Jonathan Schapp
Partner
Jonathan Schapp is an accomplished litigator with more than three decades of experience handling complex insurance, professional liability, and commercial matters in New York and numerous other jurisdictions. Jon represents insurers in complex first-party property claims, including large scale catastrophic and bad faith claims, and defends agents and brokers against errors and omissions (E&O) claims. His extensive experience includes assisting agents and brokers in coordinating with their clients in having claims properly adjusted. In addition, Jon defends insurers under commercial general liability and excess liability policies against claims for coverage for construction accidents, advertising injuries, and sexual harassment, and pursues other insurers for the proper stacking of coverage under various applicable policies, resulting in recoupment of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments for his clients. Jon also defends insurers against environmental claims, sexual abuse claims, and fraud claims.
Jon has represented a wide variety of clients in construction disputes, including owners and contractors in defeating claims of contractors and subcontractors, and contractors and subcontractors seeking to obtain payment for work performed. He has successfully handled appeals on a variety of issues and has resolved numerous cases through mediation and arbitration. Jon’s victories include BP Air Conditioning v. One Beacon, in which he was able to convince the New York Court of Appeals to enforce the policies’ other insurance clauses as written, thus settling a complex and ambiguous aspect of New York coverage law.
Honors & Awards
Upstate New York Super Lawyers, 2012–20
Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: AV Preeminent
Admissions
- New York
- U.S. District Courts for the Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of New York
- Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Education
- State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, J.D., 1989
- City University of New York, Brooklyn College, B.S., 1986
Publications & Events
- “Can Causation Be Examined as Part of the Amount of Loss?” DRI For the Defense, May 2020
- Co-Author, “Do Insurers Have an Interest in Interest?” Claims Journal, December 4, 2017
- “The Duty To Defend: Triggers, Limits, and Exceptions” (Co-Presenter), GIS Webinar, June 2, 2020
- “Insurance Clause Issues” (Co-Presenter), GIS Webinar, March 19, 2019
- “First-Party Property” (Co-Presenter), GIS Webinar, May 22, 2018