Deborah Azerraf

Toxic Tort

Toxic Tort / Asbestos Damage

• Representing leading manufacturers and large industrial groups in relation to more than 600 separate claims in different courts in France filed by former employees claiming to have developed asbestos-related diseases.

Toxic Tort / Asbestos Anxiety

• Representing leading manufacturers and large industrial groups in relation to more than 10,000 separate claims in more than 10 different courts in France filed by individuals on the grounds of their anxiety to develop an asbestos-related disease in the future (“fear of cancer” cases).

Insurance

Reinsurance

• Advising a global reinsurer in relation to a EUR 1bn aggregate claim made by a multinational insurance company in respect of all payments made by them through various subsidiaries in Europe relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Product Liability Insurance

• Representing a global insurance company in relation to a liability claim valued at c. EUR 250m and brought by the car manufacturer concerning the alleged defect in a component forming part of a diesel emission reduction system in a car. The manufacturing chain involves complex cross-border sub-contracting arrangements.
• Representing a leading French building materials distributor in relation to a series of claims involving defects in the resistance of awning blinds manufactured by a Franco-Portuguese company resulting in a product recall.

General Liability Insurance

• Representing a worldwide manufacturer of climbing harnesses in a USD 75m personal injury claim brought by a victim. Parallel action in relation to the client’s claim under a complex insurance policy.
• Representing a global insurance company in relation to a multiple liability claim valued at GBP 40m against the engineering sub-contractor, the insured, in relation to the construction of a new engineering plant in Gibraltar.

General Liability and Business Interruption Insurance

• Representing a global luxury brand in a EUR 30m claim in relation to business interruption and other types of losses caused by looting and destruction of the client’s shops during the riots in multiple States in the US following George Floyd’s death. The case involved a precedent-setting issue of interpreting the events as a single “cause” or multiple “causes” which is relevant to the liability cap.
• Representing various companies in their claims concerning operating losses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, including claims for business interruption losses
• Representing a naval architect and its insurer in a dispute over a design flaw in a fishing vessel.

Fraud Insurance

• Representing a leading financial institution in a EUR 15m claim against its insurer relating to a fraud committed by the client’s customer, an Asia-based commodity trader, in obtaining pre-shipment financing.

Environmental Liability Insurance

• Representing a global leading design manufacturer of underground pipelines and its insurer in a CAD 450m (c.EUR 280m) dispute with an Asian company concerning major soil pollution in North America and involving allegations of product defects and gross negligence.
• Advising a worldwide leading carpet manufacturer in relation to a coverage claim, denied by its environmental liability insurer, of USD 10m involving costs for the clean-up of a river in the State of New Jersey, USA.

D&O Liability Insurance

• Advising boards, executive committees and individual company officers on the D&O coverage alongside civil and criminal proceedings. The issues included the scope and boundaries of insurability.
• Advising a French‑headquartered group and their boards on complex D&O coverage issues following an Australian acquisition up to USD 55m. Assessing D&O coverage under consecutive polices for a prospective claim against former and current directors and company officers arising from accounting irregularities identified post‑

Property Damage Cases

• Advising a French company specialising in the production, transformation, and distribution of materials following a fire at one of its leased buildings.