Congratulations to Kelly Hedberg who recently passed the Nevada Bar examination and is now admitted to practice in both Arizona and Nevada. Kelly joins Gena Sluga, Steve Dichter and Doug Christian as members of our firm admitted in Nevada and available to assist our clients with legal matters in Las Vegas and Reno through our Nevada affiliate: Christian, Kravitz, Dichter & Johnson, PLLC. Kelly will be sworn in to the District Court of Nevada on June 27th, 2011.
Harper, Christian, Dichter & Sluga shareholder Doug Christian has been selected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Established in 1952, the American Bar Foundation is now recognized as the premier institute for social science research on law in the country. The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation is an honorary organization of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars who have been elected by their peers to become members. The Fellows recognize lawyers whose professional, public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. Membership in the Fellows is limited to one-third of 1% of lawyers in America.
HCDS attorney Alison R. Christian spoke at the ABA Section of Litigation Insurance Coverage CLE Seminar at the La Paloma Resort in Tucson, Arizona on March 5, 2011. Ms. Christian’s panel was entitled “The Devil Is In The Details: A Practical Overview of Notice, Tender, and Reservation-of-Rights Letters.” Ms. Christian and her co-presenters – Doressia L. Hutton from Winston & Strawn, Katherine E. Mast from Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, and Andrew W. Miller from Thacker Martinsek – provided attendants with an overview of the majority rules regarding the fundamentals of sufficient notice and tender, as well as the distinct obligations that primary and excess carriers face in responding to a claim. A copy of the panel’s written article submission and presentation materials are available for review. Ms. Christian practices with the HCDS bad-faith litigation and insurance coverage practice groups, as well as the white-collar criminal defense group. Ms. Christian has been with HCDS since 2007, when she graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Arizona.
Gena Sluga, of Harper Christian Dichter and Sluga, will be speaking at the upcoming seminar hosted by the National Business Institute: “Real-Life Resolution Strategies of Bad Faith Claims”.
GENA L. SLUGA is a partner in the insurance bad faith, insurance coverage and professional liability practice groups at Harper, Christian, Dichter & Sluga, P.C. She is admitted and actively practices in both Arizona and Nevada. Ms. Sluga earned her B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Arizona State University and her J.D. degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. She has spoken at several seminars regarding insurance coverage and bad faith and has co-authored published articles on the subject.
Click here to register for the seminar “Real-Life Resolution Strategies of Bad Faith Claims”.
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Harper Christian Dichter & Sluga welcomes Jonathan Dessaules, Douglas Wigley and Erica Shoaf. Jon, Doug and Erica join the firm as “Of Counsel” attorneys and valuable resources available to our clients. Jon is a 1997 graduate of Penn State, Dickinson School of Law, after which he clerked 2 years for The Honorable Earl Carroll, Federal District Judge for the District of Arizona. He is a Judge Pro Tem of the Maricopa County Superior Court and his practice emphasizes civil litigation. Doug Wigley is a 1999 Cum Laude accounting graduate of Arizona State University and a 2009 Graduate of the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. Before attending law school, Doug worked as a business turnaround and restructuring consultant. Erica Shoaf earned her Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona and recently graduated from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law. Erica is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
The HCDS named partners were recently elected to membership in Arizona’s Finest Lawyers; a peer-reviewed, invitation only group of Arizona lawyers, judges and law professors. Revitalized by Maricopa County Bar Association Hall of Fame lawyer and critically acclaimed author Gary Stuart, Arizona’s Finest Lawyers recognizes exceptional legal talents and meaningful contributions to Arizona’s legal community. Through its charitable foundation, AFL also provides its members an opportunity to give back to our state when and where the need arises. HCDS is honored by the recognition and proud to be a part of this effort.
Harper Christian Dichter & Sluga was selected by U.S. News & World Report, in collaboration with The Best Lawyers in America, as one of only 6 law firms to receive a 2010 Best Law Firm, Tier One designation in Insurance Law in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. HCDS is one of only eight firms to receive that designation in White Collar Criminal Defense. We were selected as a Metropolitan Tier One firm in 3 practice areas: Insurance Law, White-Collar Criminal Defense and Personal Injury Defense. U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in American evaluated input from lawyers, clients and law firms managers to compile U.S. News & World Report’s inaugural ranking of law firms. We are honored to be recognized alongside the excellent firms receiving this prestigious designation.
HCDS partners Doug Christian and Steve Dichter were selected for inclusion in the 25th edition of the prestigious publication Best Lawyers in America ® published by Woodward/White Inc.
For the fourth year in a row, Doug Christian appears in the Insurance Law and Personal Injury Law categories and Steve Dichter appears in the White-Collar Criminal Defense category.
Based solely on peer voting, The Best Lawyers in America is recognized as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States and featured in such publications as the New York Magazine, Washington Post, Phoenix Magazine and Los Angeles Times.
The Best Lawyers selections are compiled during an exhaustive, confidential survey of thousands of the top lawyers in the U.S.
HCDS partners Steve Dichter and Doug Christian have held the honor of being selected for listing in Southwest Super Lawyers since its inception in 2007. Printed by the publisher of Law & Politics, Southwest Super Lawyers’ selections are based upon a survey of 18,000 active lawyers in Arizona and New Mexico. Law & Politics’ research department examined and evaluated the background and experience of nominees and chose the listed attorneys based on firm size and highest point totals in each category.
Only 5 percent of the lawyers in Arizona are listed in Southwest Super Lawyers.
Founding members of the firm, Mr. Dichter’s practice emphasizes white collar criminal defense and commercial litigation and Mr. Christian’s practice includes insurance law and personal injury defense.
In Biltmore Assocs., LLC v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co., 572 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 2009), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claims against a series of D&O insurers, including HCDS client, arising out of a $175 Million Damron agreement. The case involved interpretation of the “insured v. insured” exclusion in a D&O policy in a case in which a chapter 11 debtor in possession filed the claim on behalf of the insured.
