WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP is pleased to announce that Scott C. Turner has joined the firm as Of-Counsel. Mr. Turner is one of the foremost attorneys in the United States in the field of construction insurance coverage.
He is the author of the leading treatise, Insurance Coverage of Construction Disputes (1,700 pages), published by Thomson Reuters West. His treatise is frequently quoted in judicial opinions, most recently in Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., LLC v. Nebraska Cultures of California, Inc., 856 N.W.2d 505, at 513 (Wis. App. Oct. 29, 2014).
Mr. Turner was also instrumental in securing the California Supreme Court's landmark decision in Vandenberg vs. Superior Court, holding that CGL policies can cover liabilities in contract as well as in tort.
Mr. Turner served as Chairperson of the American Bar Association’s Construction Insurance Coverage Subcommittee. He consults on matters across the United States operating out of the firm’s Washington, DC and California offices.
San Francisco Partner Ernest C. Brown, Esq., PE explains why Mr. Turner was recruited: “Scott has been the leading authority on construction insurance in California for twenty years. I have worked with him over most of those years and am extremely pleased he has joined our firm. He has a sophisticated approach to making winning arguments on coverage issues and is highly knowledgeable about insurance claims practices. We now have the ability to offer his consulting services along with our local lawyers who are licensed in 21 states and the District of Columbia.”
Bob Chambers, Managing Partner of Smith Currie further explains: “We were presented with a unique opportunity to bring Scott on board to complement our other lawyers’ expertise in the area of construction dispute insurance coverage. We are pleased Scott has joined Smith Currie and excited about the depth and breadth his experience brings to us and how that will allow us to provide even better service to our clients in these areas.”
Mr. Turner fully agrees, “The best insurance coverage and recovery work happens when it’s tightly integrated with the handling of the underlying construction dispute. I’m thrilled to join such a construction powerhouse where I can integrate my insurance recovery services with the firm’s well-known national construction practice.”
Every business enterprise involves risk identification and management. Construction is especially risky since nearly every project is unique. The allocation of risk and the economic consequences of risk are significant contributors to the fact that construction is a disputes prone industry. Therefore, prudent participants in the construction process strive to identify and manage risks and seek to avoid disputes by implementing prudent management techniques. Insurance is one important tool contractors and other construction participants use to manage certain risks inherent in the construction process, making a thorough knowledge of construction insurance an essential part of effectively representing construction clients.
Scott Turner brings a unique level of insurance knowledge and risk management expertise to the firm’s existing legal services.
About Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP
Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP provides sophisticated legal advice and strategic counsel to construction industry clients. Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP has long been recognized as a leading national boutique law firm focusing upon construction clients and government contractors, having served the industry for fifty years.
