View Steve Plitt’s Website View Steve Plitt’s CV

Representative Experience

Steven Plitt is one of Arizona’s premier insurance coverage lawyers. He has provided coverage advice in most states.  His practice has involved the handling of complex, high exposure insurance coverage and bad faith cases. Unlike most coverage lawyers who are only litigators, Mr. Plitt has first chair jury experience having tried to jury verdict cases in both state and federal court. As a trial lawyer, Mr. Plitt has extensive litigation experience and has managed a large litigation practice throughout his professional career. He has been inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Coverage Counsel and The American Law Institute where he served as a consulting member on the ALI’s development of the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance Law.

Mr. Plitt is listed in the Best Lawyers in America for insurance coverage (16 years).  In 2012 and 2017, he was selected as the Insurance Lawyer of the Year – Phoenix by Best Lawyers. In 2020 he was selected as the Lawyer of the Year for Insurance Litigation by Best Lawyers.   Mr. Plitt has been selected (2007-2020; 2022) as one of the top 50 lawyers in Arizona by Southwest Super Lawyers. Only a handful of lawyers have continuously made the list.  AZ Business Magazine lists Mr. Plitt within the top 100 lawyers in Arizona.  He is Band 1 ranked for Insurance Law by Chambers and Partners USA.  Chambers and Partners wrote the following regarding Mr. Plitt: “Steven Plitt “is very well known across the country” for his expertise in insurance law, sources report, adding that he is “very knowledgeable”…. in addition to his broader practice in insurance litigation interviewees further acknowledge him as an “important lawyer in insurance practice in Arizona and nationwide.””

Mr. Plitt has a national reputation as an insurance law scholar and commentator.  As an Adjunct Professor, he has taught the Insurance Law curriculum at Arizona State University College of Law and taught insurance law at the University of Arizona College of Law.  He is the emeritus senior author of the nationally recognized and authoritative insurance coverage treatise Couch on Insurance 3d.  He has also authored other national treatises on insurance law.  Regarding Arizona law, he is the author of the treatise Arizona Liability Insurance Law and the senior contributing editor to the Arizona Tort Law Handbook.  Mr. Plitt has authored more than 370+ law reviews and other professional legal publications involving insurance law issues.  His scholarly writings have been cited by the Supreme Courts in 34 states, the Intermediate Appellate Courts in 23 states, 12 of the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, 62 Federal District Courts, the Federal Court of Claims and 4 Federal Bankruptcy Courts.  His writings have been cited in more than 95 scholarly articles on insurance law issues.  These numbers are constantly out of date as more courts throughout the United States rely upon Mr. Plitt’s thought leadership on common and cutting edge insurance coverage issues.

Mr. Plitt has been an expert consultant and witness for both insurance companies and insureds.  He has reviewed and analyzed thousands of claim files in his practice career from more than a 100 different insurance companies.  He has been an expert consultant in hundreds of matters throughout the United States.  He is a nationally recognized expert in the area of insurance claim handling practices, insurance company compliance with the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as well as industry standard, custom and practice, please see www.insuranceexpertplitt.com. 

He has been a licensed insurance broker (Arizona) since 1974.  He also consults as an expert in insurance agent E&O claims. Mr. Plitt’s practice includes the handling of professional liability, wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases.

Education

• University of Connecticut (L.L.M., Insurance Law, With Honors, 2012)
• University of Arizona (J.D., With Distinction, 1982)
• Arizona State University (B.S., summa cum laude and ‘with honors’, 1978)

Awards & Recognition (See CV for full listing) 

• AZ Business Leader 2020
• Martindale- Hubbell AV Rating
• AZ Business Magazine, Top 10 Lawyers in Arizona (Employee Benefits and Insurance)
• AZ Business Magazine, Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona (all categories)
• Listed in Arizona’s Finest Lawyers
• Southwest Super Lawyers 2007* – 2018, *inaugural year
• Southwest Super Lawyers, Top 50 Lawyers in Arizona, 2007* – 2018, *inaugural year
• Best Lawyers in America, 2012* and 2017 Phoenix Insurance Lawyer of the Year, *first year awarded
• Best Lawyers in America, 2020 Lawyer of the Year for Litigation – Insurance
• The Best Lawyers in America, 2007 – Present, Insurance Law, Litigation – Insurance, and Bad Faith
• Phoenix Magazine, Phoenix’s Top Lawyers, November 2006
• State Bar Association, Outstanding Contribution to Continuing Legal Education Award Recipient, 1999
• “Who’s Who in American Law”, 5th Edition
• “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges”, 1978 – 1979
• PHOENIX Magazine Top Lawyer in Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith (2022)

Judicial Clerkships 

•  Hon. Judge Robert J. Corcoran, Arizona Court of Appeals, 1982 – 1983
• Legislative intern to the Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Insurance, House of Representatives, Arizona State Legislature, 1979

Teaching 

• University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, Insurance Law, 2010 – Present
• Arizona Summit Law School, Adjunct Professor, Insurance Law, 2014, 2015
• Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law, Insurance Law & Regulation, Liability Insurance, Advanced Coverage Research and Analysis, 2000 – 2005

Associations & Activities 

•  American Law Institute
• American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel
• Arizona Insurance Institute
• Insurance Litigation Reporter, Senior Contributing Editor and Editorial Board Member, 2006 – present
• Claims Journal, Editorial and Advisory Board member, 2012 – 2014
• Claims Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), Certified Litigation Management Professional (CLMP)