Top Insurance Lawyers Near Me in Newark Area

Richard J. Badolato has more than five decades of civil litigation experience on the trial and appellate levels in both State and Federal Courts. He focuses his practice on Insurance and Financial Services related matters. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, he was the Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance for the State of New Jersey.. Throughout his career, Rich has represented many national and local insurance companies (life, health, and property), self-insureds, manufacturers and distributors of various products, oil companies, and professional services providers including doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers and accountants in defense of malpractice litigation. He has tried more than 320 civil matters to conclusion and argued more than cases on the appellate level.. His legal career has been marked by service not only to his clients but also to the legal profession and the executive and judicial branches of New Jersey state government. Rich is the former president of both the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Essex County Bar Association; he is the former president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation.  He has served as Vice Chairman for the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics; he was a member of the Supreme Court’s E-Filing Committee and was a member of the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee for Mandatory CLE. Additionally, he served as Chairman of the Supreme Court of New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law.  Rich has also been deeply involved in the American Bar Association (ABA) as the past State Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and was elected to the ABA National Council of Bar Presidents Executive Committee and was also a Delegate to ABA House of Delegates.. During Rich’s tenure as Commissioner, the Department’s Banking Division received reaccreditation from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the Insurance Division received reaccreditation by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Under his leadership, the department increased insurance fraud enforcement, spotlighted financial literacy for high school and college students as well as seniors and improved insurance consumer services such as the establishment of the lost life insurance or annuity policy locator tool.. Rich leads the firm’s insurance practice, which provides insurance and health care regulatory and enforcement advice, and handles insurance coverage disputes and counseling, as well as related defense work. He also collaborates with the firm’s financial services and risk management practice.

My early years as an attorney were spent with a large New York City firm, where I was assigned to defend a limited number of catastrophic personal injury cases. I was increasingly called upon to defend similar cases in the Courts of the State of New Jersey, where I am also licensed. I was eventually recruited as a partner in the New Jersey office of another New York-based firm, and ultimately became the Managing Partner in that office. In 2003, I formed by own firm, which currently consists of 8 lawyers.. I have tried over 60 cases to verdict and am Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by both the New Jersey Supreme Court and the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  I have an "AV" Martindale-Hubbell's rating. My firm is listed in Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys, The Bar List, and the Martindale-Hubbell Register of Preeminent Lawyers.  I am also a repeat selection as a New Jersey "Super-Lawyer".

Heather DeNoia graduated magna cum laude from The College of New Jersey and attended Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she also graduated with honors.. Prior to joining Cottrell Solensky & Semple, Heather started her own law practice concentrating in family law and guardianships. Heather was fortunate to serve as a law clerk to The Honorable Rudolph A. Filko, J.S.C., in the New Jersey Superior Court for Passaic County, NJ. There she gained extensive experience in juvenile delinquency, matrimonial, landlord/tenant and small claims matters.  Heather is a New Jersey state certified mediator and has a 93% success rate at settling landlord-tenant, small claims, and family law cases.

Christian Cavallo, a leader of the GIS New Jersey team, is an experienced insurance coverage litigator who regularly represents insurance industry clients in connection with complex, high-exposure matters. Chris’s litigation experience includes handling a broad range of matters involving claims presented under both first-party products, such as personal and commercial property and automobile policies, and under third-party insurance products, such as personal, commercial, and professional liability policies. Chris has both successfully defended insurers in matters involving claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, extracontractual or "bad faith" claims, and alleged violations of consumer protection and consumer fraud statutes, and he has also represented insurers who have filed lawsuits to obtain a declaration of their rights and obligations under their policies.. A representative sampling of Chris's litigation accomplishments include:Obtained dismissal on behalf of liability insurer of a complaint seeking damages in excess of $172 million for alleged violations of state consumer fraud statute and multiple common law causes of action involving a supposed "gap" in policyholder's insurance coverage program; dismissal affirmed by Third Circuit on appealNegotiated favorable settlement on behalf of commercial auto insurer of a pre-suit wrongful death claim brought by the estate of the deceased driver of the insured's rental vehicleObtained summary judgment on behalf of commercial property insurer of a lawsuit arising out of Superstorm Sandy claim, based on the policyholder's failure to present competent evidence to support its claims against the insurerObtained summary judgment on behalf of an excess liability insurer in a matter involving underlying personal injury claims based on the insured's failure to provide timely notice of the underlying accident and related lawsuitObtained dismissal with prejudice on behalf of a commercial auto insurer of underinsured motorist claims arising from an auto accident involving the insured's limousineObtained summary judgment on behalf of an auto liability insurer in a declaratory judgment action brought by a general liability insurer arising out of a multi-million dollar tort liability lawsuit involving damage to a Garden State Parkway overpassObtained summary judgment on behalf of a general liability insurer in a declaratory judgment action brought by a putative additional insured arising from a multi-million dollar tort liability lawsuit involving the collapse of a commercial pierDefeated an order to show cause filed by an insured to compel an auto insurer to participate in the appraisal process permitted by the insurer's policy, where the first-party dispute between the parties exceeded the scope of the appraisal processObtained summary judgment on behalf of a general liability insurer in a declaratory judgment action brought against an auto liability insurer arising from a high-value personal injury lawsuitObtained dismissal on behalf of an auto liability insurer of a lawsuit seeking uninsured and underinsured motorist benefits as a result of a motor vehicle accidentObtained a favorable settlement on behalf of a property insurer of litigation involving a multi-million dollar water damage claim asserted by the owner of a high-end fashion boutiqueChris's practice also includes providing his clients with general insurance counseling, including drafting coverage opinions and memoranda analyzing insurers' rights and obligations under complex insurance contracts, assisting with internal investigations, and providing advice concerning regulatory issues, underwriting, and policy drafting.. Chris regularly presents on emergent insurance industry topics, and has authored and co-authored articles on issues affecting the insurance industry. He is also an editor and regular contributor to the firm's insurance blog, The Insurance & Reinsurance Report. While attending Georgetown University Law Center, Chris served as a member of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty & Law Policy. Prior to graduation, he was a law clerk at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.

Experienced Insurance attorney serving clients in Newark and surrounding areas.