Recent News:
210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 24 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
Chad represents insurance carriers in complex coverage disputes and bad-faith claims. He has experience handling claims involving directors’ and officers’ liability, professional liability, general liability, and first-party property coverages.
Chad graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where he graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. He was elected to membership in the Order of the Coif and earned the Dean’s Certificate of Achievement in Torts and Federal Income Tax. While in law school, Chad served as executive editor of the University of Miami Business Law Review. He also received the George Paterson Endowed Scholarship and the Priscilla Jewett Schneller Scholarship. Prior to attending law school, Chad graduated from The College of New Jersey with a degree in business administration.
Chad is active with the Florida bar, currently serving on the editorial board of the Florida Bar Journal.
News
August 22, 2022
210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 24 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
July 11, 2022
Super Lawyers has named 10 Cozen O’Connor attorneys to its 2022 Florida Super Lawyers list.
August 19, 2021
Best Lawyers selected 210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 23 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
February 07, 2020
Chad Pasternack was recently a presenter at the University of Miami School of Law. He spoke during the course titled, "Representing a Professional Sports Franchise."
Publications
July 12, 2022
Michael W. Melendez and Chad A. Pasternack wrote the article “Top Bad Faith Cases of 2021” for Westlaw Today.
June 01, 2022
For the third time since 2019, the Florida Legislature has enacted broad property insurance reforms with the goal of stabilizing the insurance market and curbing litigation filed by unscrupulous contractors. The bill, S.B. 2D, creates a reinsurance program, amends certain prohibited advertisement...
February 14, 2022
A Florida appellate court recently interpreted a “Concealment or Fraud” provision that voids coverage where an insured makes “material false statements” as requiring intentional deception, extending the split amongst the Florida appellate courts. In Vargas v. SafePointe Ins. Co., No. 3D19-1656,...
June 14, 2021
Two years after implementing
meaningful assignment of benefits reform, Florida enacted broader property insurance
claim reform. On June 11, 2021, Governor DeSantis sign S.B. 76,
which takes effect on July 1, 2021. S.B. 76 focuses on reducing insurance claim
litigation by, amongst other things,...
April 19, 2021
In two recent cases, the courts
showed substantial deference to patients’ treating physicians in determining
the reasonableness of medical treatment. This deference appears to reflect a
reluctance of courts to decide what healthcare is appropriate for a patient.
In Peterson v. Western National...
April 12, 2021
The key issue in insurance bad
faith litigation is whether the claims professional reasonably handled the
claim. Throughout the claims-handling process, the claims professional should
constantly ask him-or-herself whether the investigation is sufficient to
support a coverage determination and...
January 22, 2021
In first-party breach of
insurance contract actions, the parties oftentimes dispute whether the
policyholder may seek damages that are not explicitly provided for in the
policy, with the policyholder arguing such indirect damages flow from the alleged breach of
contract. By doing so, policyholders...
September 24, 2020
As a general rule, an insurer’s duty to defend arises under Florida law when the allegations of the complaint against the insured “fairly and potentially bring the suit within policy coverage.” Jones v. Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, Inc., 908 So. 2d 435, 442-43 (Fla. 2005). This general rule is often...
March 24, 2020
In the wake of the Coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, countless businesses have reduced or closed operations—some
permanently. Flights have been canceled, hotels and restaurants have closed,
and employees have been told to stay home. Naturally, businesses will seek to
offset their financial losses...
November 21, 2019
In Part I of this series, we explored the differences between institutional and non-institutional bad faith. For claims of institutional bad faith, plaintiffs often attempt to demonstrate a pattern and practice by offering evidence of claims of other policyholders. Unlike claims of institutional bad...
November 20, 2019
In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the pleadings—by narrowing the plaintiff’s claim, you limit the scope of relevance in...
November 19, 2019
In Part I of this series, we discussed institutional bad faith and best practices for insurers to minimize the risk of these costly and intrusive lawsuits. In Part II, we will focus on cutting discovery off at the pleadings—by narrowing the plaintiff’s claim, you limit the scope of relevance in...
November 14, 2019
Broadly speaking, there are two types of bad faith claims that may be alleged against an insurance company—traditional or non-institutional bad faith, and institutional bad faith. For the former, a policyholder would seek to hold an insurer liable for its acts or omissions that directly and...
November 14, 2019
Broadly speaking, there are two types of bad faith claims that may be alleged against an insurance company—traditional or non-institutional bad faith, and institutional bad faith. For the former, a policyholder would seek to hold an insurer liable for its acts or omissions that directly and...
June 19, 2019
John David Dickenson and Chad A. Pasternack discuss the Florida Legislatures new law that protects policyholders and levels the playing field for insurers that play by the rules.
June 13, 2019
Law enforcement in Miami-Dade County, Florida recently arrested nine individuals described by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis as the “ringleaders of an elaborate fraud scheme” led by Barbara Maria Diaz de Villegas,[1] owner of the public adjusting company The Rubicon Group.[2] The...
April 26, 2019
This week, after 7 years of failed efforts, the Florida Legislature passed a meaningful Assignment of Benefits (“AOB”) reform bill. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced yesterday that he would sign the legislation designed to cut back on abusive AOBs, a practice that has plagued the...
April 23, 2019
The Eleventh Circuit, in J.P.F.D. Investment Corp. v. United Specialty Insurance Co., recently affirmed a district court’s denial of statutory attorneys’ fees to a policyholder that, to resolve a disagreement over the amount of loss, filed suit against its insurer instead of participating in...
Events & Seminars
Past Events
October 27, 2021
- Webinar