Tort & Insurance Defense

Hall Estill’s Tort and Insurance Defense practice group regularly confronts the challenges presented in the emerging legal issues of tort law and insurance coverage. Regardless of the issues, we always try to serve our clients’ best interests through effective and efficient resolutions of claims.

Serving clients ranging from multinational corporations to governmental agencies, public trusts, school districts and other entities, and even to individual policyholders, our attorneys handle various types of matters, including, but not limited to:

• Defending all types of claims – from automobile accidents and products liability claims, to petroleum spills, fires and explosions – our counsel also includes issues of statutory construction, claims of violation of specialized statutes and constitutional infringement or other claims, where damages are sought for personal injury, property damage or economic loss;
• Representing life and health insurance carriers in first-party breach of contract and bad-faith claims;
• Representing insurance carriers and policyholders in all manner of claims brought about by third party claimants, including, but not limited to, directors and officers liability, professional liability, commercial general liability, negligence and premises liability claims;
• Providing coverage analysis for both insurance companies and policyholders – evaluation and interpretation of policy language in particular fact situations and preparation of coverage opinions;
• Advising commercial clients regarding insurance coverage and assist them in dealing with insurance carriers on complicated and disputed claims;
• Litigating insurance coverage disputes;
• Counseling clients on risk management efforts and other insurance issues;
•  Representing self-insured clients and select insurance companies before the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court;
• Defending ERISA claims for health, disability and retirement benefits; and
• Defending governmental agencies, public trusts and other entities in tort and statutory claims involving the Governmental Tort Claims Act and other statutes.

Additional services include:

• On-site investigative services
• Investigating and coordinating receivership proceedings

Members of this practice group regularly appear in all state and federal courts and administrative proceedings in Oklahoma, and have conducted jury trials in numerous other midwestern states.

For further details, please see our Extended Information