Bill is a trial attorney in the litigation department who works primarily out of Frost Brown Todd's Columbus, Ohio office. His practice involves a significant amount of insurance coverage analysis and "bad faith" litigation, particularly in Ohio and West Virginia. He has experience across several lines of insurance and has repeatedly been recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® magazine as a Rising Star in the area of insurance coverage.
In addition to his insurance coverage practice, Bill has a sizeable amount of first-chair trial experience on a wide range of matters. In addition to high-exposure tort cases, Bill frequently works with attorneys in other practice groups to prepare and try various types of suits. He has also successfully briefed and argued matters in Ohio Courts of Appeals and has successfully opposed parties attempting to appeal issues to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Bill's first-chair trial experience includes:
- Defense of Ohio State Court breach of contract and bad faith suit following residential fire (defense verdict affirmed on appeal)
- Defense of fraud and abuse of process claim in federal court (defense verdict with appeal dismissed)
- Defense of negligent misrepresentation claim against insurer and sales agent with stipulated damages of $900,000 in Ohio state court (after the Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment on most claims, including breach of contract and bad faith, a favorable settlement was secured on the plaintiffs' only surviving claim after the close of evidence)
- Commercial driver and employer defended in Ohio state court suit stemming from the death of a minor skateboarder (favorable settlement during trial)
- First-party arson and bad faith case defended in Ohio federal court (directed verdict on bad faith and punitive damages despite adverse jury verdict on fire loss contract claim)
- First-party bad faith case arising out of UM claim defended in West Virginia state court (favorable verdict)
- Two-week disability discrimination claim defended in Ohio state court (defense verdict)
- Appeal of workers compensation allowance claim denial defended in Ohio state court (verdict for employer)
- Liability trial in Ohio Court of Claims following wrongful death settlement stemming from trucking accident (successfully argued that Ohio Department of Transportation should reimburse trucking company and its insurer 50% of settlement due to improper design of construction zone)
- Several student loan discharge adversary proceedings defended in United States Bankruptcy Court, all resulting in denials of discharge, including one case featured in the New York Times
- Several personal injury matters defended, all resulting in either directed verdicts, defense verdicts, or jury awards in amounts lower than final offers of settlement.
In addition to his trial experience, Bill has resolved countless cases through dispositive motion briefing, mediation, arbitration, and direct settlement discussion.
Lawyer Client Comments