Top Rated Alternative Dispute Resolution Attorney in Columbus, OH

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Ohio Association of Justice (Insurance Law Section, Chair 1987-1989, Civil & Business Law Section, Chair 1989-1991)
• Columbus Bar Association (Board of Governors, 2003-07)
• The Columbus Bar Foundation (Trustee 1990-98; President 1996-1997; Trustee 2007 -))
• The American Association of Justice (Federal Tort Liability and Military Advocacy Section, Chair 1999-2000, 1994-1995 and 1988-1990)
• Ohio State Bar Association (Council of Delegates, 2003-13; Negligence Law Committee, Chair 1998-2000, 1986-1990
• Supreme Court of Ohio, Committee on Dispute Resolution (1993-1994)
•  Supreme Court of Ohio Task Force on Commercial Dockets (2007 -)
• Central Ohio Association of Justice
• American Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution member
• Supreme Court of Ohio Commission on the Rules of Superintendence for Ohio Courts (2006 - )

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Commissioner, City of Columbus Historic Resources Commission, 2011

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• “A Green-Eyed Monster? Punitive Damages & Attorney Fees,” Mealey’s Managed Care Liability Report (Volume 7, Issue #8, April 25, 2003) and Mealey’s Litigation Report Insurance Bad Faith (Volume17, Issue #2 , May 21, 2003) published by Lexis-Nexis  
•  “Altered and ‘Lost’ Medical Records: Evidence of Spoliation of Records in Medical Negligence Actions,” TRIAL, Medical Negligence, May, 1999 

Verdicts/Settlements:

• In Dardinger v. Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 98 Ohio St.3d 77, 2002-Ohio-7113, $51.5 million jury verdict for Anthem’s bad faith denial of health care and retained the largest Ohio punitive damages award on appeal. In Schaefer v. Allstate Ins. Co. (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 553, changed Ohio uninsured motorist insurance coverage law. He continues to prosecute insurance coverage/bad faith, serious personal injury (including traumatic brain injury), wrongful death, breach of fiduciary duty, sex abuse, will contest, and professional malpractice cases.
• Trial and Appellate Counsel in Dardinger v Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 98 Ohio St.3d 77, 2002-Ohio-7113, where jury awarded $2,500,000 compensatory and $49,000,000 punitive damages for bad faith denial and processing of managed health care benefit and, which was reported in the National Law Journal’s Annual Survey of 1999’s largest jury awards and in the Ohio Lawyers Weekly as the highest Ohio jury award in 1999, which punitive damages award was remitted by the Supreme Court of Ohio to $30,000,000 of which $14,700,000 was used to establish The Esther L. Dardinger Neuro-Oncology Center at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; in Schaefer v. Allstate Ins. Co. (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 708, where Supreme Court of Ohio held unconscionable an insurance policy uninsured arbitration provision which favored insurance company, and in Schaefer v. Allstate Ins. Co. (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 553, where same court held that each person covered by an uninsured motorist policy who is asserting claim (injured wife and husband for loss of consortium) has separate claim subject to a separate per person policy limit. 

Educational Background:

• DePauw University, B.A., 1967