Biography
Jonathan Small represents insurance companies nationally in complex insurance coverage disputes. His experience includes litigation involving commercial property and liability policies, allegations of bad faith, unfair claim settlement practices, and other extra-contractual claims, as well as class actions and appeals. He is a member of Robinson+Cole’s Litigation Section and Insurance + Reinsurance Group.
Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
Jonathan’s wide-ranging insurance coverage experience includes the representation of property, liability, and excess insurance carriers in federal and state courts and in arbitration. He has handled multi-week arbitrations involving eight-figure insurance claims for business interruption, building, ordinance or law, civil authority, and inventory losses. Jonathan has also won pretrial dismissals on dispositive motions in commercial property, general liability, and excess insurance cases, often involving allegations of bad faith and unfair business practices. In addition, he has positioned clients for settlements on favorable terms in many significant insurance coverage disputes.
Class Actions
Jonathan’s class action experience includes the defense of insurance carriers and other business clients against claims involving property insurance coverage, liability insurance coverage, the federal civil RICO statute, and federal telecommunications statutes. In these class actions, he has conducted class-related discovery, defeated attempts at class certification at the trial and appellate levels, and won pre-trial dismissals.
Appeals
Jonathan’s appellate experience includes insurance and unfair business practices cases. He has successfully briefed two precedent-setting liability and excess liability insurance and bad faith cases in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. He has also argued and won appeals in Massachusetts and Connecticut appellate courts in cases involving unfair business practices, class actions, and defamation claims.
Pro Bono
Jonathan is a member of Robinson+Cole’s Pro Bono Committee and recipient of the firm’s 2018 Pro Bono Award. He maintains an active pro bono practice, including the representation of immigrant children in deportation proceedings and the coordination of matters referred to the firm by Kids In Need of Defense and the Center for Children’s Advocacy.