Insurance Coverage/Third Party Defense

    The firm has a long history of providing a high level of experience and aggressive representation of all manner of insureds for property/casualty, personal lines, professional liability and marine insurers in all forms of insurance coverage disputes, during pre-suit and for complete handling of declaratory judgment or defense of first party coverage complaints throughout Florida and elsewhere with noted expertise in the area of bad faith claims handling suits.  Our attorneys have taken an extensive number of Examinations Under Oath of insureds in both personal homeowners, auto, health and disability claims and commercial coverage matters involving all kinds of property claims, hurricane losses, sinkholes, collapse cases, demands for appraisals, suspected misrepresentation, arson or other forms of insurance fraud.  Our caseload includes successful handling of high profile coverage cases and defense of insureds against some of the top plaintiff attorneys around the State.

    With his prior background as a former insurance company MGA claims manager, and having worked directly with many P&C underwriters, Mr. Schwartz brings a unique perspective to the handling of insurance matters rarely seen in the lawyer community.  His work experience "in the trenches" has helped many insurers avoid coverage or claims handling "bad faith" situations and to better train internal staff on cost effective claims management techniques, reducing those instances where outside counsel is needed.  He has provided drafting of policy forms and regulatory assistance to a number of insurers on both the regional and national stage with an eye toward claims-preventive assistance, enabling the carrier to better manage its risk exposure and to meet growing state statutory requirements and claims handling trade practices mandates.

    Mr. Schwartz has also provided expert witness opinions and testimony to other lawyers on various insurance coverage policy interpretation matters in and outside of Florida as well as attorney fee disputes by plaintiff lawyers against insurers.

    Every attorney in the firm is trained to handle all phases of an insured's appointed defense in any third party liability setting under company appointed counsel arrangements for P&C carriers, professional liability, personal lines and marine insurers.  Over the years we have defended insureds in many different situations involving employer-employee commercial auto, industrial worksite, business and homeowners' premises accidents, boating and scuba death cases; intellectual property and defamation torts; products/completed operations; health care provider, pharmacist, social worker suits; construction defect claims; general-subcontractor disputes; beautician/nail technician liabilities; product liability actions; and numerous other trades.  Our attorneys have taken many such cases to a defense verdict and have handled numerous appeals on both coverage and appointed defense counsel matters.

    We pride ourselves on a close working relationship with those insureds to whom we are assigned to provide needed defense to help the insured's comfort level and ability to provide needed evidence, as well as to reinforce the insureds' satisfaction with their insurance company during the litigative process.

    All defense assignments are handled in the most cost effective way possible to help the claims examiner properly and timely assess the risk exposure and to develop a suitable litigation plan from start to finish.  As a former Claims Manager himself, Mr. Schwartz closely monitors every insurance file in the office to assure the special needs and expectations of each insurance company we serve are met on a daily basis.