, 2013
•“Climate Change Litigation: Liability & Coverage,” Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section (YLS) Insurance Coverage Committee Seminar, Chicago, IL, November 29, 2012
•“Climate Change: Liability & Coverage,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, Orlando, FL, April 15-18, 2012
•“Environmental Catastrophes: Liability & Coverage,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, Nashville, TN, April 4-6, 2011
•“Complex Environmental Liability Claims,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, San Antonio, TX, March 22-23, 2010
•“Effective Communication Strategies for Claims Adjusters: Working With Defense Counsel,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, Seattle, WA, March 23-25, 2009
•“Lines of Communication: The Importance of Continued Communication Between Insurer and Insured,” On the Coverage Campaign Trail CE/CLE Seminar, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, IL, November 5, 2008
•“Exclusions Relevant to Construction Defect Claims,” Nationwide Indemnity Environmental Claims Unit, October 28, 2008
•“Duty to Cooperate Under Third-Party Liability Policies,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, Boston, MA, April 13-16, 2008
•“Third-Party ‘Economic Loss’ Issues” and “‘Personal Injury’ Coverage and the TPE,” Nationwide Indemnity Environmental Claim Unit, September 17, 2007
•“Duty to Cooperate Under Third-Party Liability Policies,” Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America, April 2007
•“Duty to Cooperate Under Third-Party Liability Policies,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, March 2007
•Moderator, “The Insider’s Perspective on Summer Associate Evaluations,” and Panelist, “Litigation v. Transactional” and “Large Firms v. Small Firms,” Alumni-Student Career Conference, University of Illinois College of Law, January 27, 2007
•“Understanding the Insured’s Rights and Obligations,” Product Liability Advisory Council’s Fall Insurance Coverage Disputes Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, October 2006
•“Emerging Issues in Insurance Coverage,” Chicago Bar Association’s Spring Seminar, Chicago, IL, May 24, 2006
•“Duty to Cooperate Under Third-Party Liability Policies: A Proactive Approach to Dealing With the Difficult Insured,” Nationwide Indemnity Environmental Claim Unit, December 2005
•“Understanding the Anatomy of the Insurance Market, the Players & their Interactions - An Overview,” Mealey’s Insurance 101, Philadelphia, PA, February 28, 2005
•“Working With Defense Counsel: Effective Communication Strategies for Claims Adjusters,” Nationwide Indemnity Environmental Claim Unit, August 2004
•“Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Duty to Defend,” Commonwealth Insurance Company, May 2004
•“Liability Insurance Coverage Issues and Analysis: An Overview of Wisconsin Law,” Commonwealth Insurance Company, May 2004
•“Property Claims Adjusting: Communication Interplay Between Insurer and Insured Representatives - Dealing With the Difficult Insured,” Property & Liability Resource Bureau PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference, March 2003

Webinars

•“ALI’s 2018 Restatement on Liability Insurance: What Insurance Industry Professionals Need to Know,” Strafford Live Webinars, February 12, 2020
•“Construction Insurance 101: What Every Construction Attorney Needs to Know,” Goldberg Segalla LLP Construction College Training Series, September 26, 2019
•“ALI’s 2018 Restatement on Liability Insurance: What Insurance Industry Professionals Need to Know,” Strafford Live Webinars, March 6, 2019
•“Trigger of Excess and Umbrella Liability Insurance Coverage,” GIS Webinar, November 20, 2018
•“Liability Environmental Insurance Coverage Update,” GIS Webinar, September 18, 2018
•“Emerging CGL Risks: Challenges for 2018 and Beyond,” Property and Liability Resource Bureau Webinar, July 12, 2018
•“Emerging Risks for the Insurance Industry in 2018,” GIS Webinar, December 12, 2017
•“Coverage Pitfalls for Additional Insureds: Interplay with SIRS and Other Insurance Provisions, Interpreting AI Endorsements,” Strafford Live Webinars, September 6, 2017
•“Insurance Coverage 101: What Every Insurance Defense Attorney Needs to Know,” Goldberg Segalla Early Education Webinar, July 26, 2017
•“Emerging Corporate Risks & Insurance,” West LegalEdCenter Webinar (Presented by HB Litigation Conferences), June 28, 2017
•“Protecting your Laboratory from Cyber Attacks: What Senior Management and Directors Need to Know Now,” ACIL Webinar, September 22, 2015
•“Stacking Commercial Insurance Coverage: Insurer and Policyholder Perspectives,” Strafford Live Webinars, February 4, 2015

Podcasts

•Contributor, “ Recreational Marijuana Legalized in Illinois, ” Timely Notice, June 18, 2019
•Contributor, “ Third Thursday Throwback: Malicious Prosecution Coverage, ” Timely Notice, May 16, 2019
•Contributor, “ Legal Consequences of the Rapid Growth in Legionella Diagnoses, ” Timely Notice, October 16, 2018
•Contributor, “ Cannabis and Criminal Acts Coverage, ” Timely Notice, September 25, 2018
•Contributor, “ Cannabis Challenges, ” Timely Notice, September 13, 2018
•Contributor, “ E-Cigarettes, ” Timely Notice, September 7, 2018
•Contributor, “ What is an Occurrence? Ledesma Explains... ” Timely Notice, July 19, 2018
•Contributor, “ Wrongful Conviction Coverage, ” Timely Notice, May 17, 2018

Recent Insights

California Supreme Court Issues Another Pro-Policyholder Decision in Progressive Environmental Cleanup Case Applying “Vertical Exhaustion” Trigger

April 8, 2020

Restaurant Groups Serve COVID-19 Coverage Lawsuits in California and Illinois

April 2, 2020

Seven Goldberg Segalla Attorneys Featured in 2020 Illinois Super Lawyers

February 3, 2020

Connecticut Decision Gives New Life to Policy Provision for Occupational Disease Exclusion

January 27, 2020

Larry D. Mason Quoted in 4 Ways Conn. Justices Set Precedent On Asbestos Coverage, Law360

October 9, 2019

In Landmark Vanderbilt Minerals Suit, Connecticut Supreme Court Sets National Caselaw on Occupational Disease Exclusion

October 7, 2019