Brett Kahn litigates in multiple practice areas, and he seasons his practice by consulting with clients on day-to-day and strategic business transactions. He concentrates his practice on contractual and commercial litigation matters arising in state and federal court, and in domestic and international arbitrations. Brett specializes in contract disputes – in particular insurance coverage matters on behalf of policyholders – but he has successfully represented clients in litigation involving many different subject matters, including real estate, construction, services contracts, product liability, employment, benefits and title insurance.
Brett takes a pragmatic but shrewd approach to litigation, tailored to meet the business objectives of each case. He is a skilled negotiator who is able to recognize and capitalize on opportunities for clients to resolve matters without resorting to potentially disruptive litigation. However, when litigation is unavoidable, he has a strong track record of delivering exceptional results, including successful jury verdicts.
As an integral member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery, Litigation & Counseling team, Brett has helped secure, through judgment and settlement, billions of dollars in insurance assets for a broad range of policyholder clients, including the nation’s largest corporations and industrial concerns, mid-cap and small business entities, and individuals. His coverage experience includes analyses of general liability, professional liability, directors’ and officers’, errors and omissions, construction OCIP and CCIP wrap-ups, crime and cyber liability policies, and fidelity bonds. He also counsels clients on pre-litigation, litigation and alternative dispute resolution options, guides policyholders on the structuring of their insurance programs and helps negotiate the terms of new and renewal policies to ensure favorable terms that benefit clients in the event of a claim.
Brett’s representative matters include:
- Counsel for a global pharmaceutical company in several successful insurance arbitrations before London tribunals with hundreds of millions of dollars in dispute
- Represented an agricultural product manufacturer in successful New Jersey state court coverage litigation against dozens of insurers with over $100 million at stake
- Counsel for a large title insurance agency in litigation regarding a contract dispute with former independent contractor that culminated in a successful jury verdict on all counts in New Jersey state court
- Procured benefits for a company and its employees under long-term disability benefits policies
- Counsel for multiple policyholders in successful coverage cases to recover for losses arising from alleged environmental damage at various sites across the country
- Represented property owners in various contract-related construction disputes culminating in favorable settlements
- Counsel for a global auto-manufacturer in a coverage dispute requiring an expedited and successful negotiation of an insurer’s contribution towards settlement in underlying litigation
- Facilitated favorable settlement for a healthcare credentialing company in New York state court litigation involving professional negligence of a software vendor
- Coverage counsel for a product manufacturer in relation to the sale of subsidiary companies in multiple transactions
- Represented a credit advance company in a coverage dispute with D&O insurer resulting in coverage for policyholder
- Counsel for a product manufacturer in federal court litigation regarding a product liability dispute with a customer-hospital resulting in a favorable settlement
- Performed due diligence on behalf of various hospitals in transactions involving mergers with other hospitals or into larger hospital systems as part of acquisitions
- Successfully represented a professional liability insurance broker and managing general agent in profit/loss sharing dispute under agreements with a medical malpractice insurer
- Pro bono counsel in a pension case before an administrative law judge during a multi-day plenary hearing and subsequent appellate proceedings before the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
- Pro bono counsel for several clients seeking expungement of criminal records, all successful
As part of McCarter’s Cannabis Industry Group, Brett continuously explores cannabis-related regulations and issues that may impact client business operations and future client endeavors. Brett is the Immediate Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Insurance Law Section. During law school, he served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Donald S. Goldman, J.S.C. (ret.) and was Editor of the Rutgers Law Review.
