Expert Witness

Mr. Gaddis has been in the active practice of law since 1983 and has been board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1996.  As such, he has litigated hundreds of cases, start to finish.  In the course of that practice of law, Mr. Gaddis learned what makes a credible expert witness through his own examining and cross-examining of numerous expert witnesses, particularly in insurance matters.  That litigation knowledge coupled with his 12 years experience in insurance underwriting and agency work combined makes Mr. Gaddis uniquely qualified to provide insurance expert opinions.

Ambiguity

In Texas and most other states, with limited exceptions, where there is a dispute over coverage, if a policy provision in question is ambiguous, then the Court is required to find in favor of the policy holder.  In most states, in order to be ambiguous, the policy provision in question must be subject to two or more reasonable interpretations.  A determination by the Court that a policy provision is or is not ambiguous, can have an enormous impact on the parties to a case.  In order for counsel to properly represent their client in cases where ambiguity is in issue, it is critical that all counsel be able to interpret the policy provision at issue in such a way that they can anticipate how the Court might rule on the question of ambiguity.

And, even though there are many boilerplate policy forms, it is rare that any two policies have the same word content.  That is because, even if the base policy provisions are boilerplate, there are always endorsements attached to that base policy.  While many are form endorsements, even those usually require the underwriter to fill in blanks with information that can be many sentences or paragraphs long.  And, in still other endorsements, the endorsements are manuscript endorsements that are crafted by the underwriter. 

Mr. Gaddis possesses and unusual mix of experience that gives him an ability to assess the question of ambiguity.  Over a span of time exceeding 40 years he has reviewed thousands of insurance policies to determine accuracy in content and potential areas of ambiguities.  Some of that review was pre-loss review in assessment for clients or negotiating language for an insurer or policyholder.  And other times that review was a post-loss assessment involved in claims or litigation.

Insurance Professionals Duties and Responsibilities

In addition, because of Mr. Gaddis’ unusual mix of background and experience, he has an exceptionally high level of understanding of the customs and practices of the insurance industry.  And as part of that understanding, he know the duties and responsibilities of those insurance professionals, including a knowledge of what constitutes insurance agents errors and omissions.  And, he is knowledgeable regarding what constitutes both negligent and Bad Faith conduct.  Mr. Gaddis has been engaged as an expert to give opinions on the conduct of a wide array of insurance professionals, including, but not limited to the following:

1. Retail Insurance Agents

2. Wholesale Insurance Agents

3. Managing General Agents

4. Insurance company underwriters

5. Insurer’s Claims adjusters

6. Insurer’s Claims management

7. Insurer’s Underwriting management

8. Premium finance company employees