• videocam On-Demand Webinar
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Insurance
  • schedule 90 minutes

Insurance Bad Faith Pre-Trial Strategies: Demand Letters, Pleadings, Defenses, Damages, Bifurcation, and Experts

Developing Winning Pre-Trial Tactics for Policyholders and Insurers

About the Course

Introduction

This CLE course will outline pre-trial strategies for both insurers and policyholders litigating bad faith claims. The program will focus on demand letters to insurers, drafting and answering bad faith complaints, proving and opposing damages, bifurcation, and using expert witnesses.

Description

Bad faith allegations are a potent weapon for policyholders in coverage litigation to negotiate for a higher settlement due to the risk of an unacceptable jury award. In order to leverage this tool, policyholder counsel must carefully draft complaint allegations to survive a motion to dismiss.

Expert witnesses play a critical role in bad faith litigation, both for policyholders and insurers. Insurance experts typically are underwriters, claims handlers, brokers, regulators and attorneys with knowledge of insurance industry customs.

Insurers must weigh the pros and cons of bifurcating the coverage trial from the bad faith trial. Bifurcation may be imperative if the "bad" evidence regarding the bad faith claim may negatively impact the jury's perception of the underlying coverage case.

Bifurcation also may enable the insurer to protect the claims file from discovery if the bad faith claim is stayed pending resolution of the contract issues.

Listen as our authoritative panel of insurance practitioners imparts insight on bad faith pre-trial strategies for both insurers and policyholders. The panel will discuss demand letters, drafting and answering bad faith complaints, proving and opposing damages, bifurcation of coverage and bad faith issues, and use of expert witnesses.

Presented By

Thomas Dupont
Attorney
Anderson Kill

Mr. Dupont is an attorney in Anderson Kill's New York office and a member of the firm's Insurance Recovery Group. He has represented clients seeking recovery primarily under general liability, professional liability, and property insurance policies.

Marshall Gilinsky
Shareholder
Anderson Kill

Mr. Gilinsky is a shareholder in Anderson Kill's Boston office and practices in the firm’s Insurance Recovery and Commercial Litigation groups. He is co-chair of the firm's Sexual Harassment and Abuse Insurance Recovery Group and Sports, Media and Entertainment Group, and a member of the firm's Banking and Lending Group and Restaurant, Retail & Hospitality Group. During his nearly 30-year career representing policyholders, Mr. Gilinsky has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients, successfully litigating disputed claims under a variety of insurance products, including property and business interruption insurance, commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, directors and officers (D&O) insurance and life insurance. He has represented clients on numerous high-stakes, complex insurance claims arising out of prominent losses such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy and the “Big Dig” in Boston. Mr. Gilinsky also focuses extensively on assisting clients that own and manage captive insurance companies, especially with respect to resolving coverage disputes between the captive and its reinsurers.

Kevin V. Small
Counsel
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Mr. Small counsels clients on the recovery of insurance proceeds and on risk management and insurance strategy. He represents clients in complex coverage disputes involving claims under various types of policies, including first-party property, cyber, D&O, E&O, general liability, product liability, and transactional liability.

Credit Information
  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Tuesday, August 12, 2025

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Policyholder strategies

A. Bad faith demand letters

B. Bad faith pleading requirements

C. Proving insurer breach of duties

D. Calculating damages

E. Using experts in bad faith cases

II. Insurer strategies

A. Responding to demand letters

B. Bad faith defenses

C. Change of venue and removal if jurisdiction unfavorable to insurance carriers

D. Bifurcating coverage and bad faith issues

E. Challenges to claims professional testimony

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What facts regarding the insurer's actions should policyholders include in the complaint to survive a motion to dismiss?
  • What industry experts are best suited for bad faith claims, and what are common challenges or objections to their testimony?
  • What factors should insurers consider in deciding whether to move to bifurcate the coverage trial from the bad faith trial?