Dennis M. Perlberg has a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University. He received a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from The Ohio State University in 1972 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1973. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. Dennis is a member of the New York County Lawyers Association, the Suffolk County Bar Association, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the Defense Research Institute, the Loss Executives Association, and the Council on Litigation Management.

Dennis is the managing partner of our firm. He was the legal editor of Between the Lines, by Harold Daynard (1986) and his publications include Recognizing and Combating Insurance Fraud, (Insurance Advocate, March 1990); New York Regulation 64: It’s Provisions and How the Courts Have Interpreted Them, ( Insurance Advocate, September 1991). Dennis has addressed numerous associations on a variety of insurance related issues including Interpretation of the Faulty Workmanship Exclusion and Ensuing Loss, (First Party Claims Conference); Insurance Coverage Update: Focus On First Party Coverage Issues (New York State Bar Association); Conflicts In Fraud Investigation and Insurers Avoidance of Bad Faith (New York Anti-Car Theft and Fraud Association Seminar); Fire and Arson Investigation For The Insurance Professional: Examination Under Oath (International Association of Arson Investigators).

Representative Recent Cases:

First Party:

• Defense of $20 million dollar claim for damages arising from the collapse of a retaining wall onto the West Side Highway, in New York City.
• Defense of $19 million dollar collapse of a parking garage in lower Manhattan.
• Defense of a $7 million dollar claim for hail damage to 92 roofs in Albany, New York.
• Defense of a $1.6 million dollar arson fire claim to insured restaurant in Garden City, New York.

Third Party:

• Defense of electrical contractor re: switchboard fire in New Jersey shopping mall that caused damage to over twenty retail claimants.
• Defense of roofing contractor for fire damage to commercial building in Westchester County while using an acetylene torch.
• Defense of the designer of a circuit board used in an air conditioning system that had caused multiple fires in multiple locations in New York City and out of state.
• Defense of municipal water supply company for alleged failure to provide sufficient pressure to hydrants resulting in the Fire Departments inability to control house fire.

Subrogation:

• Action against maintenance company for sprinkler system that failed to operate and resulted in the destruction of a Fulton Fish Market plant in New York City.
• Action against the service company for furnace that caused fire and destroyed a home in Hewlett.
• Action against plumbing contractor for negligent use of a torch, igniting and destroying a motel property in Bohemia, New York.

Commercial Cases:

• Action by buyer against seller of a wholesale meat distribution corporation for fraudulent concealment of facts in contract documents.
• Defense of action by employee/principal of dry goods distributor for claimed labor law violations and fraud.
• Defense of sales manager of high tech software company in action for preliminary injunction to prevent him from taking contracts to a new employer in competition with the plaintiff.
• Attorneys’ malpractice action against law firm that negligently allowed a commercial real estate deal to be canceled.