Thomas Kaufman
Thomas.Kaufman@kennedyslaw.com
+1 212 832 4920
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Profile
Education
- St. John's University School of Law, JD, 2018
- Adelphi University, BS, 2010
Thomas is an associate in Kennedys’ New York office. As a member of the firm’s coverage litigation practice group, Thomas primarily advises and represents insurer clients with respect to claims arising under a broad array of coverage areas, including commercial general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, professional liability/E&O, and all-risk policies. Outside of the coverage context, Thomas represents insurer clients in commercial disputes, and also has significant experience with defense litigation against policyholders. An avid litigator, Thomas has briefed and litigated actions in the state and federal courts of New York, as well as the state appellate courts, with frequent success.
Thomas joined Kennedys in 2014 as a paralegal, while attending St. John’s University School of Law in the evening, where he earned his law degree. During his tenure at St. John’s University School of Law, Thomas served as a Senior Staff Member on the St. John’s University Law Review and Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, and also competed at and won school-sanctioned trial competitions. Thomas became an Associate at Kennedys in 2018.
Outside of the firm, Thomas resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and two children. A former union musician and current jazz guitar hobbyist, Thomas spends much of his free time studying old records and continuing to hone his craft. When not in the practice room, Thomas can be found training Brazilian jiu-jitsu, cooking and barbecuing with his family, and as a lifelong animal lover, taking care of one of the family’s eight pets.
Qualifications and admissions
- New York
- US District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
Presentations and publications
- Co-author, “Southern District of New York reiterates high standard for arbitrator removal on bias grounds,” published for Kennedys (August 2023)
- Co-author, “New appellate perspectives on EIFS exclusions and mixed claims under insurance law,” published for Kennedys (April 2022)
- Co-author, “Professional liability coverage for contractual claims: a look at New York law,” published for Kennedys (May 2021)
Report decisions
- Harleysville Ins. Co. v. United Fire Prot., Inc., 227 A.D.3d 499 (1st Dep’t 2024) (holding, in a dispute over additional insured coverage, that the court ruling on the purported insured’s declaratory judgment claims may only resolve issues of negligence if the underlying liability action has been terminated)
- First Mercury Ins. Co. v. Nova Restoration of NY, Inc., 203 A.D.3d 598 (1st Dep’t 2022) (holding that EIFS exclusion in CGL policy was unambiguous, and ruling that a claim for shoddy construction work, which contained a personal injury component, did not constitute an “accident” for the purposes of triggering the timely disclaimer requirements of Insurance Law 3420(d)(2))
- Bergassi Grp. LLC v. Allied World Ins. Co., 193 A.D.3d 524 (1st Dep’t 2021) (Federal Arbitration Act applied to agreement between parties from different states, and questions of an arbitration clause’s alleged ambiguity were deferred to the arbitrators)
- State ex rel. Stephen B. Diamond, P.C. v. My Pillow, Inc., 180 A.D.3d 419 (1st Dep’t 2020) (failure of qui tam relator firm to seek pro hac vice admission was fatal to their claim for attorneys’ fees under the False Claims Act)
- Henry v. Hamilton Equities, Inc., 34 N.Y.3d 136 (2019) (landowner entitled to out-of-possession landlord status notwithstanding a covenant to maintain property in a regulatory agreement with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development)
Insurance and reinsurance