Kate Pearson

Full Profile

Kate advises on a wide variety of contentious insurance issues, often multi-jurisdictional in nature. Her caseload is split between policy coverage, liability defence and subrogated recoveries.

Kate's practice focuses on UK and international property, construction, public and product liability risks. She assists insurers, brokers and policyholders on a wide range of issues in the UK and as coordinating counsel for international actions. She has significant experience representing insurers in litigation but also in resolving disputes more amicably via settlement negotiations and mediations.

Kate has considerable experience in representing the water and wastewater utilities sector, requiring an understanding of the statutory duties and liabilities faced by water and wastewater undertakers and the regulatory environment in which such undertakers operate.

Experience

• Representing a water undertaker in a Court of Appeal action of industry-wide significance, concerning the interpretation of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and the determination of liabilities as between undertakers going forward
• Advising UK insurers on the operation of Tenants and Neighbours exclusions under the French Civil Code in claims concerning high value property fires in France
• Acting for insurers in coverage disputes and declinatures in relation to multi-million pound property damage claims relating to hot works
• Acting for an insurer and insured in an action against third parties involving a high value claim arising from fire damage to a University property
• Representing insurers and their policyholders in subrogated recovery actions against third parties, including building and design contractors, for damage caused by defective fire-stopping in multi-million pound claims arising from fire damage
• Advising and assisting a policy holder in a multi-million pound subrogated recovery action arising out of a complex business interruption loss following a warehouse fire
• Advising insurers in relation to actions for defective products against third party manufacturers in Italy
• Representing an Italian manufacturer in a defective products claim brought following a product recall
• Acting as co-ordinating counsel in a liability defence arising out of proceedings brought in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Courts
• Regularly advises and acts for insurers and their policyholders defending multi-million pound property claims arising from fire damage