Mr. Stephens, the firm's claims counsel and loss prevention partner, is active in bar leadership, currently serving on the board of the Virginia Law Foundation as chair of its committee on Continuing Legal Education. He has lectured on insurance and other topics at both national and statewide seminars, and is a contributing author to American Bar Association publications on ERISA and misrepresentations in the life, health and disability insurance application process.

Representative Insurance Litigation and Insurance Coverage Matters

• Defense of insurers and claims fiduciaries in ERISA litigation involving life, health and disability coverages.

• Representation of insurers in various types of accidental death claims, including deaths involving DUIs and acute alcoholism, in both state and federal court.

• Representation of insurers in coverage litigation involving CGL policies, homeowners’ policies, workers’ compensation and classification endorsements.

• Advice on environmental liability insurance and D&O coverage issues.

• Asserted misrepresentation as grounds for rescission of several types of insurance policies and in a variety of fact situations.

• Defense of insurers on claims involving allegations of bad faith.

• Representation of insurers relating to agent conduct in federal and state courts.

Representative Virginia Appellate Litigation

• Oral arguments in a half dozen appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and briefed more.

• Argued to uphold a district court’s finding that a life insurance policy was void because of material misrepresentations in the application.

• Argument on an appeal regarding whether an insured had applied for, or consented to the issuance of, a policy.

• Presentation of oral arguments in products liability cases on appeal.

• Argued appeals involving a public nursing home and privileges at a public hospital.

Representative Commercial Litigation

• Assertion of claims on behalf of an EMT agency for unpaid fees.

• Representation of clients in various contract claims.

• Representation of the Commonwealth in mandamus proceedings.

Representative Telecommunications Litigation

• Representation of telecommunications carrier in federal district and circuit courts under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

• Participation in proceedings involving requests for authority under § 271 of the Act, for alternative regulation, and for deregulation.

• Representation at various regulatory proceedings involving telecommunications before the State Corporation Commission.

Representative Cases