Coverage Disputes
Our Coverage Disputes Defense practice area is dedicated to representing insurance companies in disputes over policy coverage. With a team of experienced attorneys, we provide comprehensive legal defense to ensure that insurance providers’ interests are protected and policy terms are enforced accurately.
Policy Interpretation and Enforcement:
Coverage Denials: Defending insurance companies against claims of wrongful coverage denials, ensuring that denials are based on clear policy terms and conditions.
Policy Exclusions: Advocating for the enforcement of policy exclusions and limitations, preventing unjust claims and maintaining the integrity of coverage terms.
Ambiguity Resolution: Addressing disputes over ambiguous policy language, ensuring that interpretations align with the original intent and legal standards.
Claim Evaluation and Disputes:
Underpayment Allegations: Defending against claims of underpayment, demonstrating that payouts are consistent with policy provisions and valuations.
Claim Delays: Addressing allegations of unreasonable delays in claim processing, highlighting procedural and investigative justifications.
Fraudulent Claims: Investigating and defending against fraudulent claims, protecting insurance companies from unwarranted financial exposure.
Regulatory Compliance and Good Faith Practices:
Regulatory Defense: Ensuring that insurance companies comply with state and federal regulations, defending against allegations of regulatory violations.
Good Faith and Fair Dealing: Demonstrating that insurance companies act in good faith and fair dealing in their claim handling and coverage determinations.
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Coverage Disputes Team
Patience Brown is an Associate at Lydecker, a full-service AV Preeminent law firm, in the New Jersey office. Her practice involves all aspects of federal and state trial litigation with a primary focus on complex insurance disputes. Ms. Brown also handles personal injury, premises liability, and employment litigation. As a trauma informed advocate, Ms. Brown is also adept at resolving Title IX violations involving discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment.
Ms. Brown earned her J.D. from Villanova Charles Widger School of Law. During her time in law school, she focused her work experience mostly on insurance law matters. Ms. Brown was a leader in the Villanova Law community. She served as the Diversity and Inclusion Chair, Secretary of the Black Law Students Association, and a Student Ambassador. She interned at Venerable Annuity Insurance Co., CDM Law, Wawa Inc., and Shemtob Draganosky Taylor, P.C. Ms. Brown has extensive courtroom experience in various areas of law.
Before law school, she served the Honorable Neil N. Jasey, the Honorable Sherry Hutchins-Henderson, and numerous judges in the juvenile and civil division. Before joining Lydecker, Ms. Brown served as the judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert Bingham II, J.S.C. As a result of her efforts, Ms. Brown received the Arthur J. Kania Award, the Lawyers as Leaders Award, and has been recognized by both the Black Women Lawyers Association and the Garden State Bar Association, for her commitment to the field of law.
Associate
Mr. Conto is a Partner at the firm’s Boca Raton Office. Mr. Conto began his career in law representing corporations in legal matters concerning maritime law. Mr. Conto then joined a well-known litigation defense firm with offices throughout Florida. There he focused his practice on defending corporations in construction defect matters, premises liability matters and negligent security matters involving claims of wrongful death. He also represented insurance companies in high exposure first-party property disputes.
At Lydecker Mr. Conto is concentrating his practice on defending developers, general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, environmental consultants, product manufacturers and insurance carriers in a variety of contexts arising from the construction and use of real property. Mr. Conto has successfully represented clients in all phases of litigation including trials, summary judgment proceedings and mediations.
Partner
Jacob Diamond is an Associate in the firm’s Jersey City office. Prior to joining Lydecker, Mr. Diamond served as a Law Clerk in the Superior Court of Essex County, New Jersey, where he clerked for several judges in matters relating to General Equity, Civil, and Family Law. Mr. Diamond’s practice area involves all aspects of Civil Litigation.
Associate
Jacqueline Figueroa is a partner in our Miami office. Since 2010, Ms. Figueroa has focused her practice on insurance coverage matters, counseling and representing clients as to insurance coverage determinations and when necessary litigation. Ms. Figueroa has represented national and local insurance carriers in state courts. She assists clients in the investigation of claims involving primarily property claims, provides coverage opinions, and litigates coverage disputes.
Before joining the firm, Ms. Figueroa represented insurance carriers involving first party homeowners insurance claims. Prior to working in Florida, Ms. Figueroa practiced at a New York City firm specializing in litigating personal injury protection matters on behalf of insurance carriers. She has experience assisting carriers in coverage matters including pre-suit fraud investigations, conducting examinations under oath, and providing coverage evaluations of complex insurance claims. She has litigated and defended cases brought against insurers in courts throughout the State of Florida and New York. Prior to entering the legal field, Ms. Figueroa worked as an investment banker in the venture capital division of a highly recognized international financial firm.
Ms. Figueroa served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Florida State University Business Review and as an Article and Notes editor on the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. She was also presented with a Book Award in legal research and writing during law school. Ms. Figueroa was appointed as a legal clerk with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division. She is also fluent in Mandarin and conversational Japanese.
