Stephen has a range of litigation and trial experience in state and federal courts. He has defended companies in high-stakes commercial disputes, class action litigation, products liability actions and business tort cases.
He has extensive experience litigating insurance coverage cases in courts around the country, and counseling clients on matters involving all types of commercial insurance products and claims, including directors and officers insurance, employment practices liability insurance, financial institution bonds, professional liability errors and omissions insurance, and first-party property damage and business interruption coverage. He has represented securities brokerage firms and other clients in litigation over non-compete and non-solicitation agreements and to protect our clients’ trade secrets or other proprietary information. He has also represented various banks in actions to enforce commercial loans, promissory notes and collateral agreements.
Experience
- Representation of a power generation company in a lawsuit before the North Carolina Business Court filed by Lloyd’s of London syndicates, seeking a judgment that the insurers had no coverage obligation for tens of millions of dollars in losses caused by damage to two turbine engines installed in a power plant.
- Represented a major bank in its lawsuit against an insurer that issued a financial institution bond to the bank, seeking recovery under the bond’s employee fidelity coverage for losses related to 70 loans that the bank made to borrowers who purchased lots in a real estate development that turned out to be a fraudulent scheme perpetrated by the developers and the closing attorney representing the bank.
- Representation of a D&O insurer in coverage litigation against a healthcare company in combined state and federal court D&O coverage actions in Alabama arising out of a massive securities fraud scandal in which numerous directors and officers pled guilty.
- Representation of a D&O insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith action filed in Georgia federal court by an officer of the insured company seeking reimbursement for defense costs incurred to defend a lawsuit related to the sale of technology licenses.
- Represented commercial property management companies in personal injury and wrongful death actions seeking premises liability damages arising from criminal acts that occurred on the property.
- Represented national insurance brokerage firm in a breach of contract and indemnification lawsuit filed in District Court in Dallas County, Texas.
- University of Virginia School of LawJD1992
- St. John’s CollegeBA1986
Member, North Carolina Bar Association
Member, North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys
Volunteer, Lawyer Program Committee, Mecklenburg County Bar
Volunteer, Legal Services of the Southern Piedmont
Volunteer, Legal Aid of North Carolina
- Author, "Key Issues in Evaluating and Negotiating D&O Insurance Coverage," Notes Bearing Interest, June 2014
- Co-author, "Counsel’s Role in Evaluation and Negotiating D&O Insurance Coverage," Hospitals & Health Systems Rx, May 2014
- Author, "Directors and Officers Insurance Update," FOCUS, 3Q2013
- Author, Supply Chain Disruptions – Check Your Commercial Property Insurance Policies, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 17, 2011
- Author, Failure to Issue Reservation of Rights Letter Results in Waiver of Insurer’s Ability to Contest Coverage, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, May 14, 2010
- Author, Failure to Provide Notice of Loss to Excess Insurers Bites Celotex, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, August 5, 2008
- Author, North Carolina Appellate Court Bars Comp Recovery When Employee Lied About Prior Injuries at the Time of Hire, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, March 27, 2008
- North Carolina
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Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Banking & Finance, Woodward/White, Inc., 2010-2025
Named “Lawyer of the Year,” Charlotte, Litigation – Banking and Finance, Best Lawyers, 2023
Selected for inclusion into the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2018, 2019