Susan Burkhart

Susan K. Burkhart, a partner with Cranfill Sumner LLP since its founding in 1992, has a dual focus in her practice:  insurance defense litigation and municipal land use litigation.  In these areas, she has instituted or defended over 100 declaratory judgment actions, and has defended numerous class actions.  She has tried numerous jury and bench trials in state and federal court, and has appeared before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, all three districts of the United States District Court of North Carolina, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Susan’s decades of professional achievement as a litigator are recognized in her attainment of an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.  She has also served as Chair of the Litigation Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, and has served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Bar Association and the Wake County Bar Association.  She is a member of both the Insurance section and the Planning and Zoning section of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Susan is a frequent lecturer on insurance coverage and land use issues.  She has been honored and selected by her peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of insurance coverage.  She has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® publication since 2007 and has been selected through balloting as one of North Carolina’s Super Lawyers since 2009.

Susan has achieved numerous successes, through dispositive motions, at trial, and on appeal, in defense of insurers and agents in coverage and bad faith actions.  She has successfully defended numerous towns and cities, across North Carolina, in response to constitutional and statutory challenges to zoning, planning, and development ordinances.  She also counsels insurers and municipalities on best practices to avoid litigation.

Representative Matters

Cases or matters referenced do not represent the lawyer’s entire record. Each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. The outcome of a particular case cannot be predicated upon a lawyer’s or a law firm’s past results.

Insurance Coverage:

• Obtained judgment from the United States District Court declaring a single occurrence for e.coli outbreak.
• Obtained reimbursement for insurer in primary/excess declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court.
• Obtained judgment and decision affirmed by the North Carolina Supreme Court declaring that a commercial general liability and professional liability insurance policy afforded no coverage for a police officer for alleged sexual misconduct.
• Obtained judgment affirmed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declaring that an insurer owed no liability coverage under a commercial auto policy for an additional insured driving a non-owned auto.
• Obtained judgment affirmed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declaring that another insurer owed pro-rata liability for prejudgment interest on a large settlement.
• Obtained judgment from the United States District Court declaring that an insurer owed no UM/UIM coverage for injury to a passenger in a non-owned vehicle.
• Obtained judgment from the United States District Court declaring that an insurer owed no liability coverage for a vehicle in “dead storage.”
• Obtained judgment and successful appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals declaring that a commercial excess insurance policy did not “drop down” and become excess upon the insolvency of the primary insurer.
• Obtained judgment and successful appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals declaring that an insurer properly cancelled a policy of automobile liability insurance despite a technical departure from the prescribed cancellation notice.
• Obtained judgment and successful appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals declaring that an insurer properly cancelled an automobile liability insurance policy by mailing the cancellation to the insured’s policy address despite the return of such notice for nondelivery.
• Obtained defense verdict for agent at trial in a claim that the agent failed to procure insurance coverage on a tractor/trailer.
• Obtained judgment and successful appeal for agent on statute of limitations defense.

Municipal Land Use Defense:

• Obtained discretionary review from the North Carolina Supreme Court on a challenge to the validity of  water/sewer impact fee ordinances.
• Successfully argued to the North Carolina Supreme Court that a landowner’s constitutional challenges to a zoning ordinance were mooted upon the sale of the property.
• Successfully argued to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that a landowner had no valid equal protection or due process claim arising from the town’s allocation of sewer services.
• Successfully argued to the United States District Court that a landowner had no valid constitutional challenge to a town’s enactment of a moratorium on new construction.
• Successfully argued to the United States District Court that a landowner had no “vested rights” to proceed with its development after an amendment in a zoning ordinance.
• Successfully argued to the United States District Court that a landowner had no valid constitutional or statutory challenge to a town’s alleged delay in the issuance of a building permit to a developer.
• Successfully argued to the North Carolina Court of Appeals that a landowner’s common law, statutory and constitutional challenges to a zoning ordinance were barred by the statute of limitations.

Articles, Presentations, and Publications

• Author and Speaker, “Water and Sewer Impact Fee Cases: Town of Carthage and Beyond,” North Carolina League of Municipalities, June 8, 2017.
• Author and Speaker, “Coverage for Cyber Liability Claims,” North Carolina Bar Association Insurance Law annual meeting, April 11, 2014.
• Author and presenter, “Hot Topics in Commercial General Liability Insurance,” North Carolina Bar Association, Fall 2009.
• Author and Speaker, “Insurance Coverage Issues in Construction Claims,” N.C. Defense Attorneys Association, Fall 2007.
• Co-Author, “North Carolina Bad Faith Insurance Compendium,” Defense Research Institute, 2008, 2009.
• “Recent Developments in CGL, Auto and Property Law: 2008,” Fall CSH Educational Seminar 2008.
• “Recent Developments in CGL, Auto and Property Law: 2007,” Spring CSH Educational Seminar 2007.
• Author and Speaker “Recent Developments in CGL, Auto and Property Law,”  Annual CSH Educational Seminar 2005 to present.
• Author and Speaker, “Material Misrepresentations and Other Ways to Avoid Coverage,” North Carolina Bar Association.
• Author and Speaker, “Civil Procedure, Nuts and Bolts of North Carolina Law,” North Carolina Bar Association.
• Author and Speaker, “Vested Rights Can Cost You,” North Carolina League of Municipalities Fall Seminar 2010.