Meagher + Geer trial attorneys John Hendricks and  Sadiya Hashem recently secured a defense verdict for their insurer clients in a case that included breach of contract and bad faith claims under a first-party insurance policy for business interruption coverage.

Plaintiffs alleged revenue loss due to the alleged failure of a planned business after a bus damaged a building in which they planned to operate a restaurant. They alleged extended repairs delayed the restaurant’s opening and that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the income loss.

Following a 2 ½ week trial, and just 2 hours of deliberation, the jury concluded that the insurer had not done anything wrong, and that the income loss was not caused by the physical damage and was not covered.

John Hendricks has served as lead counsel in multiple jury and bench trials in state and federal courts across Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, and North Dakota. He manages cases related to product liability (including asbestos product liability), business and complex litigation involving contracts, insurance coverage, employment law, Uniform Commercial Code, environmental matters, environmental insurance coverage litigation, CERCLA contribution actions, toxic torts, intellectual property, insurance defense, and personal injury litigation. John works out of Meagher + Geer’s Phoenix and Los Angeles offices.

Sadiya Hashem is an associate attorney practicing insurance defense, commercial litigation, and construction law from our Los Angeles office. Prior to joining Meagher + Geer, she was employed at a midsized litigation firm in St. Petersburg, Florida where she worked predominantly with first-party property matters. Sadiya earned her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law and was a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board where she competed in the Willem C. Vis Moot Court Competition in Vienna.