Photo of attorney John K. Wittwer

John
K.
Wittwer

  • Senior Member

Biography

Mr. Wittwer works for the firm as a member. In his practice, Mr. Wittwer primarily concentrates on the analysis and litigation of complicated cases involving insurance coverage, bad faith claims handling and punitive damages, professional liability, and cybersecurity. With regard to both personal lines and commercial lines, Mr. Wittwer has handled a wide range of complex insurance matters, including cyber insurance, general liability, automobile, property, life, disability, homeowners, workers' compensation, professional liability, directors and officers, surplus lines, and excess/umbrella coverages.

From 2013 to 2017, Mr. Wittwer was selected for inclusion in the Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Stars list. He is a member of the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel's board of directors. Mr. Wittwer is the 2017-2018 Chair of the Arizona State Bar's Technology Advisory Group, where he instructs and educates other attorneys on best practices for e-discovery, cloud computing, cyber insurance, and data security and privacy. Mr. Wittwer held a position as a software engineer before starting law school. Mr. Wittwer is a talented musician in his leisure time, and he likes to travel with his wife and daughter.

Education

  • Arizona State University, College of Law, Tempe, Arizona
    • J.D. - 2006
    • Honors: cum laude
  • Brigham Young University
    • B.A. - 1997
    • Honors: magna cum laude
    • Major: Economics

Bar Admissions

  • Arizona, 2006

Honors

  • Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2013 – present
  • The Best Lawyers in America – Litigation – Insurance, 2022 – present
  • PHOENIX Magazine Top Lawyer in Intellectual Property Technology, 2022

Professional Associations

  • Claims & Litigation Management (CLM) Alliance, Certified Litigation Management Professional
  • Board of Directors, Arizona Association of Defense Counsel (AADC)
  • Southwest Chapter Steering Committee, Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)
  • Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Committee, Defense Research Institute (DRI)
  • Chair, Arizona State Bar Technology Advisory Group
  • U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Arizona

Representative Cases

  • Carlson v. Independent Order of the Foresters Ins. Co., 2017 WL 957283 (D. Ariz Mar. 13, 2017)
  • Krieg v. Schwartz, 2015 WL 12669893 (D. Ariz. Aug. 19, 2015)
  • Ingram v. Great American Ins. Co., 112 F. Supp. 3d 934 (D. Ariz. June 30, 2015)
  • Mt. Hawley Ins. Co., v. Slayton ex rel. County of Coconino, 1 CA-SA 12-0298, 2013 WL 708535 (Ariz. App. Feb. 26, 2013)
  • Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. v. Estate of Palomera-Ruiz, 224 Ariz. 380, 231 P.3d 384 (App. 2010), review denied (Oct. 26, 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 2874 (May 2, 2011)
  • Rause v. Paperchine, Inc., 743 F. Supp. 2d 1114 (D. Ariz. 2010)
  • Forbes v. 21st Century Ins. Co., 258 F.R.D. 335 (D. Ariz. 2009)

Examples of complex insurance matters Mr. Wittwer has recently handled are:

Languages

  • Finnish