Overview
(October 13, 2020, Washington, DC) — Law360 has named Sarah Gordon an MVP in Insurance. Gordon was one of only five lawyers nationwide selected in this category. Law360's MVPs are lawyers who have distinguished themselves from their peers over the past year through high-stakes litigation, record-breaking deals and complex global matters. A team of Law360 editors selected the 2020 MVP winners after reviewing more than 900 submissions.
In a profile published October 8, the editors write that "victories in insurance coverage suits, such as the first substantive ruling denying coverage for COVID-19-related losses in Social Life Magazine v. Sentinel Insurance, as well as representing AIG in a dispute with Merck & Co. over coverage of a cyberattack" have earned Gordon a spot as one of Law360's 2020 Insurance MVPs.
Earlier this year, Gordon was selected to serve as The Hartford's national coordinating counsel for COVID-19 matters. There are more than 130 such suits already in numerous jurisdictions. Gordon is defending Hartford in all of the matters and managing an expansive, multi-office Steptoe team. She was one of only two insurer representatives who argued to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation against the efforts of certain policyholders to establish an MDL for COVID-19 cases.
In describing her biggest case this year, Gordon tells Law360 that the Social Life decision was a big win for her when she represented The Hartford unit Sentinel, as it was the first substantive decision in the country for business interruption claims resulting from COVID-19 shutdowns. Hundreds of such cases have been filed over the last months as nonessential businesses across the country closed their doors to slow the virus' spread.
"I think we were one of the first to be in court arguing on some of these key issues that are now fairly well developed among other lawsuits," Gordon said, adding that the Social Life suit hinged on the question of physical loss, which has been a key term in many of the insurance policies at issue in the myriad suits.
The full profile on Gordon can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
