Christopher Novak

Partner | New York, United States
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Profile

Education

  • Fordham University School of Law, JD, 1994
  • Montclair State College, BA (cum laude), 1991

A partner who practices out of our New York office, Chris is sought for his experience and insights in complex insurance disputes.

Chris has represented domestic and international insurance clients in the complex disputes involving buyer-side representations and warranties, financial institution bonds, political risk and trade credit, contingent liability, product contamination and recall, commercial property and casualty, professional liability and bad faith claims. His resume includes substantial experience in Bermuda Form arbitrations, and the litigation and arbitration of reinsurance matters arising out of financial institution liability, pollution liability and health hazard claims. Insurance clients in Bermuda, the UK and the US frequently rely on Chris for policy wording advice, particularly with their specialty risk policies and fidelity bonds.

Chris is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the American Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society, the Insurance Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association, and the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association.

Chris frequently speaks on transactional insurance, fidelity, financial institutions, food recall and contamination, and litigation strategy.

Related articles

News

Kennedys welcomes Sedgwick team spearheaded by New York Managing Partner

05/09/2017

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Qualifications and admissions

  • New York

Work highlights

  • Currently representing and advising buyer-side representations and warranties insurers in connection with numerous claims arising out of acquisitions involving insurance, health care, “Software as a Service,” technology and consumer services companies. Claims include breaches of transactional agreements arising out of the loss of “material customers,” financial statement inaccuracies, “condition of assets” claims, key employee retention, inventory and tax liabilities.
  • Represent trade credit insurer in connection with potential liabilities arising out of numerous defaults by international buyers in connection with commodities transactions.
  • Represented political risk insurers in connection with evaluation of restructuring plan and resolution of claim involving foreign sovereign default.
  • National coordination counsel for UK insurers on mortgage bankers bond and professional liability program.
  • Represent international insurers in connection with complex coverage litigation arising out of investor suits involving mortgage-backed securities.
  • First chair Bermuda-form arbitration in product recall/adverse publicity matter involving multi-national insured and claim arising out of Chinese contamination event that resulted in panel finding of no coverage.
  • Lead counsel in $100M fidelity bond litigation involving alleged fraud in connection with life settlements investment that resulted in favorable settlement of all liability.
  • Lead litigation counsel in long-tail, large exposure environmental contamination coverage matter in New York state court and obtained summary judgment and dismissal of all claims against our client which was recently upheld on appeal.
  • Lead litigation counsel in fidelity bond claim involving alleged promissory note/investment fraud that resulted in a determination of non-coverage sustained on appeal by the Colorado Supreme Court.
  • Lead US litigation counsel in Bermuda-form arbitration of claim under railroad policy resolution involving $500M+ in alleged losses that resulted in dismissal of the claim and award of attorneys’ fees for the client.

Presentations and publications

  • “It’s a Deal, But What Comes Next? Coverage Under Transactional Risk Coverage” ABA 2023 Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar (March 2023)
  • “Transactional Insurance and New York Law,” In-House Client Training (July and August 2021)
  • “COVID-19 – UK and US views on FI, D&O and trade credit” webinar (May 2020)
  • Co-Author, “Notification Procedure Critical to Political Risk Market’s Management of COVID-19” published in Insurance Day (April 2020)
  • Co-Author, “Happy New Year from California: an introduction to the CCPA data privacy law” published for Kennedys (January 2020)
  • "Hot Topics in UK and US Financial Lines" Opioids, Cannabis and Artificial Intelligence (presented in London, England; October 2019)
  • “Navigating the Duty to Defend Trigger and Allocation,” In-House Client Training (October 2019)

Services

Sectors