Bell Nunnally Partner Ross Angus Williams is quoted in the Law360 article “Insurers Have Edge In Georgia COVID-19 Coverage Fights.” The piece explores the state of business interruption lawsuits in Georgia stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The author notes, “Businesses have struggled to convince judges that their revenue losses have been caused by requisite property damage or loss.”
Williams comments on the impact of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit 2020 case Mama Jo's v. Sparta Insurance Co., where the appeals court held that to trigger coverage, physical loss had to render the property in question unusable. (The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently declined to grant certiorari to an appeal.) He notes that the case set "a high and unusual bar for policyholders" to show the coronavirus on premises causes physical damage. "I don't know if it was necessary to have as rigorous a rule as they have in Mama Jo's case, because that's awfully tough."
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Ross Angus Williams