“My years as a litigator lead me to recommend business planning that will limit liability, help clients avoid litigation and plan for proper allocation of risks. I combine these concepts with clients’ goals for their business relationships in the plans that we develop together.”
Holly brings to the firm over twenty years of in-house and private practice experience counseling business clients on insurance and environmental and toxic tort issues, including twelve years as national coordinating counsel for a Fortune 50 petrochemical company. She has also litigated extensively in each of these areas. She develops practical, cost-effective solutions for clients that appropriately reflect the needs of landowners, businesses, manufacturers, and regulators, whether developing structures for business relationships, evaluating potential benefits of different kinds of insurance, advising on permitting issues, or analyzing the impact of the Connecticut Property Transfer Act on transactions. In addition, Holly has represented a variety of national manufacturers in complex product liability and breach of warranty matters. She has also represented contractors in construction litigation and analyzes insurance coverage for construction disputes.
Holly has written extensively on approaches to presenting and challenging expert witnesses for a number of national and state bar organizations including the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and the Torts and Insurance Practices (TIPS) section of the American Bar Association. She has also delivered lectures on this subject to trade groups including the American Chemistry Counsel (ACC) and to several major insurers.
Holly is admitted in Connecticut and in the New York state and federal courts. She holds a B.A., magna cum laude, with distinction, from Duke University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. She joined the firm in 2006.
- Reduced exposure of chemical manufacturer by 50-75% for an entire product line by analyzing historical transaction documents to identify former business partners with responsibility to contribute to liabilities.
- Developed the strategy in a multimillion dollar chemical exposure case to retrieve expert witnesses released by settling co-defendants and challenge opposing experts, resulting in a settlement at five percent of the pre-trial demand.
- Simultaneously resolved a suit with the purchaser of a client’s business, a coverage dispute with the client’s environmental insurer and clean-up orders issued by the State of Connecticut by creating a new corporation to receive insurance proceeds dedicated to remediation of contamination at the business.
- Negotiated a new structure for exclusions in an environmental insurance policy specific to the needs of both the seller and buyer of contaminated property, including protection for potential third-party liability, while addressing insurer concerns about existing Transfer Act obligations.
- Met with regulators in advance of a transaction to discuss approval of an alternative, cost effective strategy to address widespread, past pesticide use on redeveloped farm land, so a buyer could assess the financial risk before committing to purchase.
- Assisted a lender with analyzing historical coverage available to a potential borrower which faced over 100 high profile lawsuits arising from the acts of a former employee to evaluate the risk that potential verdicts could impair the borrower’s ability to meet its obligations under the financing agreement.
- Refocused a client’s claim from a crime policy to errors and omissions coverage, when investigation of underlying facts revealed that the crime policy would not cover losses to a third-party injured by the client’s employee’s acts
- Identified a gap between existing coverage for an U.S. company and the program of insurance held by the foreign entity which sought to purchase it and negotiated the purchase of insurance by the foreign buyer to protect the principals of the U.S. company through the transition following the acquisition.
- Negotiated with an insurer to obtain reimbursement of attorneys’ fees for both corporate and local counsel in foreign litigation relating to intellectual property and claims against directors and officers.
- Re-drafted insurance and indemnity provisions in renewal of long-term lease to limit tenant’s coverage and indemnity obligations to its own operations, rather than all activities on site.
- Society for Women Environmental Professionals, Connecticut Chapter, Co-Chair of the Board
- Connecticut Bar Association (Environmental Section, Executive Committee; Insurance Section)
Practice Areas
• Environmental
• Insurance
• Litigation
• Construction
• Toxic tort
Education
• Vanderbilt University School of Law (J.D.)
• Duke University (B.A.)
– magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
• Connecticut
• New York