Now, Insurance Experience For Your Business

After Nearly A Decade Working For Insurance Companies, He's Now On Your Side

For almost ten years, John represented insurers in coverage disputes with their insureds, often with millions in dispute, in state and federal courts across the country.

Now you can use that experience against your carrier today.

How John Has Helped Others

Although no past result can guarantee future success, and every case is different, below find just a sample of what he has done for insureds just like you:

• A badly hurt driver retained John to seek coverage under his employer's policy. The carrier denied coverage, claiming he did not have permission to use the vehicle when the accident happened. The carrier also refused to mediate the coverage dispute, so the case went to trial. At trial, the judge found for the driver, deciding that the employer's policy applied to his injuries. That policy provided up to $1 million in limits for proven or agreed damages.


• A family's high school daughter was killed by a trucker who ran a red light. Her personal injury lawyers asked John to analyze the available coverage. The carrier originally claimed $2 million in insurance applied. John went through the messy pile of paper provided by the carrier and identified an additional policy. He argued that $7 million in coverage applied. And he convinced the carriers through letters and negotiation to agree that at least $5 million applied. A jury entered a verdict for the girl's family for $5.25 million dollars. So John's analysis helped recover another $3 million in policy limits for that judgment.


• A Richmond firm secured a $600,000-plus jury verdict and judgment against a trucking company. The carrier denied coverage after the judgment was final. John sued, and the carrier continued to deny coverage. John then orally explained why that the carrier had no valid coverage defense to its local counsel. Within a week, the carrier wired the full amount of the judgment plus pre and post-judgment interest without requiring a release.


• Another law firm hired John to write the briefs on whether an umbrella policy provided $2 million in underinsured motorist coverage for the client's several hundred thousand dollars in medical bills and other significant damages(many such policies do not provide that coverage). The client prevailed in the trial court. The insurer asked to appeal. John wrote the brief arguing that the trial court was correct and the Supreme Court of Virginia should not hear the appeal. It agreed and did not hear the appeal, even after a motion for a rehearing.


• A company faced a lawsuit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars.  But its carrier refused to defend it or pay to settle, citing coverage defenses.  Just the cost of defending that suit could have bled the insured dry.  And a judgment could have doomed the business.  But after a single letter from John, the insurer reversed its position, and then paid to defend and settle the case without any money from the insured.


• John won a unanimous reversal in the Virginia Supreme Court of a trial court's ruling that an uninsured motorist carrier did not have to cover the driver of a car that it insured.  As a result, the client now has hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional coverage for injuries suffered while test-driving an auto dealer's car.


• A law firm asked John to analyze uninsured motorist coverage for one of its clients with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills from a terrible auto accident. Although the policy language excluded coverage, that carrier's policy did not have the terms Virginia requires, so John and the firm sued the carrier in federal court asking for coverage. And that court granted summary judgment against the insurance company, ruling the carrier owed $100,000 to the insured because the exclusion the carrier relied on was not valid under Virginia law.


• A family had a dog bite happen at their house. Two years and eleven months later, they were sued and served with a lawsuit by the alleged victim that sought hundreds of thousands of dollars from them. Although they told their homeowners' carrier immediately after learning of the suit, the carrier argued they should have told it about the bite when it happened. And it also sued the family, asking a court to find it did not have to defend them against or pay to resolve the dog bite suit. John won at trial, and the court found that the carrier had to pay to defend and settle the dog bite case against the family.


• A lawyer asked John to analyze a $1 million policy and confirm that the driver who hit his client was not insured under that policy.  Instead, John quickly pointed him to a law that likely required the carrier to cover that driver, despite the policy terms.  That provided a new source for paying the hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages caused his client by that driver.


• Another lawyer faced a tough problem.  Everybody agreed that the defendant owed his client several hundred thousand dollars in damages and fees.  But the carrier refused to offer any real amount to settle the case, claiming no coverage.  So the case dragged on.  Finally, that lawyer brought John in.  John sent a detailed letter to the insurer and met with its lawyer, explaining why the claim might be covered and pointing out the risks faced by the carrier if it would not settle.  Shortly thereafter, the case settled for six figures.


• An underinsured driver ran a red light, hitting a client who was driving a rental car.  Despite a jury verdict for the client, the rental company's underinsured motorist carrier refused to pay, claiming no coverage.  John's pre-trial and mediation advocacy helped secure a $650,000 settlement just before the coverage trial.


• A contractor faced a lawsuit over its work on a project.  When it went to its insurance company, the insurer refused to defend the contractor against the suit, pointing to coverage issues.  John sent a detailed letter explaining why the insurer should defend.  The carrier agreed, and it is now providing a defense.


• A major health care insurer refused to pay for a significant head injury, leaving its insured with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills.  After investigating, John sent the carrier a letter with supporting evidence explaining why the insurer should cover those bills.  The health carrier then reversed its position and agreed to pay.

When trying to get paid by your insurance company, John can help you collect what you are owed.

John's Educational Background

We all know that your results matter more than educational background, but it doesn't hurt to have a smart lawyer at your side.

John attended Wesleyan University, a nationally-known liberal arts college, where he graduated with Honors. He then earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, which consistently ranks as one of the top ten law schools in the United States.

Contact John today.

Education

• B.A. with honors, Wesleyan University
• J.D., University of Virginia School of Law

Reported Cases

• Seals v. Erie Ins. Exch., 277 Va. 558, 674 S.E.2d 860 (2009). 
• California Amplifier, Inc. v. RLI Ins. Co., 94 Cal.App.4th 102, 113 Cal. Rptr.2d 915 (2001).

Bar Admissions

• Virginia, all state and federal courts
• California, all state and federal courts
• United States District Courts for: the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, the Southern District of Indiana and the Eastern District of Michigan
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits

Presentations

• "Insurance Triage For Personal Injury Lawyers"
• "Claims Files: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"
• "Basic Virginia Insurance Contract Interpretation"