Tamara S. Wolfson

Partner

Overview

Insurers and insureds from many different industries turn to Tamara for her experience with emerging insurance issues and exposures, complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation.

Her areas of focus include:

  • Professional liability,
  • Directors and officers (D&O) insurance,
  • Employment practices (EPL), and
  • Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage.

Tamara’s work for insurers includes advising on coverage, claims handling and “bad faith” issues in jurisdictions across the country. She has successfully represented insurers in many declaratory judgment and bad faith/extra-contractual liability suits. Tamara also counsels insurers and insureds on emerging insurance issues and exposures, such as privacy and cyber risks. She drafts and negotiates policy forms and endorsements.

Tamara’s experience advising with a broad range of coverage issues and her depth of familiarity with insurance companies is a powerful tool that helps her clients anticipate and avoid potential hurdles. This practical, end-user viewpoint often helps avoid litigation, but when that is not possible, Tamara has a strong track record in both defending and prosecuting insurance coverage matters. Tamara is an elected fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel and an elected fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has been recognized by Chambers and Best Lawyers.

PRACTICE AREAS

Practice Areas

Credentials

Education

  • Boston College Law School, J.D. 1984 summa cum laude
    Order of the Coif
    Editor, Boston College Law Review
  • Union College, B.A. 1981 magna cum laude
    Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America©, Insurance Law, 2009-2027
  • The Best Lawyers in America©, Litigation - Insurance 2027
  • Chambers USA, Massachusetts Insurance Law, 2020-2022
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2016-2026
  • Elected Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel
  • Elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
  • Selected as a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law Awardee

Affiliations

  • American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel, Elected Fellow
  • Volunteer Lawyers Project, Board of Directors, 1989-2016
  • PAIR (Political Asylum and Immigration Representation) Project, former Director
  • Boston Bar Association, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, former Director

 

Experience

  • Successfully litigated one of the first environmental contamination and “sick building” syndrome cases in Massachusetts, securing coverage for a public utility for contamination at several sites and for Urea-formaldehyde foamed-in-place insulation (UFFI) claims.
  • Secured coverage for a multi-million dollar civil rights judgment against a municipality after its insurers disclaimed coverage.
  • Defeated two class-action suits challenging a leading health insurer’s revisions to its prescription drug plans.
  • Successfully defended insurers in numerous bad faith suits alleging bad faith claims handling and wrongful failure to settle underlying suits that resulted in multi-million dollar excess judgments.
  • Obtained summary judgment rejecting a claim that the insurer owed prejudgment interest in addition to the policy limits, and successfully defended that ruling on appeal.
  • Successfully defended an insurer in a suit challenging a policy’s claims-made notice and timing requirements.
  • Successfully defended insurers in suits seeking coverage for sexual misconduct.
  • Obtained coverage for a punitive damages award after the insurer disclaimed coverage.
  • Worked with insurers to re-design and rewrite their portfolios of insurance products.

Insurers and insureds from many different industries turn to Tamara for her experience with emerging insurance issues and exposures, complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation.

Her areas of focus include:

  • Professional liability,
  • Directors and officers (D&O) insurance,
  • Employment practices (EPL), and
  • Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage.

Tamara’s work for insurers includes advising on coverage, claims handling and “bad faith” issues in jurisdictions across the country. She has successfully represented insurers in many declaratory judgment and bad faith/extra-contractual liability suits. Tamara also counsels insurers and insureds on emerging insurance issues and exposures, such as privacy and cyber risks. She drafts and negotiates policy forms and endorsements.

Tamara’s experience advising with a broad range of coverage issues and her depth of familiarity with insurance companies is a powerful tool that helps her clients anticipate and avoid potential hurdles. This practical, end-user viewpoint often helps avoid litigation, but when that is not possible, Tamara has a strong track record in both defending and prosecuting insurance coverage matters. Tamara is an elected fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel and an elected fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has been recognized by Chambers and Best Lawyers.

Education

  • Boston College Law School, J.D. 1984 summa cum laude
    Order of the Coif
    Editor, