Cooke, Adam B.

Mr. Payne is a Partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Life, Health and Disability and Insurance Fraud Practice Groups. He primarily focuses his practice in the areas of insurance defense, bad faith, extra-contractual damages, disability and coverage matters. He is an AV rated attorney by the Martindale-Hubbell rating system with extensive jury trial experience and he has successfully defended wrongful death, extra-contractual damages, product liability, asbestos, toxic tort, environmental, mass tort, commercial auto, construction, insurance coverage, disability, ERISA and general liability cases. Prior to joining White and Williams LLP, Mr. Payne managed an in-house litigation office for a major insurance carrier.  He is licensed to practice before all State and Federal Courts in Pennsylvania and Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He has also written and lectured on bad faith, extra-contractual damages, civil litigation and uninsured and underinsured motorist issues.

Mr. Payne is a member of the Executive Committee, the Chair of the firm's Diversity Committee, Co-Chair of the firm's Homeless Advocacy Practice Group, a former member of the Operations and Budget Committees and a former coordinator of the litigation associates luncheon training program.  He is a member of the Executive Counsel and Treasurer of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Program and a member of the Board of Directors of the Homeless Advocacy Project.  Mr. Payne is a member of the House of Delegates for the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Vice Chair of the Minority Bar Committee.  He is the Assistant Treasurer and member of the Board of Governors for the Philadelphia Bar Association; Co-Chair of the Insurance Committee; and, Chair of the Military Affairs Committee.  Mr. Payne is a member of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and Co-Chair its Civil Procedure Section.  He is a member of the Board of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel; Chair of the Defense Research Institute's Life, Health and Disability Sub-Committee on Diversity; and, serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Mr. Payne received his BA, cum laude, from Washington Lee University in 1985 and his JD in 1988 from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association.