A Defendant insurance company, Hanover Insurance Company, brought a third party complaint against our client for a boat loss claim pending in United States District Court in Bangor, Maine. In the underlying case, the Plaintiff sued his insurance company, claiming they should have paid him $800,000 for the loss of his lobster boat in a fire. Hanover sued our client, the Sternman on the boat, claiming he was the cause of the fire. The Sternman hired Attorney Tim Zerillo.
What was problematic for this lawsuit against our client was that because he was not a party to the insurance contract, that the insurer needed to establish that they had a derivative claim against our client. Since they could not, they failed to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
Attorney Zerillo filed a Motion to Dismiss in Federal Court arguing the insurer had not established a derivative claim to the insurance policy, among other legal arguments. Exactly one week after the Motion to Dismiss was filed, the insurance company dismissed their case against the Sternman.
Congrats to our client, the Sternman!
