ACE FIRE UNDERWRITER INSURANCE COMPANY v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Defendant-Respondent. (2008)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

ACE FIRE UNDERWRITER'S INSURANCE COMPANY, etc., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. ITT INDUSTRIES, INC., etc., et al., Defendants, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Defendant-Respondent.

Decided: October 07, 2008

TOM, J.P., FRIEDMAN, BUCKLEY, ACOSTA, FREEDMAN, JJ.

Siegal & Park, Mt. Laurel, NJ (Melvin R. Shuster of counsel), and Sheldon J. Fleishman, New York City, of counsel, for ACE Fire Underwriters Insurance Company, as successor to Aetna Fire Underwriters Insurance Company, ACE Property & Casualty Company, formerly known as CIGNA Property & Casualty Company, formerly known as Aetna Insurance Company, Century Indemnity Company, as successor to CCI Insurance Company, as successor to Insurance Company of North America, for itself and as successor to Indemnity Insurance Company of North America, and Pacific Employers Insurance Company, plaintiffs-appellants. Twomey, Hoppe & Gallanty LLP, New York City (Michael E. Twomey of counsel), for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, defendant-respondent. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, New York City (David A. Luttinger, Jr., Renier Pierantoni of counsel), for ITT Industries, Inc., defendant. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, Pittsburgh, PA (John T Waldron, Andrew Stanton, Thomas C. Ryan, Donald Seymour of counsel), and Joanna A. Diakos, New York City, of counsel, for U.S. Silica Company, defendant. Ford, Marrin, Esposito, Witmeyer & Gleser LLP, New York City (Patrick J. Bernal of counsel), and Picadio, Sneath, Miller & Norton PC, Pittsburgh, PA (Alan S. Miller of counsel), for Affiliated FM Insurance Company, defendant. Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York City (Barry R. Ostrager, Andrew T. Frankel of counsel), and Michael D. Kibler, Los Angeles, CA, of counsel, for AIU Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Company, Birmingham Fire Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, Landmark Insurance Company, Lexington Insurance Company, and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, defendants. Garrity, Graham, Favetta & Flinn, Montclair, NJ (Antonio D. Favetta of counsel), for Allianz Underwriters Insurance Company, defendant. Cuyler Burk LLP, Parsippany, NJ (Stefano V. Calogero, Jaclyn DiLascio of counsel), for Allstate Insurance Company, solely as successor-in-interest to Northbrook Excess & Surplus Insurance Company, formerly known as Northbrook Insurance Company, defendant. Bates & Carey LLP, Chicago, IL (Maria G. Enriquez, Arthur F. Brandt of counsel), and Landman, Corsi, Ballaine & Ford PC, New York City (Michael L. Gioia of counsel), for American Re-Insurance Company and Executive Risk Indemnity, Inc., defendants. Traub, Eglin, Lieberman & Straus, Hawthorne, NY (Brian Margolies, Meryl R. Lieberman of counsel), for Associated International Insurance Company, defendant. Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP, Morristown, NJ (Luciana Lalande of counsel), for Brittany Insurance Company and Compagnie Europeenne D'Assurances Industrielles, defendants. Mendes & Mount LLP, New York City (Stephen T. Roberts of counsel), and Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell LLP, Chicago, IL (Molly McGinnis Stine, Joseph Hinkhouse of counsel), for Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London, London Market Insurers, and North River Insurance Company, defendants. Ross, Dixon & Bell LLP, Washington, DC (Charles Hadden, Prashant Khetan, Sloan Presidio, Tom Blair of counsel), and Ferber, Chan, Essner & Coller LLP, New York City (Robert M. Kaplan of counsel), for Continental Insurance Company and Harbor Insurance Company, defendants. Dorsey & Whitney LLP, New York City (Patrick J. Feeley, Charisa Tak of counsel), for Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, defendant. Willman & Arnold LLP, Pittsburgh, PA (Michael A. Katz, Ken Willman, Valerie LaBella of counsel), for Employers Mutual Casualty Company, defendant. Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia, PA (Michael J. Smith of counsel), for Everest Reinsurance Company and Mt. McKinley Insurance Company, defendants. Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia, PA (Jacob C. Cohn of counsel), for Federal Insurance Company, defendant. Rivkin Radler LLP, Uniondale, NY (Gary Centola, Anne M. Murray of counsel), for Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, defendant. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York City (Michael J. Balch of counsel), for General Reinsurance Corporation, defendant. Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP, New York City (Deborah Elsasser of counsel), and Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney & Priess, Newark, NJ (Katherine E. Tammaro, Michael Van Riper of counsel), for Lumbermens Mutual Underwriters Alliance and Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, defendants. Traub, Eglin, Lieberman & Straus, Hawthorne, NY (Stephen D. Straus, Mark A. Froehlich of counsel), for Northwestern National Insurance Company, defendant. Christie, Pabarue, Mortensen & Young, Philadelphia, PA (Bradley J. Mortensen, Cynthia Ruggerio of counsel), for OneBeacon Insurance Company of America, as successor-in-interest to Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, Limited and Commercial Union Insurance Company, defendants. Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP, New York City (Carl J. Pernicone, Sarah Edwards of counsel), for Royal Indemnity Insurance Company, defendant. Landman, Corsi, Ballaine & Ford PC, New York City (Louis Corsi, Sophia Ree of counsel), for TIG Insurance Company, as successor by merger to International Insurance Company, United States Fire Insurance Company and International Insurance Company, defendants. Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York City (James M. Bergin of counsel), for Travelers Casualty & Surety Company, defendant. Meckler, Bulger & Tilson, Chicago, IL (John K. Daly of counsel), and Coughlin Duffy LLP, New York City (Rebecca J. Foote of counsel), for Zurich International Ltd., defendant.