Wm. Gerald McElroy, Jr.

Jerry is a trial and appellate lawyer who has handled major complex civil litigation for over thirty years. He has been lead counsel in litigating cases in numerous state and federal courts around the country and has successfully tried cases as lead counsel in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Jerry has successfully handled appellate arguments before numerous courts, including the First Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the New Jersey Appellate Division, the Appellate Court of Illinois, and the West Virginia Supreme Court.

Jerry has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of major cases, including reinsurance arbitrations; products liability litigation; environmental, toxic tort and asbestos insurance coverage litigation; first-party property insurance coverage cases; negligent inspection cases; bad faith litigation; other third-party liability insurance coverage cases; subrogation cases; class action suits; employment discrimination cases; commercial litigation; antitrust litigation; and administrative proceedings.

Jerry has participated in numerous mediations and has completed the JAMS intensive four day mediation training program.

Representative Matters

Obtained a judgment in insurer’s favor after a two week bench trial in Cook County, Illinois in an environmental insurance coverage case in which a policyholder sought approximately $11 million from the insurer prior to trial. The trial court’s judgment was affirmed by the Appellate Court of Illinois, and the Illinois Supreme Court denied the policyholder’s petition for leave for further appellate review. See Mosaic Global Holdings, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, 378 Ill.App.3d 797 (lst Dist. 2007), petition for leave to appeal denied, 227 Ill.2d 580 (2008).

Obtained a $6.2 million panel award in a reinsurance arbitration in 2004 involving a dispute over whether an event was a fire or boiler and machinery loss.

Obtained summary judgment in insurer’s favor in an insurance coverage case involving a major explosion and claimed damages in excess of $26 million (excluding interest). The trial court’s ruling was affirmed on appeal. See Commonwealth v. Stone Container, 2002 WL 31833862 (N.D. Ill.), aff’d, 351 F.3d 774 (7th Cir. 2003).

Obtained summary judgment for insurer in a first-party coverage dispute over whether a loss was caused by flood or electrical engineering. The ruling was affirmed on appeal by the First Circuit. See Continental Insurance Co. and Hartford Insurance Co. v. Arkwright Mutual Insurance Co., 102 F.3d 30 (lst Cir. 1996).

Obtained favorable decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirming summary judgment in favor of client in a case involving testing procedures. See Martin v. Factory Mutual Research Corporation, 401 Mass. 621 (1988).

Obtained summary judgment on eve of trial in favor of insurer based on known risk doctrine in a major environmental insurance coverage case in federal court in Boston arising from PCB contamination of the New Bedford harbor.
 
Obtained summary judgment rulings in favor of insurers in numerous other environmental insurance coverage cases and other liability insurance coverage cases. See, e.g., Muralo Co., Inc. v. Employers Ins. of Wausau, 759 A.2d 348 (N.J. App. Div. 2000) (environmental insurance coverage case involving the owned property exclusion); and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Lafarge Corporation, et al, 1994 WL 706538 (D.Md. 1994)(Civ. A. No. H-90-2390) (liability insurance coverage case involving trigger of coverage issue).

Obtained favorable choice of law ruling from the West Virginia Supreme Court in an insurance coverage case. See Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Triangle Industries, Inc., 390 S.E.2d 562 (W. Va. 1990).

Obtained summary judgment on behalf of property insurer in a negligent inspection case in New Jersey involving a $200 million warehouse fire loss and in another negligent inspection case in North Carolina involving a major explosion at an aluminum billets facility.

Obtained successful settlement in a first-party property insurance coverage case involving a $5.4 million claim after obtaining a ruling from the bankruptcy court in Boston barring the insured from presenting expert testimony at trial regarding key elements of the case.

Obtained multi-million dollar settlements in major subrogation cases.

Obtained a jury verdict in federal court in Boston in a commercial dispute involving a turbine and a favorable ruling after a bench trial in state court in Massachusetts in a commercial dispute involving industrial equipment.  

Obtained a defense verdict in federal court in New York in a products liability case against a baler manufacturer. Obtained a directed verdict in another products liability case against baler manufacturer in state court in New York.

Represented property insurer in an insurance coverage suit in New York involving a claimed loss of $310 million resulting from the collapse of a salt mine.  

Represented a property insurer in a coverage case arising from withdrawal of Tylenol from the market after tampering. Summary judgment granted in favor of property insurer.

Professional Affiliations

• Arias
• Defense Research Institute
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• American Bar Association

Noteworthy

Jerry is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and was named one of the Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers in 2004.