Current Employment Position(s)

Partner, since 1994

Year Joined Organization: 1983

Lawyer Overview

Charles (Chuck) W. Browning is a partner and member of the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney. He oversees the firm’s duties as regional coverage counsel for several major property and casualty insurance companies and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Insurance Coverage Practice Group. Mr. Browning has been designated annually as a Michigan Super Lawyer and is listed in the publication The Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. Browning is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, and several federal courts, and has been admitted to practice law pro hac vice in more than 25 states. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute (Insurance Law Committee); International Association of Defense Counsel (Casualty Insurance Committee (Chair 2006 to present) and Reinsurance and Excess and Surplus Lines Committee); and the American Bar Association (Litigation Section and Torts and Insurance Practice Section). He is a member of the Board of Editors of the Defense Counsel Journal.

Areas of Practice

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Law
• Product Liability

Bar Admissions

• Michigan, 1981
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1988
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1982
• U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, 1984
• U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania, 1997
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1997
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana, 1997
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, 2002

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, 1985 - 1990 (Membership Committee)
• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, 1981 - 1986 (36th District Court Committee)
• State Bar of Michigan, Insurance Law Section, Negligence Section and Environmental Law Section, 1986 - 1990 (Member, Representative Assembly)
• Michigan Defense Trial Counsel
• Association of Defense Trial Counsel
• Defense Research Institute, Insurance Law Committee (Member)
• International Association of Defense Counsel (Insurance and Reinsurance Committees)
• Wayne County Defense Mediator
• International Association of Defense Counsel, Reinsurance and Excess and Surplus Lines Committee (Member)
• International Association of Defense Counsel, 2006 - Present (Chair)
• International Association of Defense Counsel, Casualty Insurance Committee (Member)
• American Bar Association, Task Force on Environmental Insurance Coverage Litigation (Member)
• American Bar Association, Insurance Law Sub-Committee (Member)
• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Practice Section (Member)
• American Bar Association, Litigation Section (Member)

Honors and Awards

• Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating-AV
• 2006 & 2007 Michigan Super Lawyer in Insurance Law, Michigan Super Lawyers, a publication of Law & Politics magazine

Classes and Seminars

• Lecturer/Moderator at IADC Seminar on New And Emerging Insurance Coverage and Liability Issues, 2007 - Present
• Lecturer for Major Property and Casualty Carrier, Boston – New Developments in Pre-Tender Coverage Issues And Related Issues On A Carrier’s Right To Control The Defense Under Reservation of Rights (also prepared corresponding written materials), 2006 - Present
• Lecturer for Major Property and Casualty Carrier, New York – New Developments in Michigan Insurance Coverage Law, 2006 - Present
• Lecturer/Moderator at IADC Seminar in Rome Italy – Coverage Issues Arising from Non-United States Mass Tort Claims, 2006 - Present
• Lecturer at Mealey’s Webcast Seminar on Asbestos Coverage Litigation – The Number of Occurrences Issue (also prepared corresponding written materials), 2006 - Present
• Lecturer/Moderator at IADC Seminar – New and Emerging Trends in Insurance Coverage Issues -- A View From the Trenches, 2006 - Present
• Lecturer at Mealey’s Seminar in New York on Asbestos Coverage Litigation – Successor Liability and Related Coverage Issues (also prepared corresponding written materials), 2005 - Present

Past Employment Positions

• Defense Counsel Journal, Member, Board of Editors

Education

• University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Detroit, Michigan, 1981
  J.D.
  
  Law Review: University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law, Member, 1979 - 1980
  
  Law Review: University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law, Symposium Editor, 1980 - 1981
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1978
  B.A.

Published Works

• "1996-97 Survey of Michigan Law - Insurance Law Chapter", Wayne Law Review, 1997
• "Section 601 of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 Contains an Implied Right to a Private Course of Action", 58, University of Detroit Journal of Urban Law 74, 1981
• Iowa High Court Upholds Total Pollution Exclusion As Bar To Coverage, IADC Casualty Newsletter, May, 2007
• Oregon Supreme Court Upholds Consent to Assignment Clause and Precludes Coverage, IADC Casualty Newsletter, January, 2007
• Texas Supreme Court Holds That Mold Exclusion Applies Even Though Damage Was Caused By A Covered Peril, IADC Casualty Newsletter, November, 2006
• Chapter on Environmental Claims in Michigan Insurance Law And Practice, November, 2006
• Fifth Circuit Upholds Homeowner’s Policy Exclusions Barring Coverage for Concurrent Water and Wind Damage Due to Hurricane Katrina, December 3, 2007
• Flood Exclusion Upheld in Louisiana “Hurricane Katrina” Claims, August 28, 2007
• Flood Exclusion Upheld in Louisiana “Hurricane Katrina” Claims
• Federal Court Rules Non-Participating Insurer Must Pay Pro Rata Share of Insured's Settlement Costs
• Insurance Coverage Issues Arising from Large Exposure Contaminated Food Claims, April, 2003

Address

38505 Woodward Ave.
Suite 2000
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Phones

(248) 594-6247

Faxes

(248) 901-4040

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.plunkettcooney.com/