Andrew T. Houghton

experience

• Won reformation of Managed Aircraft Endorsement to aircraft fleet insurance policy in Illinois Nat. Ins. Co. v. Wyndham, 85 F. Supp. 3d 785 (D.N.J. 2015).
• Represented hull war risk insurers in connection with the loss of a major cargo carrier’s aircraft due to an alleged pilot suicide.
• Won dismissal of a parachutist’s declaratory judgment action in McGirk v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, 2 F. Supp. 3d 837 (W.D. Va. 2014) based on application of the policy’s jumper exclusion.
• Represented directors and officers (D&O) insurers of a charitable organization in resolving coverage litigation over costs of response to a Department of Justice criminal investigation of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
• Represented insurer in negotiating favorable resolution of claim for alleged foreign object damage to insured carrier’s aircraft engine.
• Won dismissal of an insured brokerage firm’s coverage action in David Lerner Associates, Inc. v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, 934 F. Supp. 2d 533 (E.D.N.Y. 2013), where the court held that the insured’s performance of due diligence in giving investment advice to customers constituted “professional services” within the scope of its D&O policy’s professional services exclusion.
• Represented excess insurers of a medical product manufacturer in resolving coverage litigation arising from over 10,000 underlying bodily injury claims involving the insured’s surgical mesh products.
• Represented aviation insurer in parallel coverage actions in the Bahamas and U.S. Virgin Islands litigating a claim under an aircraft fueling policy, ultimately obtaining favorable settlement.
• Successfully briefed and argued an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Illinois Nat. Ins. Co. v. Wyndham Worldwide Operations, Inc., 653 F.3d 225 (3d Cir. 2011) obtaining a precedential decision on the analysis of reformation based upon mutual mistake under New Jersey law.
• Represented insurers of aircraft component manufacturer in resolving coverage dispute arising from the grounding of Learjet 45 aircraft.
• Represented aviation products insurers in litigated coverage claim by manufacturer of explosive propellant devices in Evanston Ins. Co. v. OEA, Inc., No. CIVS021505, 2005 WL 3500799 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2005), ultimately obtaining a favorable settlement.
• Obtained ruling of no duty to defend under airport OCIP policy in Massachusetts Port Authority v. Ace Property & Casualty Ins. Co., No. 033954BLS, 2004 WL 1194738 (Mass. Super. May 4, 2004).
• Representing war risk insurers, obtained dismissal of claim in Virginia state court for alleged confiscation of a Boeing 727 in South America. 
• Litigated one of the first cases involving the knowing misrepresentation exception to the General Aviation Revitalization Act in Rickert v. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., 923 F. Supp. 1453 (D. Wyo. 1996), rev’d on rehearing, 929 F. Supp. 380 (D. Wyo. 1996), representing aircraft manufacturer client. 
• Litigated accident case resulting in widely cited decision on opposing party’s destruction of evidence in Turner v. Hudson Transit Lines, Inc., 142 F.R.D. 68 (S.D.N.Y. 1991).

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

• Drone Privacy Claims on the Horizon, 38 The Binder Vol. 2, Aviation Insurance Association, Sept. 2013, Co-Author. 
• Social Networking: Evolving Benefits, Evolving Risks and Evolving Coverage, PLUS Europe News, Professional Liability Underwriting Society, Jan. 2012, Author.
• Presentation at the Phoenix ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Midyear Meeting: Media Liability Insurance, 2010, Moderator. 
• Determining Coverage for 'Professional Services' in CGL and Professional Liability Policies, CPCU ejournal, August 2008, Co-Author.
• Conference at the Aviation Industry Group’s 13^th Annual Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Conference: Managing & Settling an FOD Claim on a Leased Engine, 2008, Panelist.
• Presentation at the Tucson ABA/TIPS 15th Annual Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Midyear Program: The Battle Before the Battle - Which Battlefield and Who’s Rules?, 2007, Moderator.
• Presentation at the Chicago American Bar Association, 2005 Annual Meeting: Effective Solutions to Common Insurance-Related Transactional Issues, 2005, Program Chair and Moderator.
• Recent Developments in Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Law, Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J., Winter 2003, Co-Author.
• Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, Committee news, Excess Surplus & Reinsurance Comm., ABA/Tips Winter 2003, Co-Author.
• Conference at the New York Aircraft Finance Legal and Regulatory Conference: Insurance Coverage for Commercial Jets, 2001, Speaker.
• The Role of Insurance in Aviation Finance Transactions Chapters, Handbook of Airline Finance, McGraw-­Hill Companies, 1999, Co-Author.
• Litigating the Aviation Case, The General Aviation Revitalization Act's Effect Upon Aviation Products Liability Litigation, American Bar Association, 1998, Author.

News