Steven Urgo

Steven D. Urgo is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Lewis Brisbois and is co-chair of the Pollution Legal Liability/Environmental Impairment Liability (PLL/EIL) Practice. He is also a member of the Energy & Environment and Construction Practices. Mr. Urgo’s practice focuses on litigation and counseling in the following areas: (i) environmental law impacting the energy industry, manufacturers, developers, lenders and motor carriers; (ii) unique risks faced by specialty lines insurers offering environmental/pollution legal liability, directors and officers liability and professional liability covers; and (iii) construction and design defects involving all types of project delivery systems.

In his prior role as in-house counsel for two multinational specialty lines insurers, Steven has gained in-depth expertise in working with Underwriters to manuscript policy forms and endorsements for unique one-off transactions and risks, developing new product lines and revising entire suites of policies for Underwriters.

Steven has assisted some of the leading specialty insurers in revising and drafting policy forms that are used on a nationwide basis for pollution risks, underground storage tanks, contractors environmental, professional liability, as well as package policies including D&O, E&O, CGL and Commercial Property covers.

In private practice, Steven has represented insurers in state and federal courts involving complex coverage issues arising in the context of discharges of or exposure to pollutants, construction defects, life sciences/product defects, as well as catastrophic first-party losses.

Steven serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Environmental Claims Journal, a quarterly publication that focuses on the many types of claims and liabilities that result from environmental exposures.

Insurance :

• Steven has authored thousands of coverage opinions on complex coverage issues involving all lines of commercial coverage including commercial general liability, business auto liability, environmental/pollution liability and professional liability for architects, engineers and consultants.
• Steven has litigated complex coverage issues in state and federal courts in connection with construction defect claims, mold claims, environmental claims and interpretation of a wide range of coverage issues, including bad faith claims.
• In addition to liability coverage, Steven also has significant experience in first-party property coverage issues, e.g., business interruption and extra expense covers, arising from catastrophic losses such as building collapse, fires, hurricanes and the World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks.

Environmental :

• He regularly assists parties in environmental due diligence efforts. He has in-depth experience in drafting and negotiating risk transfer mechanisms, such as indemnity agreements or manuscript environmental insurance liability and “cost-cap” policies to facilitate real estate transfers and redevelopment projects.
• In addition, he represents parties in cost recovery litigation, as well as in litigation involving Superfund, ACT 2 and the New Jersey Spill Act.
• Steven regularly negotiates environmental fines, penalties and notices of violation with regulators involving alleged violation of federal and state laws.

Construction :

• Steven has handled hundreds of construction defect claims involving residential and commercial construction projects such as condominiums, developments, airports, power generating stations, high-rise buildings, transportation projects and other infrastructure projects. He has handled losses arising from defective work and/or building materials, geotechnical issues, water intrusion, mold and structural failure.
• His professional liability experience includes claims made against architects and engineers and arising from domestic and international projects such as transportation systems, treatment works, construction projects and other industrial facilities.
• Steven represents owners, developers, contractors and other entities in assessing, drafting and negotiating construction contracts, with emphasis on defense and indemnification provisions and insurance requirements.