Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell lawyers have extensive experience representing the insurance industry at both the trial and appellate level in a variety of matters. We have a particularly strong practice in defending insurers in high profile/high risk cases, including class actions, serious injury cases, and high-stakes matters.
Class Actions
Since 2000, we have successfully handled seven purported class actions for Allstate alone. These and other class actions that we have handled for other insurance companies covered a variety of matters, including:
- customer service and quality service pledge programs;
- automobile insurance coverage;
- premium pricing;
- coordination of benefits;
- payment to health care providers for treatment of Workers' Compensation patients;
- pricing of uninsured motorist benefits;
- non-payment of PIP benefits under the Colorado Automobile No-Fault statute; and
- expense charges under life insurance policies.
In a class action case closely monitored by the insurance industry and followed by the media in 2004, we won an order denying class certification. This case, which concerned extended PIP benefits, saved the insurance industry potentially over $100 million.
Trials
WTO lawyers have tried and arbitrated a wide range of claims for the insurance industry, including disputes related to:
- Bad faith/reverse bad faith
- Directors' and officers' liability
- Contracts
- Environmental tort claims
- Estoppel
- High net-worth individuals
- Insurance coverage
- Investments
- PIP
- Premises liability
- Product liability
- Professional liability
Appeals
We have successfully defended several insurers in numerous appeals in state and federal courts. Before joining the firm, over 50 percent of WTO associates served a federal judicial clerkship. As a result, they are steeped in the substance and procedures of appellate writing.
Representative appellate cases that WTO has handled include:
- Allstate v. Estate of Hill
- Campbell v. Allstate
- Carlton v. Allstate
- Estate of Scoggins v. Encompass Insurance Company
- Ganyard v. Allstate
- Kirsch v. Sakabu
- Mullen v. Allstate
- Reynolds v. Allstate
- Roberson v. Coker-Weston
- Sanford v. Allstate
- Valdez v. Pringle
- Wobst v. Allstate