- July 15, 2026
Ian A. Cooper
Partner
Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Ian represents insurance companies involved in complex disputes involving issues over the scope of insurance coverage, and claims of bad faith. He also provides counseling and risk management services to the firm's clients.
He has successfully represented insurers in state and federal courts throughout the United States on disputes including in the areas of:
- Bad Faith
- Construction Defect
- Environmental
- Toxic Tort
- Product Defect
- General Commercial Litigation
More specifically, Ian has experience on the thorny issues that arise with additional insureds and insured contracts, and on other construction defect-related coverage issues.
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Illinois Association of Defense Trail Counsel
- Colorado Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute
Awards & Rankings
- Legal 500 Chicago Elite: Insurance Litigation, 2026
- Illinois Super Lawyers, 2023-2026
Before Nicolaides
Before joining the firm, Ian practiced as an associate at a Chicago insurance coverage firm, where he focused on coverage counseling and litigation. Previously, Ian practiced law with Brady Connelly & Masuda, P.C., where his practice focused on insurance coverage and general litigation. Ian began his practice as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Outside Nicolaides
Ian is an avid outdoorsman, and enjoys camping, hiking, running, and adventure races. While indoors, he enjoys cooking. Ian volunteers as a mentor to first- and second-year law students to assist them with finding their career path.
- Secured affirmance of judgment releasing umbrella insurer from duty to indemnify insured for $3.5 million arbitration award.
- Secured summary judgment that umbrella insurer owed no obligation to indemnify insured for more than $10 million in costs to replace non-compliant framing lumber installed at multiple apartment developments.
- Secured dismissal with prejudice of declaratory judgment action on the grounds that policies were fully-fronted, such that the insured was lone interested party in a dispute over coverage for damages from an explosion at insured's slag-processing plant.
- Obtained summary judgment for umbrella insurer finding that the insured's untimely notice of lawsuit involving brain damage due to carbon monoxide exposure breached the policy's notice condition, because insurer lost the opportunity to investigate and defend against the suit, precluding any duty to indemnify insured for $3.5 million award.
- Obtained favorable settlement for primary and excess insurers in complex litigation involving multiple bodily injury claims arising out of a fuel cross-delivery.
- Secured favorable resolution for pollution legal liability insurer over claims under Ohio and Texas law regarding investigation and remediation costs incurred to comply with U.S.E.P.A. directives.
- Took the lead in formulating comprehensive strategy for excess insurer with respect to resolving claims under Canadian law for damages occasioned by catastrophic turbine failure at power plant.
- Obtained summary judgment holding that CGL coverage, part of client's primary OCIP policy, provided only a single $5 million completed-operations aggregate liability limit, regardless how projects sustained damage; defeated argument that $5 million aggregate limit was owed for each of 71 scheduled projects.
- Analyzed primary and excess exposure for amounts paid to settle class-action lawsuit involving failed plumbing-system components installed in residential and commercial buildings across Canada.
- Counseled primary and excess insurers regarding exposure for insured's defective product which allegedly caused plumbing system components used in residential and commercial installations across the United States and Canada to fail.
- Successfully prosecuted excess insurer client's bad-faith claim against primary carrier for failure to settle and obtained mid-seven-figure settlement for client.
- Resolved breach-of-contract and bad-faith claims against insurer who allegedly owed a duty to defend and indemnify an additional insured in connection with underlying lawsuit over catastrophic mountain-bike accident.
- Resolved additional insured's tender of underlying lawsuit involving bodily injury during pipeline installation project and accompanying priority-of-coverage issues.
- January 21, 2026
- January 24, 2023
- June 29, 2022
- June 13, 2022
- January 29, 2021
Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan LLP: At the Pinnacle of Coverage in Mountain West States
- June 29, 2018
- January 15, 2016