INVESTIGATING LARGE PROPERTY LOSSES FROM REPORT TO LITIGATION – NJSIA Seminar

Lee S. Befeler, Esq., a partner in the Morristown firm of Sullivan and Graber is proud to announce his involvement with the 24th Annual Fraud Awareness Seminar sponsored by the NJSIA Educational Foundation, Inc. Lee will be teaching a seminar on October 21, 2014 along with Danielle Johns from Selective Insurance SIU on the process of investigating large property losses from start to finish as seen from the perspective of both adjusters and attorneys to allow for a better appreciation of the importance of each investigative step and its effect on the outcome of litigation.

The 24th Annual Fraud Awareness Seminar is sponsored by New Jersey Special Investigators Association (NJSIA) Educational Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation who implements continuing education and research projects to improve the education and advance educational standards in the area of insurance fraud investigation and prevention in fulfillment of its mission. It will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Trump Taj Mahal beginning Monday, October 20, 2014 and continuing through October 22, 2014.

Lee Befeler is a principal in the Morristown law firm of Sullivan and Graber, which has provided successful representation to insurance carriers and their insureds for over 29 years. Mr. Befeler is a Qualified Mediator and has lectured numerous times on insurance issues at the New Jersey Special Investigators Association and the New Jersey Vehicle Theft Investigators annual seminars and have prepared seminars for insurance carriers to satisfy CLE requirements.

Sullivan and Graber has extensive experience litigating insurance claims in Federal and State Courts in New Jersey and New York. The firm’s coverage work includes assisting insurance carriers in claim investigations and the taking of examinations under oath. Sullivan and Graber also provides carriers with legal opinions on issues including, but not limited to, coverage and policy conditions such as the duty to defend, bad faith claims, subrogation and indemnification. The firm’s insurance work includes:

  • Arbitration and mediation
  • Auto Theft
  • Arson
  • Bad faith claims and litigation
  • Business and commercial coverage
  • Dram shop litigation
  • Environmental claims, coverage and pollution exclusions
  • First Party and Third Party coverage
  • General liability
  • Homeowner’s insurance
  • No Fault/PIP
  • Personal injury and wrongful death litigation
  • Product and Premises liability
  • Professional liability
  • Subrogation
  • Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage

In addition to general casualty work, Sullivan and Graber is recognized as a leader in the specialty practice of insurance fraud. The firm uses innovative techniques, advanced technology and hard work to fight fraud against insurance carriers. Sullivan and Graber pioneered the use of declaratory judgment actions to combat large fraud schemes. These actions have resulted in significant savings to the insurance industry. The firm adopted the procedural tools developed in those actions to curtail fraud in PIP, personal injury and property damage cases. Sullivan and Graber’s early use of injunctive relief to stay PIP suits and arbitrations pending the resolution of fraud and restitution actions in the Superior Court greatly reduced insurance carriers’ litigation costs as well as obtaining recoveries in the tens of millions of dollars for multiple insurance carriers.