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Overview

Calfee’s Insurance Recovery lawyers serve corporate insurance policyholder clients, in Ohio and nationwide. For over 25 years, we have helped our clients secure money from their insurance companies to cover their losses and liabilities. Our core values of creativity, focusing on the issues that matter, and attentiveness to clients guide our insurance recovery efforts in discerning the path of least resistance to maximize insurance dollars.

Our mission is to find and secure the most insurance dollars to cover our clients’ losses and liabilities. We get money for our clients from their insurers for first-party losses, liabilities to third parties, and the cost of defending against third-party claims. 

Our insurance recovery services include identifying insurance assets to provide coverage, developing and presenting coverage claims to insurance companies, negotiating resolutions to insurance coverage disputes both directly and through mediation, and litigating against insurance companies in state and federal courts nationwide and in alternative dispute resolution forums such as arbitration.

Insurance coverage law is a labyrinthine world unto itself. Having deeply immersed ourselves in this craft, we possess specialized knowledge of and experience with most forms of insurance, as well as the nuances of the sometimes perplexing laws, language, procedures, and customs surrounding insurance coverage claims. 

We routinely face the maneuvers used by insurers that typically give them the upper hand when dealing with a policyholder who lacks coverage counsel, and we are steeped in the tools available to anticipate, respond to, and neutralize those efforts and shift the balance in the policyholder’s favor.

Noteworthy

Certified Insurance Law Specialist by Ohio State Bar Association

The leader of Calfee’s Insurance Coverage Practice, James Sullivan, is one of only 24 lawyers in the state of Ohio certified as insurance law specialists by the Ohio State Bar Association.

Chambers USA Leading Law Firm Rankings

Calfee has been recognized as a Leading Law Firm for Insurance: Policyholder by Chambers USA, most recently in Band 1 in Ohio (2024).

Calfee is one of only three law firms ranked in this practice in the state. Chambers USA commentators note that "The team boasts an impressive reputation with decades of experience in policyholder insurance representation. Calfee is well known for its capabilities in risk mitigation and cost recovery strategies and provides representation in all aspects of insurance coverage policy disputes, including those surrounding M&A transactions. The firm has an impressive roster of clients that includes those in the academic, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors."

Clients interviewed by Chambers USA researchers said, "The Calfee team is proactive in communication, problem-solving, idea generation, and general advisory input. The attorneys have exceptional communication skills; they have promptly answered my questions and explained legal intricacies in a way that was easy to understand. One of the main reasons we use Calfee is because it has such great knowledge of our company. They are my go-to firm and reasonably priced. They are good about making strong, practical recommendations. They're extremely knowledgeable. The team is creative in devising solutions to coverage problems that don't begin with antagonistic litigation. The Calfee lawyers have been outstanding, professional, and articulate in resisting the denial of coverage. They are the best outside counsel I have ever used."

Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings

Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2025 "Best Law Firms" rankings in the following areas:

  • Insurance Law (National Tier 3, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)
  • Litigation – Insurance (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland)

Benchmark Litigation Rankings

Calfee was selected for inclusion by Benchmark Litigation 2025 as a Highly Recommended Law Firm in Dispute Resolution in Ohio. Additionally, 16 of Calfee's Litigation partners have been ranked by Benchmark Litigation as "Litigation Stars" in the U.S. (National), Midwest, and Ohio and as “40 & Under" and "Future Stars" Honorees.

Professionals

Experience

Experience

Experienced with most types of insurance policies, our Insurance Recovery attorneys have helped our clients secure insurance coverage totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for many kinds of losses and liabilities, including:

  • Property and business interruption
  • Cyber
  • Commercial vehicle
  • Key executive life insurance
  • Breaches of M&A representations and warranties
  • Defense costs for third-party claims
  • Directors’ and officers’ liability
  • Construction defects
  • Commercial general liability (including bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, and advertising liability)
  • Product liability
  • Chemical exposures, including asbestos, benzene, and silica
  • Aviation accidents
  • Environmental
  • Employment practices
  • Sexual misconduct
  • Health and disability
  • Professional liability
  • Fiduciary liability
  • Private equity fund liability
  • Commercial crime
  • Special events

Services

Services

We represent public and private companies, private equity funds, captive insurance programs, and individual policyholders in evaluating and maximizing insurance coverage and in handling insurance disputes ranging in magnitude from thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Our approach to recovering money from insurance companies involves working closely with our clients’ chief financial officers, corporate risk managers, in-house counsel, outside defense counsel, and insurance brokers.

Client Feedback

Client Feedback

  • "The Calfee team is proactive in communication, problem-solving, idea generation, and general advisory input; any inquiry is almost always answered within a matter of hours." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2023
  • "One of the main reasons we use Calfee is because it has such great knowledge of our company." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2023
  • "The Insurance team at Calfee provides a high level of consultation on very complex matters." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2023
  • "The team provides very practical advice on a very technical subject. The firm is also incredibly responsive and approachable." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2023
  • "They are my go-to firm, reasonably priced, effective at what they do, and they add a lot of value at a lower cost." – Client quote,  Chambers USA 2022
  • "They manage situations so they can be handled cost-effectively, not over-billing; they're great at communicating in terms of status and good about making strong, practical recommendations." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2022
  • "They're very quick to respond and extremely knowledgeable." – Client quote, Chambers USA 2022
  • "Calfee, Halter & Griswold's Litigation team did a great job helping us get through a difficult case." – Client quote, U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
  • "Calfee, Halter & Griswold has a respected practice representing policyholders. They are pragmatic in their approach and are results-oriented. They try to resolve disputes when they can, but they can also get more aggressive when necessary." – Client quote, U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report

News & Events

News

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"Calfee's Insurance team is creative in devising solutions to coverage problems that don't begin with antagonistic litigation. The Calfee lawyers have been outstanding, professional, and articulate in resisting the denial of coverage."

Client quote, Chambers USA

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