Recent Publication:
In Cannon Falls Area Schools v. Hanover American Insurance Company (2025 WL 2976533 (D. Minn. 2025)), the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that a property insurer properly denied coverage pursuant to a cosmetic damage exclusion because hail indentations to roofs affected only their appearance, not their ability to function as barriers against the elements. The Court emphasized the roofs’ performance immediately following the loss rather than any speculative future vulnerabilities.
Josh represents international and domestic insurers as litigation and coverage counsel in first-party property matters. He focuses his practice on issues arising out of, but not limited to, construction risks, renewable energy losses, natural disasters, and fraud. Josh is also well-versed in handling related time element losses and bad faith claims. He is a trusted adviser in developing litigation strategies, evaluating and reducing risk, interpreting and drafting policy language, and claims handling.
Before joining the firm, Josh was an associate with a Global 100 firm, where he also focused on first-party property insurance coverage matters. Before that, he was an associate with a leading national firm, where he represented financial institutions, large corporations, and insurance companies in a wide range of complex commercial disputes, including business torts, breach of contract, health care litigation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, false advertising, and ADA accessibility claims.
Josh earned his B.A. from the University of Delaware and his J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law.
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March 20, 2025
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Publications
November 17, 2025
In Cannon Falls Area Schools v. Hanover American Insurance Company (2025 WL 2976533 (D. Minn. 2025)), the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that a property insurer properly denied coverage pursuant to a cosmetic damage exclusion because hail indentations to roofs affected only their appearance, not their ability to function as barriers against the elements. The Court emphasized the roofs’ performance immediately following the loss rather than any speculative future vulnerabilities.
August 18, 2025
In Luke, Inc. v. Berkley National Insurance Company, 2025 WL 2210783 (W.D. Tenn. 2025), the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee determined that the “completion” of a construction project for purposes of coverage under a builder’s risk policy concerned the permanent...
August 05, 2025
In Carr v. Spinnaker Insurance Company, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s finding that property damage resulting from objectionable and imperfect work performed by an unlicensed contractor did not constitute covered vandalism or malicious mischief...
June 12, 2025
In El Dueno, LLC v. Mid-Century Insurance Company (2025 WL 1540329) (10th Cir. 2025)), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgement on behalf of the insurer on the basis that the insurer did not act in bad faith when it denied the insured’s claim based on an engineering report that...
May 12, 2025
In Comprehensive Medical Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 2025 WL 416814 (9th Cir. 2025), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s determination that the period of restoration tied to water damage at the insured’s commercial property was the...
April 01, 2025
In Bob Robison Commercial Flooring Inc. v. RLI Insurance Company (2025 WL 852889 (8th Cir. 2025), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit determined that an ensuing loss provision of a builder’s risk insurance policy did not restore coverage resulting from defective workmanship...
March 20, 2025
In Ram Krishana Inc. d/b/a Motel 6 Sulphur v. Mt. Hawley Insurance Co. (2025 WL 371016) (S.D.N.Y. 2025)), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York determined that the plaintiff lacked an insurable interest in property it insured because it did not own or possess the...
February 04, 2025
Ferland and Tumen discuss the Tenth Circuit's decision in In Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company.
October 14, 2024
Josh Tumen and Paul C. Ferland contributed the Expert Analysis “Defining All-Risk: Despite $30M Loss, Loose Bolt Not 'Damage'” for Law360.
September 23, 2024
In AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that a loose bolt or fitting that could be remedied simply by tightening it did not constitute “direct physical loss of or damage” to...
August 22, 2024
In Life Skills, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company, 2024 WL 3792261 (D. Mass. 2024), the District Court of Massachusetts found that “collapse” provisions within a commercial property policy were ambiguous where a floor merely sagged without completely falling to the ground....
August 01, 2024
In Zurich American Insurance Company v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc., 2024 WL 3504060 (Mass. Jul. 23, 2024), the Supreme Court of Massachusetts held that the term “surface waters,” as used in a limitation contained in a commercial property insurance policy, was ambiguous in the context of...
June 13, 2024
In MAve Hotel Investors LLC d/b/a The MAve Hotel, et al. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, et al., 2024 WL 2830909, (S.D.N.Y. 2024), to preserve diversity jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York permitted a plaintiff insured to drop...
March 25, 2024
In BCC Partners, LLC v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of America, 2024 WL 1050117 (E.D. Mo. March 11, 2024), the Court determined that the plaintiff property owner, as an additional insured, was not entitled to the same insurance coverage as the named insured where the builder’s risk policy limited the...
February 14, 2024
In Mankoff v. Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (2024 WL 322297 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 29, 2024)), the Court determined that the term “windstorm” was ambiguous as utilized in the subject insurance policy....
January 16, 2024
Introduction
In a case of first impression, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (applying Illinois law) rejected a LEG3 exclusion as ambiguous. See S. Capitol Bridgebuilders “SCB” v. Lexington Ins. Co., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176573 (D.D.C. Sep. 29, 2023). The London...
October 18, 2023
Law360 published the “Extreme Weather And Renewable Project Insurance Coverage” Expert Analysis column written by Paul Ferland and Joshua Tumen.
September 22, 2023
Paul C. Ferland and Joshua Tumen contributed the practice note “Impact of Climate Change on Coverage under Builder’s Risk Insurance Policies for Renewable Energy Projects” for Lexis+ and Practical Guidance Insurance.
August 29, 2023
The Southern District of Texas recently held that an appraisal award did not establish liability for a covered loss under the policy. In Hoff v. Meridian Sec. Ins. Co., 2023 WL 5192013 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 11, 2023), Meridian Security Insurance (“Meridian”) insured Flemming Hoff (“Hoff”). After filing...