Patrick Winters focuses his practice on complex insurance coverage litigation. He represents insurance companies in a range of coverage matters, including complex insurance coverage litigation and consulting with clients regarding underwriting, claims handling, emerging coverage issues and coverage opinions.
- Represented insurers in bad faith trials in federal court involving allegations of bad faith failure to settle
- Defended insurer in multi-million dollar coverage case involving underlying environmental coverage litigation relating to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and solvent contamination
- Represented major insurer in litigation involving insurance coverage for historical environmental contamination, including alleged contamination due to PFAS
- Prevailed on summary judgment in federal court in West Virginia on claims including breach of contract and bad faith
- Prevailed on claim for bad faith-claim handling against insurer in federal court in Indiana
- Served as coverage counsel for insurer with respect to hundreds of claims alleging exposure to defective drywall
- Defended insurer in coverage litigation and settlement negotiations involving hundreds of underlying asbestos cases
- Defended insurer in coverage litigation involving a claim of defective manufacturing where the plaintiff sought over $30 million in damages
- Second chaired a coverage trial in which a verdict of no cause of action was obtained on client’s behalf where the plaintiff was seeking three million dollars in damages
- Co-Author, The Evolution of the Additional Insured Endorsement and its Impact on Coverage for Construction Claims, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, American Bar Association, republished by American Law Firm Association (ALFA International) Construction Practice Group, 2016
- Co-presenter, Fair Claims Practice — Ohio, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, December 2023
- Co-presenter, Fair Claims Practice — Michigan, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, December 2023
- Presenter, Bad Faith — Michigan, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, October 2023
- Panelist, DRI Insurance Coverage Practice Symposium, 2022
- Presenter, When Good Faith Allegedly Breaks Bad: An Examination of Bad Faith Failure to Settle, DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium, November 2018
- Presenter, Establishing Prejudice as a Coverage Defense, Property Liability Resource Bureau Claims Conference, March 2017
- Chair, Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium, DRI, December 2016
Admissions
- Michigan
- Ohio
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio
- U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
Memberships
- State Bar of Michigan
- Ohio Bar Association
- American Bar Association, Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section
- The Voice of the Defense Bar
- Construction Law Committee
- Insurance Law Committee
- Steering Committee
- Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium, Chair, 2016
Community Involvement
- Michigan State University College of Law Alumni Association, President, 2010–2011
- Michigan State University College of Law Alumni Association, Board Member, 2004–2011
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, Michigan State University College of Law, 2003
- Michigan State Law Review, Editor-in-Chief
- Dean’s List
- Merit Based Scholarship
- Trial Practice Institute, Graduate
- Jurisprudence Award, Contracts II
- Student Bar Association, Secretary
- Res Ipsa Loquitur, Managing Editor
- Phi Alpha Delta, Clerk
- B.A., with high honors, Political Science, Michigan State University, 1999
- Study Abroad, University of London, England, 1999
- Student Judiciary Board, Chairperson
Honors
• Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Insurance Law, 2023-2026
• Super Lawyers® Rising Stars distinction in Insurance Coverage, 2013-2017