Jun 14, 2022
Insurance vs Larry Silverstein and the World Trade Center Collapse on 9.11
What happens when a terrorist attack becomes a highly litigated claim?
Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In my sixth episode, I take a deep dive into the legal wrangling around the property policy covering the World Trade Center. This is a wild ride!
Links:
- 9/11 – An Occurrence That Changed The World - Insurance - United States (mondaq.com) Really outstanding summary of the various lawsuits and coverage issues surrounding whether or not the WTC attack was one occurrence or two.
- https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/how-lawmakers-protected-and-failed-9-11-first-responders.html
- Larry Silverstein - Wikipedia Do yourself a favor and limit your searches for Larry Silverstein to this article. The amount of horrible antisemitic and conspiracy theory websites that come up with a google search of his name is not worth sorting through.
- Larry Silverstein Writes His Own WTC History – SURFACE (surfacemag.com)
- 15 Years After 9/11, Larry Silverstein Finally Recreated WTC || World Trade Center
- The Twin Towers Project: A Cautionary Tale: The building of the World Trade Center showed what happens when pols and bureaucrats, rather than the market, control redevelopment. | City Journal (city-journal.org) Definitely an opinion piece, but with some good history.
- World Trade Center - Development, 9/11 Attacks & Rebuilding - HISTORY
- Judge seals Willis E&O documents on WTC placement | Business Insurance
Law Journal Articles (sorry, no links):
- Ten Years after 9/11: Property Insurance Lessons Learned, Scott G. Johnson, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal Spring Summer 2011, Vol 46, No 3 /4 pp 658-733: Outstanding overview of all the property issues and cases brought in court, including Business Interruption, Salvage, and Tenants in the WTC building.
- THE INSURANCE AFTERMATH OF SEPTEMBER 11: MYRIAD CLAIMS, MULTIPLE LINES, ARGUMENTS OVER OCCURRENCE COUNTING, WAR RISK EXCLUSIONS, THE FUTURE OF TERRORISM COVERAGE, AND NEW ISSUES OF GOVERNMENT ROLE Jeffrey W. Stempel, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal Spring 2002, Vol. 37, No 3 pp 817-882: Overview of issues including War Exclusion, but as it was less than a year after 9.11, you have to read it knowing a lot of his assertions wouldn’t hold true.
- As WTC trial proceeds, jurors demand clarification; Michael Ha National Underwriter Property and Casualty Risk and Benefits Management Vol 108, Issue 7: Michael Ha wrote a lot of articles on this trial. I haven’t cited all of them here, but I used a lot of them in this research.
- Broker didn’t inform insurers of form switch, Douglas McLeod, Business Insurance, Vol 38, no 9, March 2004: another reporter who wrote a lot of articles that I used.
- WTC Case shows importance of documenting negotiations, Akos Swierkiewicz, Business Insurance, June 21 2004
Articles that would require a subscription:
- WTC update: Silverstein shenanigans earn court ban but contempt motion dropped (insuranceinsider.com)
- Willis to hand over WTC E&O documents (insuranceinsider.com) This is soooo funny.
- World Trade Center Deal Remains in Doubt - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Books:
Hire These People:
- My audio editor, and AMAZING Voice Over Actor—who did all the VO for this episode: Zach Stinnett
Music Credits:
- Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library
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