Insurance

Crowe & Dunlevy Insurance Litigation attorneys have handled thousands of cases involving insurance coverage and tort disputes, including claims for policy rescission and cancellation, interpleader of policy proceeds into court, and bad faith claims.  The Firm represents numerous life, health and business insurance companies, as well as agencies, plan administrators and individuals in need of insurance representation.

Crowe & Dunlevy attorneys actively practice in the following insurance litigation areas:

Insurance Tort Litigation

Crowe & Dunlevy attorneys represent a broad range of insurance industry clients in defense against tort claims ranging from bad faith to fraud. 

Increasingly outside ERISA’s preemptive umbrella, such claims are particularly dangerous because of the significant punitive damages exposure involved.

Because of our lawyers’ experience and success in defending such cases, Crowe & Dunlevy is often retained on appeal to help overturn exceptionally large verdicts against insurance industry clients.

Insurance Coverage Litigation

The Firm's Insurance Litigation attorneys are regularly consulted by insurance companies, policy holders and other law firms to analyze whether an insurance policy provides coverage for a particular type of loss.  This analysis may take the form of an opinion letter regarding coverage; often, it involves representing either the insurance company or the insured in coverage litigation. Examples of the varied business coverage issues recently handled by Crowe & Dunlevy Insurance Litigation attorneys include:

• Advertising injury coverage
• Automobile coverage liability
• Business liability under Comprehensive General Liability policies
• Directors & Officers, and Errors & Omissions  liability coverage under various types of insurance policies
• Environmental insurance coverage
• International law aspects of aircraft insurance coverage
• Insurance coverage of claims in employment and agent termination cases
• Life, health and disability insurance coverage
• Medical necessity determinations under health insurance and managed care contracts
• Mortgage insurance coverage
• Oil well blowout coverage under various types of policies

ERISA Litigation

Because employers are the principal source of an individual's life, health and disability insurance, the Federal Employees Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), which governs liability arising under employee benefit plans, has become a central part of much insurance and managed care litigation.  State law principles of breach of contract and bad faith have been largely supplanted by federal law issues concerning ERISA, although courts are increasingly limiting the scope of ERISA's preemption sweep.

Crowe & Dunlevy ERISA attorneys frequently handle cases involving:

• Insurance benefits
• Tort claims testing the boundaries of ERISA preemption, such as alleged pre-plan fraud
• Continued medical coverage under COBRA and state statutes
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Claims for wrongful termination for exercising ERISA rights
• Claims for penalties for failing to furnish information or notice under ERISA and COBRA

Managed Care Litigation

Crowe & Dunlevy attorneys have been and are now involved in landmark cases concerning the limits of ERISA's application to claims against managed care organizations.  Where ERISA is found inapplicable, our attorneys have aggressively represented clients' interests in a wide variety of cases brought by patients and providers.

Administrative Law and Regulatory Matters

Because insurance is a highly regulated area of the law, Crowe & Dunlevy Insurance Law attorneys also handle a wide variety of matters before the Oklahoma Insurance Commission.  Such matters often involve a consumer complaint about an insurance company's handling of claims or an agent's solicitation practices.