UniCourt Legal Analytics Reports – U.S. District Courts Insurance Litigation 2020
on Topics: Legal Analytics
Litigation analytics play a vital role in measuring the health of the legal market, law firms, their clients, litigation support firms, and much more.
To illustrate what you can do with analytics, UniCourt developed our Leaders in Litigation series to showcase data on the top five litigation plaintiffs’ attorneys and law firms, as well as the top five defense attorneys and firms, across specific practice areas for all U.S. District Courts.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the federal insurance litigation market remained stable, and even saw a noticeable increase in the number of cases filed across U.S. District Courts, jumping from 11,107 cases in 2019 to 12,233 in 2020. In the interest of tracking these increases in insurance litigation, we are featuring the top attorneys and law firms for all 2020 insurance litigation in US District Courts for this month’s installment of our Leaders in Litigation series.
This report is a follow-up to last year’s legal analytics report on the top insurance attorneys and law firms for 2019.
Get access to legal analytics reports for US District Courts.
Top Plaintiff Attorney Analytics
The top plaintiff attorney in the area of insurance litigation for 2020 is Chad Troy Wilson of the Chad T. Wilson Law Firm, PLLC. A Southeast Texas native, Mr. Wilson attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, where he was one of twelve midshipmen who successfully completed a dual degree in Marine Engineering and Marine Transportation/Natural Science. He was aboard one of the very first merchant vessels to restock military equipment in Kuwait after the First Gulf War.
Mr. Wilson has two decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, having worked on virtually every type of offshore drilling rig. This hands-on experience positioned him to pursue a business degree at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Executive Sales Management program, then, eventually law school at the South Texas College of Law.
While Mr. Wilson started his legal career by handling oil and gas issues, he now focuses on helping clients with issues concerning all types of contracts, including insurance issues. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and Colorado, and is admitted in federal district courts in both states.
Along with Mr. Wilson, we also recognize Richard D. Daly of Daly & Black, PC, Dezarae D. Lacrue of Franklin D. Azar & Associates, PC, James M. McClenny of McClenny Moseley & Associates, PLLC, and Tara Lace Peveto of the Chad T. Wilson Law Firm, PLLC.
Top Plaintiff Law Firm Analytics
For the second year in a row, the Merlin Law Group ranks as the top insurance litigation plaintiff firm. Founded in 1985 and with attorneys collectively licensed to practice in 22 U.S. states, the Merlin Law Group represents insurance policyholders nationwide.
In addition to the Merlin Law Group, we also recognize the Chad T. Wilson Law Firm, PLLC, Franklin D. Azar & Associates, PC, Morgan & Morgan, PA, and Kanner & Pintaluga, PA.
Top Defense Attorney Analytics
For the top defense attorney for insurance litigation in 2020, we have a tie between Brian Patrick Henry of Rolfes Henry Co., L.P.A. and Brian John Spano of Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, LLP.
Mr. Henry has significant litigation experience in the practice areas of insurance, fire science, and product liability, and has served as national trial and coordinating counsel to product manufacturers and a Fortune 500 insurer.
He is the President of Rolfes Henry Co., L.P.A., and boasts a national recognition for his knowledge on expert preclusion issues and has represented hundreds of expert witnesses from a range of fields. Mr. Henry has also achieved the Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator designation from the National Association of Fire Investigators and is an Adjunct Instructor at both the National Fire Academy and the National Center for Explosives Training & Research.
Mr. Spano is a litigation attorney who represents corporate clients in commercial and insurance-related disputes, from commercial litigation to breach of contract, class actions, insurance coverage disputes, bad faith actions, and more.
He has previously served as receiver and counsel to the Colorado Commissioner of Insurance. He regularly represents insurance carriers in regulatory actions like financial and market conduct exams, and serves as counsel to state life and health insurance guaranty associations in multistate insurance company insolvencies.
Honorable mentions also go to Susan E. Egeland, W. Neil Rambin, and Sara E. Inman, all of whom are attorneys at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP.
Top Defense Law Firm Analytics
Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig, LLP ranks as the top defense law firm for insurance litigation in 2020, as well as 2019, having eight of the top fifty attorneys last year in the area of insurance defense. The firm has also seen a steep increase in insurance litigation matters, going from 224 federal insurance cases in 2019 to over 300 last year.
Butler is a civil litigation powerhouse devoted solely to insurance cases. The firm primarily represents corporations, insurance companies, and insured individuals, and their work spans the continental U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean.
We also recognize prominent insurance defense firms Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP; Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP; Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP; and Litchfield Cavo, LLP.
Don’t Stop at Analytics: Leverage the Power of Legal Data
Analytics are undoubtedly an invaluable resource for seeking new insights. But analytics can only go so far and are much more useful when coupled with meaningful access to the underlying legal data.
Legal Data as a Service (LDaaS) is the tool that unlocks that potential. With UniCourt’s LDaaS solution, you can download state and federal (PACER) court data, attorney data, law firm data, party data, and judge data to build your own analytics, to support your business development, to gather competitive intelligence, to develop machine learning models, to institute process automation, and for background checks, investigations, and underwriting.
Contact Us to learn more and schedule a demo to see how you can start leveraging LDaaS today.