Partner
Andrea M. Franklin is a 2009 graduate of Florida International University, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a minor in political science. Andrea received her Juris Doctor from Florida International University College of Law in 2013. She has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida since 2014 and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida since 2020.
Andrea has practiced law as an insurance defense attorney for ten years—specializing in first-party property litigation for over eight years. Prior to entering the field of insurance litigation, Andrea interned as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Chief Judge Nushin Sayfie in Miami-Dade County. She worked as a legal intern representing indigent minors in family court and immigration proceedings. She was the research assistant to Professor HT Smith, the Director and Founder of the Trial Advocacy Program at FIU’s College of Law.
Andrea was also a member and editor for FIU Law Review. She was a staff member of a U.S. senatorial campaign in 2010. She was a speaker at the 2010 Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference where she presented her theory and method of teaching writing organization to second-language college students. She was first published during her second year of law school in a two-part series on the intricacies of discovery in complex international litigation. She was subsequently published in FIU’s Law Review for her extensive research on the legality of red-light-camera programs.
In 2017, Andrea founded a non-profit organization focusing on recreational therapy for United States servicemen and women. Overseas Fishing, Inc. was a 501(c)(3) organization fighting fishing lines, not enemy lines as a way to thank our troops for their service and to allow them the opportunity to assimilate back into civilian society after coming back from combat. She organized fishing tournaments, acquired donors and sponsors, managed the organization’s corporate structure and directed community outreach through marketing and event planning.
Of Counsel
Brett Goldman is an Partner in the firm’s New York and New Jersey offices. His practice focuses on employment law including discrimination and retaliation cases before state and federal courts and agencies, professional liability matters, and insurance coverage, as well as general liability cases and commercial disputes. Brett has represented health care, treatment and long term care facilities and professionals in cases involving employment claims , professional liability, personal injury, and other matters.
Prior to joining Lydecker, Brett spent two years at a large insurer in Jersey City, New Jersey handling employment practices liability claims, including discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters. While a claims representative, Brett provided litigation and claims management services, made coverage decisions, and oversaw settlement discussions and mediations. Insured clients, found nationwide, ranged from large education networks to healthcare institutions, as well as car dealerships and supermarket chains. Additionally, Brett spent time as a management consultant for the advisory services division of a Big 4 accounting firm, for which he provided consulting services to clients in the financial services industry. His projects included mortgage remediation for a large U.S. bank and project management for a notable financial services corporation’s anti-money laundering efforts. Brett also gained valuable experience as a volunteer attorney for the New York State Unified Court System’s Access to Justice program, assisting pro se litigants in New York and Kings County Housing Courts.
Partner
Mr. Johnson specializes in the representation of professionals, corporations and insurers in a broad range of business and tort matters, including employment claims, environmental claims and other complex actions. Mr. Johnson also has experience litigating government municipal matters throughout the state of Florida, as well as representing journalists and media companies in intellectual property and defamation litigation. Mr. Johnson’s practice also includes the defense of attorneys, accountants and real estate professionals in professional liability matters and non-profit corporations as well as their directors and officers in a range of matters.
Before joining Lydecker, Mr. Johnson began his career as an associate in the Miami office of a business litigation boutique headquartered in New York, where he represented banking and corporate interests in multiple international business and commercial disputes. Mr. Johnson is also an experienced and accomplished appellate attorney, having multiple published Federal and Florida opinions, as well as oral arguments and appellate mediations across multiple appellate courts.
In addition to his professional commitments, Mr. Johnson recognizes his responsibility to serve the community. He is a member of the 100 Black Men of South Florida, one of the leading youth mentoring organizations in the country, as well as the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board. He is also a director of BAC Funding Corp. a non-profit state funded lender for disadvantaged business. He is also Secretary of the Coppin State University Development Foundation which raises money for scholarships to his alma mater, Coppin State University. He also Serves as Vice Chair of the Miami-Dade School District Audit and Budget Committee. He has also served as a member of the Executive Board of the Miami-Dade Chapter of NAACP and the Polemarch (President) of the Richmond-Perrine (FL) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Partner
Mr. Masson is an experienced civil litigator with a history of success in handling a broad array of complex and high exposure civil matters for individuals, insurers, and other business entities. Mr. Masson prides himself on being an out of the box thinker that is dedicated to meeting his client’s specific needs, providing them with superb legal representation, and obtaining very favorable results.
Of Counsel
Ms. Negrette is an associate at the Boca Raton office. Ms. Negrette’s practice includes construction defect litigation focused on defending developers, general contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals. Ms. Negrette joined the firm in May 2023. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Negrette focused her practice in the areas of insurance coverage, first-party property defense, general liability, and complex commercial litigation.
While in law school, Ms. Negrette competed in four moot court competitions, including the National Puerto Rican Bar Moot Court Competition, where her team was awarded Best Brief at Nationals. Ms. Negrette graduated magna cum laude and received Book Awards in Contracts, Evidence, and Appellate Practice Workshop. During law school, Ms. Negrette also completed a judicial internship with the Honorable Tim Bailey of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
Associate
Mr. Quetglas is an associate in the firm’s Miami office. Mr. Quetglas’ practice involves defending organizations and individuals involved in personal injury actions, premises liability matters, negligent security claims, professional liability claims, and construction defect matters throughout the State of Florida.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Quetglas was an associate at a boutique defense litigation firm based in Downtown Miami, Florida, where he represented insurers in complex insurance coverage litigation, claims handling, general liability claims, first-party property coverage, and bad faith litigation.
