Strong & Hanni - Practice Areas - Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation

Practice Areas

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation

Strong & Hanni's Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation practice group provides a wide range of services to numerous insurers, risk financing entities, and other affected clients on local, state and national levels. The group is experienced in litigating declaratory relief and extra contractual actions and performs extensive work in the appel- late courts on behalf of parties and amicus curiae. Since 1995 the group has handled 140 extra contractual, coverage and bad faith cases.

Bad Faith Insurance Defense
Strong & Hanni is the leading Utah law firm for bad faith and breach of contract insurance defense. The attorneys in the group have handled well over 100 bad faith defense cases, been involved in many of the leading insurance bad faith cases in Utah and recently handled the successful appeal of Campbell v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., where the United States Supreme Court established the national standard for punitive damages in a bad faith case. Strong & Hanni also specializes in advising its insurer clients on claims handling practices and how to avoid potential bad faith and breach claims during the handling of a claim or the defense of a third-party lawsuit.

Coverage Analysis and Litigation
The attorneys have a great deal of experience analyzing insurance claims and providing its insurer clients with advice on covered and uncovered claims. Strong & Hanni has handled numerous claims in all areas of insurance including: commercial general liability, professional liability, aviation insurance, property and casualty policies, products liability, excess and re-insurance, surplus lines insurance, ERISA and worker’s compensation. Strong & Hanni has handled numerous declaratory judgment actions to obtain favorable results in coverage disputes and has represented insurer clients in successful reimbursement and contribution cases against other insurers and insureds.

Special Investigations and Insurance Fraud
The group regularly assists its insurer clients with investigations into questionable, fraudulent and complex insurance claims that require the assistance of counsel. Strong & Hanni specializes in taking examinations under oath and statements from insureds, assisting with location of expert witnesses and advising its clients in situations of potential misrepresentation, non-cooperation and insurance fraud.

Insurance Appraisal Services
Many personal and commercial insurance policies contain appraisal provisions which allow an insurer or insured to elect appraisal as a method of setting the amount of an insurance loss. Insureds will often times retain counsel or public adjusters to assist with this process and gain an advantage over the insurer. The appraisal process can become distorted beyond what is stated in the policy and the insurer can find itself unprepared to respond to such tactics. The attorneys in the group have a great deal of experience representing insurers in the appraisal process. Strong & Hanni focuses its efforts on ensuring that the appraisal process fairly and that the insurer is prepared to properly present its position.

Group Members

Stuart H. Schultz Practice Group Leader801.532.7080 • sschultz@strongandhanni.com