Alabama Law Firm Defends Insurers and Their Insureds
Much like our philosophy in any litigation, at ZHSW, we believe that insurance defense is all about valuing a case, reducing that value to the extent you can, and picking the right moment to settle it if it can be settled. In most cases, that will mean marshaling the facts quickly, spotting any potentially dispositive legal issues, and determining the damages (if any) in consideration of the circumstances. It also involves plaintiffs’ counsels’ respect for the defense’s trial advocacy.
Among the most important circumstance relevant to valuing a case is venue. We stress to our clients and insurance companies the importance of venue in Alabama. Jury awards (and thus settlement values) vary greatly from county to county and (to a lesser extent) according to federal districts/divisions. Similarly, the chances of pretrial disposition of a case depends heavily on the judge involved—in some places, certain facts may render summary judgment a probability while in others the same facts may make summary judgment highly unlikely. In the latter situations, to stand any chance on summary judgment or dismissal, it is extremely important to have longstanding relationships with (and knowledge of) the judge involved. Moreover, when summary judgment is simply not going to happen, it is important to have counsel who will tell you that early rather than conducting unnecessary discovery and spending thousands of dollars in defense costs preparing a motion that other lawyers know will be denied.
We pride ourselves in the skill and professionalism with which we serve our insurance clients. A. M. Best has listed the firm for over fifty years as recommended insurance defense counsel and we have represented some of the same insurance companies for decades.
We handle a wide variety of insurance defense matters including motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, construction accidents and defects, ambulance/malpractice defense, dram shop cases, assault, trespass/property damage cases, and libel/slander. We also represent insurance companies directly in bad faith/breach of contract cases, UM/UIM cases, coverage issues (declaratory judgment, intervention, evaluation, etc.), and other matters.
Representative insurance clients:
- Alfa Mutual Insurance Company
- Amerisure Insurance Company
- Audubon Insurance Company
- Bituminous Insurance Companies
- Chubb Group of Insurance Companies
- CIGNA Property and Casualty Insurance Company
- Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company
- Kodiak Insurance Company
- Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Trusted attorneys ready to defend you
Call 205-349-1383 or contact us online today to find out how Zeanah, Hust, Summerford, Williamson & Cox, L.L.C. can help resolve your problems. From our offices in Tuscaloosa, we represent clients throughout Alabama .