Attorney obtained summary judgment in favor of a large insurance company in a declaratory judgment action filed in the Philadelphia County Commerce Court

Attorney obtained summary judgment in favor of a large insurance company in a declaratory judgment action filed in the Philadelphia County Commerce Court.  In the action, the company requested a determination as to whether ongoing defense obligations were owed to its insured, a night club, with respect to an underlying personal injury action seeking damages for the death of a patron.  The underlying complaint alleged that the patron was shot and killed when the night club's employees attempted to intervene in the course of an armed robbery of another patron, during which time the robber's gun discharged. The company moved for summary judgment on the basis that its commercial general liability policy contained an Assault & Battery Endorsement, which precluded coverage for the underlying action.  The decedent's estate filed a cross motion for summary judgment asserting that the Exclusion did not apply.  Based on its consideration of the underlying allegations in conjunction with the language of the Exclusion, the Court concluded that, as alleged, the patron's death resulted from the suppression of an attempted robbery, which constitutes intentional criminal conduct, and, therefore, the Exclusion applied.  It is also notable that the court included in its holding that the underlying incident primarily involved the conduct of a third-party and not the actions of the insured's employee, thereby distinguishing the underlying allegations from existing analogous cases.