During law school, Mr. Quetglas worked as a Law Clerk at a national firm in Downtown Washington, D.C. specializing in the litigation of complex personal injury, medical malpractice, negligent security and civil rights matters.
Associate
Natalie Rodriguez is a South Florida native and a member of the Florida Bar. She grew up in the world of Insurance litigation as her family owns and operates several companies that cover Adjusting, Appraisal, and Umpire Services. She brings a deep understanding of the claims process as a licensed Independent Adjuster in the State of Florida. Natalie has also worked in the Plaintiffs side of insurance litigation and has a comprehensive understanding of both sides.
Natalie graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities. At Florida State, she was heavily involved in community outreach and fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Natalie furthered her education at Ave Maria School of Law here in Naples, Florida. She graduated with multiple honors including the Deans Professionalism Award and was recognized for her extensive Pro Bono work. She was honored with the St. Catherine of Alexandria Award for oral advocacy. Natalie also obtained a Certification in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business School.
Natalie was also a legislative intern for the Florida Senate where she was instrumental in fighting for the rights of Veterans and Firefighters. She was a part of the trial prep team for the influential William Most Civil Rights Firm in Louisiana who is known worldwide as a champion of Civil Rights. She also worked as a translator and drafted multiple legal documents for non profit groups in support of Womens rights in South America. Natalie is bilingual and lives in Miami with her fiancé and two adopted kittens.
Associate
Kristina Sargent served as an enlisted soldier in the United States Army and Army Guard for over 15 years. Kristina graduated from the University of Baltimore and was a prosecutor in Baltimore City prior to moving to Florida in 2021. After spending 8 years practicing criminal law, Kristina shifted her focus to civil litigation. Kristina has extensive trial experience leading dozens of jury trials and high-profile cases.
Of Counsel
Hunter Trubatch is a senior associate in the firm’s Miami Office. Mr. Trubatch’s practice focuses on the defense of different liability claims including serios bodily injury, premises liability, product liability, and general tort liability. Mr. Trubatch has a strong background in defending insurance carriers and employers against various types of lawsuits. Mr. Trubatch understands that every claim has its own nuisances and serious injuries carry a high risk of increased exposure. Mr. Trubatch believes that every case should be treated as such with the best possible outcome for his client at the forefront of his litigation strategy.
Prior to joining the firm in 2024, Mr. Trubatch worked as a workers’ compensation defense litigator for over five years defending insured employers, insurance carriers and uninsured employers against an array of claims from minor injuries to catastrophic ones involving amputations or paralysis.
Mr. Trubatch obtained his Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University in Boston Massachusetts. While in law school, Mr. Trubatch was a student attorney in his schools Indigenous People’s Rights Clinic advising unrecognized tribes how to incorporate to gain a more concrete governing structure.
Senior Associate
J.W. Webb is a Litigation Partner in the firm’s Orlando office, where he maintains an active trial and civil litigation practice in Federal and State Courts throughout Florida.
Mr. Webb has considerable experience dealing with automobile negligence, arson, medical malpractice, premise liability and product liability cases resulting in catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. Mr. Webb has also handled cases dealing with bad faith, commercial transaction disputes, construction defects, declaratory actions, land disputes and property damage. He has successfully tried cases in Brevard, Broward, Marion, Orange, Palm Beach, Seminole, and Volusia Counties.
Mr. Webb began his legal career with Hightower and Rudd, P.A. a Miami based insurance defense firm. Shortly after joining the firm, Mr. Webb became the managing attorney of its West Palm Beach office.
After two years in practice, Mr. Webb was invited to join Kubicki Draper, P.A. a State-wide insurance defense firm, where he became a shareholder and was chosen by the firm’s managing partner to start its Orlando Office, which he ran for six years before opening his own law firm.
Mr. Webb has given lectures throughout the country on many subjects during his career. He lectures to insurance carriers on issues ranging from hospital liens and personal injury protection to complicated medial claims and high exposure cases.
Mr. Webb is licensed to practice law in all Florida State Courts and the . He has also served as a Guardian ad Litem for children in the Central Florida area.
Mr. Webb graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas in 1989 with a B.A. in business and a concentration in economics. Before going to law school Mr. Webb worked in the business world for a number of years managing companies in Texas, California, Illinois, and Florida.
Mr. Webb returned to his home state of Michigan to obtain his Juris Doctorate – Cum Laude, from Michigan State University. While attending law school, Mr. Webb served as Managing Editor of Business and Production for the Michigan State Law Review, as an intern for United States Federal District Judge Gerald E. Rose, and as a law clerk for the Department of Justice: United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan. During his tenure with the Department of Justice, under the internship section of the program, Mr. Webb functioned as lead counsel for the prosecution and trial of numerous misdemeanor cases.
Partner
