Curtis, Richard A.

Mr. Plitt is the chairperson for the firm’s insurance coverage practice group.  He is a preeminent and nationally recognized insurance coverage attorney.  As the current senior author of Couch on Insurance 3d, Mr. Plitt’s commentary on existing and emerging areas of insurance law is relied upon by courts and attorneys throughout the United States.  He has also authored Arizona Liability Insurance Law and is a co-author of The Claim Adjuster’s Automobile Liability Handbook, CAT Claims: Insurance Coverage for National and Man-Made Disasters, and Practical Tools for Handling Insurance Cases.  He is a contributing editor of the Arizona Tort Law Handbook. 

Mr. Plitt has been recognized as one of the top 50 attorneys in Arizona by his peers and Southwest Super Lawyers®.  Best Lawyers® has recognized Mr. Plitt as the Insurance Lawyer of the Year in 2012, for Phoenix.  He is currently an adjunct professor of law at the University of Arizona and is a former adjunct professor law at Arizona State University.  His field of teaching is insurance law.

Unlike most coverage attorneys, Mr. Plitt has tried 26 cases to jury verdict in state and federal courts.  Most coverage attorneys are “litigators” who will have little trial experience.  Although Mr. Plitt manages a large insurance coverage litigation practice, his trial experience makes him an exceptional analyst who is called upon to monitor complex high-exposure cases and to independently advise insurance companies regarding case exposures.  He has analyzed coverage issues in 40 states and has provided expert consultation on insurance coverage and/or liability exposures in 26 states. 

Mr. Plitt is an expert insurance consultant and witness regarding insurance company claim handling practices, bad faith, insurance agent malpractice and attorney malpractice where the asserted claim of malpractice is directly or indirectly related to insurance coverage and insurance company practice and procedure. 

Mr. Plitt is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association where he is available to arbitrate complex insurance cases.  Mr. Plitt also mediates insurance coverage cases, bad faith cases, and agent malpractice cases.  He is a Judge Pro Tempore for the Maricopa County Superior Court where he is assigned to the Civil and Civil/ADR Departments.