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Practice Areas
Education
- University of Minnesota, J.D., cum laude, 2002
- Williams College, B.A., Political Science, 1997
Bar and Court Admissions
- State Court: Minnesota
- U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court: District of Minnesota
Daniel N. West
Dan’s practice is focused on complex insurance litigation, representing insurers in a wide range of coverage matters involving both first-party property and comprehensive general liability disputes. Dan has handled first-party property coverage disputes in a variety of contexts, including fire, construction defect, and employee theft claims, and has dealt extensively with issues relating to efficient proximate cause, ensuing loss provisions, business interruption and bad faith claims. He has also handled comprehensive general liability coverage disputes involving long-tail asbestos and silica claims – often in connection with complex actions brought against multiple insurers by insureds seeking coverage for tens of thousands of underlying bodily injury claims.
In addition to his experience with insurance coverage defense, Dan has been involved in a variety of insurance subrogation matters, coverage actions on behalf of policyholders, and has represented Iowa consumers in a large-scale antitrust class action against Microsoft Corporation. He has handled matters in numerous state and federal courts throughout the country including Minnesota, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina.
Representative Matters
Factory Mutual Ins. Co. v. Yamanouchi, Inc. (defense of property insurer in connection with multi-million dollar claim for damage to perishables stored in a cold storage warehouse)
KAAPA Ethanol, L.L.C. v. Affiliated FM Insurance Company (defense of property insurer in connection with multi-million dollar claim for damage to massive ethanol storage and processing tanks)
Sellstrom Manufacturing Co. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau (defense of liability insurer in connection with claim for reimbursement of more than $1 million in pre-tender defense costs incurred in numerous underlying actions alleging exposure to silica)
SPX Corp. v. ACE Property & Casualty Co., et al. (defense of liability insurer in connection with multi-million dollar claim for coverage against multiple insurers with respect to thousands of asbestos-related bodily injury claims against the insured)
Blandin Paper Co. and LMG Property v. J&J Industrial Sales, Inc. (subrogation claim seeking more than $1 million on behalf of paper company arising out of damage to vacuum compressor caused by improper chemical cleaning)
General Mills, Inc. v. Liberty Insurance Underwriters, Inc. (representation of policyholder in multi-million dollar coverage action seeking defense and indemnity costs related to an underlying bodily injury claim)
Comes v. Microsoft Corp. (multi-million dollar antitrust class action brought against Microsoft on behalf of Iowa consumers)
Articles & Presentations
Coverage for Delay and "Soft Costs" Under Builder's Risk Policies: Avoiding the Pitfalls, American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Property Insurance Law Committee Annual Spring CLE Meeting, 2009, co-author
Reformation in the Context of Property Insurance Policies – or, “We Insured What?” American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Property Insurance Law Committee Annual Spring CLE Meeting, 2008
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association: Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section; Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee
- Minnesota State Bar Association
- Hennepin County Bar Association
Noteworthy
Dan was selected as co-chair of the Climate Change Subcommittee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee (2009).