Cheryl L. Kozdrey

Partner

Biography

Cheryl L. Kozdrey is a Partner with SDV Fenchurch and a member of the firm’s U.S. Executive Committee. She also serves as Chair of the firm’s Construction Sector Group, where she helps lead the strategic direction of the firm’s national construction risk and insurance practice. She works closely with risk managers, brokers, in-house counsel, and executive leadership teams to develop proactive insurance strategies that align coverage programs with business objectives and evolving risk exposures. She is a frequent speaker and author on insurance recovery, construction risk management, and policyholder advocacy topics.
Prior to entering the legal profession, Cheryl spent a decade in healthcare administration, an experience that provides her with a distinctive understanding of operational challenges faced by professional organizations.

Experience

Cheryl’s practice focuses on advising clients through all phases of the insurance claim and litigation process. Her experience includes large-scale construction and infrastructure losses, including builder’s risk, OCIP/CCIP programs, professional liability, pollution liability, commercial general liability, and other project-related insurance issues. She also regularly advises clients on insurance placement, risk allocation, indemnity obligations, contractual risk transfer, and policy optimization strategies designed to maximize available coverage and minimize uninsured exposure.
In addition to her construction practice, Cheryl advises clients facing coverage disputes across a broad range of industries, including food safety and product contamination, marine and cargo losses, international trade and import risks, corporate healthcare and administrative liability exposures, commercial transportation, and hospitality and restaurant-related liability.

Insights by Cheryl L. Kozdrey

Critical Updates in Builders Risk Claim Recovery: Staying Ahead of the “Satisfactory State” Argument and Getting the Most Out of LEG 3

Builders risk claims routinely involve complicated and aggressive debate about the interplay between covered physical loss and uncovered faulty work. However, denials on this front have recently experienced a noticeable uptick in frequency, creativity, and aggressiveness. The insurer arguments concentrate in two key areas with a common theme – that any damage associated with a […]
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“Protecting Yourself from Downstream Risks,” featured in FMJ Magazine

Jeremiah Welch and Cheryl Kozdrey’s recent article, “Protecting Yourself from Downstream Risks,” was recently featured in the May/June 2020 edition of FMJ Magazine, the official magazine for International Facility Management Association (IFMA). This article explores effective risk management processes, including contractual risk transfer and insurance protections from downstream parties, and simple tools Facilities Managers can […]
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Are COVID-19 Claims Covered by Builders Risk Insurance Policies?

If you are an attorney, insurance broker, or other professional representing developers and contractors, then your clients have likely reached out with concerns about losses related to COVID-19. One common question is whether there is potential coverage under builders risk insurance policies. The short answer is: It depends. As with most questions pertaining to insurance […]
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