MG+M partner and leader of the firm’s Maritime Practice Group, Raúl J. Chacón Jr., recently scored a declaratory judgment on behalf of an insurance company client in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after a full trial on the merits. His opponent, the trial defendant, was a Miami-based pharmaceutical distributor that had sought $2MM under a marine cargo insurance policy based on losses in Puerto Rico and Florida allegedly caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. The federal court, applying general maritime law and New York substantive law applicable to the policy and claims at issue, entered judgment in favor of Raúl's client, finding that the policy was void from inception because the defendant had failed to disclose a prior claims history, failed to disclose the nature of all the inventory, failed to give timely notice of the loss, and failed to disclose that some of the inventory had been moved to a different location.

Raúl was retained as co-trial counsel to lead the defense of the Hurricane Irma claims a mere month in advance of the trial, making the result even more noteworthy.

The name of the case is U.S. Specialty Insurance Company v. Atlantic Biologicals Corporation; Case No. 1:18-cv-23276-JG. For more information on this accomplishment, please contact Raúl at rchacon@mgmlaw.com.