Michael Barnes is a coverage advisor and trial lawyer in Dentons' Litigation and Dispute Resolution department, working in the San Francisco office. As a member of the firm's Core Coverage and Claims Practice, Michael counsels insurers on claims-handling and coverage issues, defends bad faith suits, and litigates contribution actions among insurers.

Michael has advised clients on thousands of claims in more than thirty states under policies of general liability, homeowners, commercial and personal automobile, environmental impairment liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, disability, health and accident, fidelity, long-term care and marine insurance. In addition to advising clients in California and the West, he has acted as national coverage counsel for firm clients, coordinating coverage positions and drafting briefs on significant issues involving their business philosophies. Michael also handles commercial litigation, including the defense of class actions and agency disputes, against insurers and other firm clients.

Michael has first-chaired jury and bench trials in both state and federal court, and was trial counsel in Blair v. Allstate, featured in the Daily Journal's Top Defense Verdicts of 2003. In 2008 and 2009, Michael obtained consecutive federal court defense verdicts in three cases, including Schaber v. Allstate and Cecena v. Allstate. He has also been involved in more than fifty appeals and writ proceedings as appellate counsel, co-counsel or amicus counsel, including seminal decisions such as Collin v. American Empire, Delgado v. Auto Club and Swain v. California Casualty. As coverage counsel in trial court proceedings, Michael's work has led to numerous published decisions on issues of first impression, such as Allstate v. LaPore, American Empire v. Bay Area Cab, Samson v. Allstate, Lindsey v. Admiral, Great American v. Ace Oil, Moncada v. Allstate and Fireman's Fund v. National Bank of Cooperatives.

Michael also advises firm corporate clients on risk management issues ranging from insurance coverage questions to indemnity agreements, using his litigation expertise to provide real-world insight into corporate protection strategies. Similarly, Michael regularly advises our insurance clients on policy drafting and revisions, again using his courtroom experiences to complement the clients' knowledge of marketing factors and competitive trends.

Michael is a frequent speaker and writer on insurance coverage and litigation topics, including monthly contributions to the Insurance Litigation Reporter, where he sits on the editorial board. He recently co-authored chapters on liability insurance for the New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition and New Appleman Insurance Law Practice Guide, and presented the insurer's perspective at the 2009 and 2010 Insurance Year In Review events sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco.