Robert Hess Provides Tips for Insurers to Win Coverage Disputes

Robert E. Hess, a partner in the firm's Irvine, California office, provided suggestions to insurance companies for prevailing in a litigated coverage dispute. His comments were included in the April 13, 2015 Law360 article "5 Tips for Insurers to Win Coverage Disputes," which discusses "challenges [facing insurance companies] in breaking down policies for juries or judges and overcoming negative preconceived notions about the industry."

Mr. Hess explains in the article, "One of the key issues is to get the jury to look past the image the plaintiff will present of the 'big, bad insurance company'[.] . . . [Y]ou have to show that there are real people handling these claims." Commenting on the practice of attacking a policyholder's conduct, he warns "[y]ou have to earn the right to do so[.] . . . I tend to present that evidence in a more neutral way. Juries will get it if the evidence is there."

Mr. Hess focuses his practice on insurance coverage disputes, and his work in the field of insurance litigation primarily involves matters concerning arising from individual and group insurance contract disputes, as well as ERISA-governed litigation.