- 2019-07-16
Leena Soni
Partner
For over 20 years, Leena has counseled national and international insurers and corporations on novel and complex coverage issues under numerous types of policies and coverages, including:
- General Liability
- Commercial Auto
- Advertising Injury Liability
- Professional Liability
- Directors and Officers Liability
- First Party Property
- Life and Disability
Leena has extensive litigation experience representing insurers in high-exposure coverage and bad faith matters, at the primary and excess levels. As a seasoned appellate practitioner, she handles both state and federal appeals, and has collaborated with trial counsel in catastrophic injury cases to analyze issues from liability, coverage, and appellate perspectives.
Memberships
- University of Iowa Law School Foundation
- Association of Professional Insurance Women
Awards & Rankings
- Named a Super Lawyer in insurance coverage and general litigation
- Resolved claim alleging insurer's failure to settle and raising priority-of-coverage and allocation issues following multimillion-dollar "run-away" verdict.
- Represented excess insurer in appeal regarding insurer's right to limit who is an insured for purposes of UM/UIM coverage to permissive users.
- Handled appeal seeking ruling of no coverage under UM policy's hit-and-run provision.
- Obtained judgment permitting denial of first-party property claim upon establishing that insured engaged in a scheme to submit a fraudulent claim.
- Secured affirmance on summary judgment that business income loss to the insured's telecommunications company following a flood was limited to the period of restoration instead of the 12-month period the insured allegedly sustained due to suspension of its operations.
- Obtained judgment in favor of insurer's denial of benefits under mortgage life policy due to insured's willful and fraudulent medical history answers on application.
- Obtained summary judgment on commission felony exclusion, eliminating client's obligation to pay accidental death benefits.
- Secured affirmance on appeal regarding validity of beneficiary change.
- Obtained affirmation of judgment regarding scope of excess insurer's liability under theories of equitable contribution and equitable subrogation.
- Obtained dismissal of wife's claim against drug rehabilitation facility for sending her correspondence from her husband, during his in-patient treatment, which he intended to send to his mistress.
- Appeal regarding dismissal of consumer fraud in connection with stay at hotel.
- Won appeal regarding proprietary and scope of 2-622 reports and expert testimony in physician's negligence claim.
- Appeal regarding college's obligation to make filmstrips available to public under state freedom of information act.
- Served as monitoring and appellate counsel for bilateral amputee crane injury trial.
- Monitored and served as appellate counsel for motorcycle injury trial involving quadriplegic plaintiff.
- Monitored and served as appellate counsel for crane injury trial involving bilateral amputee plaintiff.
- Monitored and served as appellate counsel for crane-related wrongful death trial.
- Following discovery, obtained summary judgment against insured for failure to substantiate “direct physical loss of or damage to” under first-party business interruption policy coverage.