Kutak Rock attorneys convinced U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson that malpractice insurer ALPS Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (ALPS) can decline coverage of an entertainment lawyer in a lawsuit over a rights deal gone bad for a movie about the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. On February 22, 2017 Judge Hudson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted ALPS's motion for summary judgment, finding the organization does not have to cover attorney Bennett Fidlow of Entertainment Law Inc. against the suit by Beijing-based Kylin Network Movie and Culture Media Company Ltd. (Kylin).
ALPS sought the summary judgment declaration after attorney Fidlow was made the defendant in a malpractice suit by Kylin over an alleged conflict of interest and fraud in a deal Fidlow helped broker for the rights to produce the movie “Birth of a Dragon." The Court ruled that attorney Fidlow's claim fell outside the coverage period.
Kutak Rock attorneys Timothy Baird and Jeremy Williams represented ALPS in the case.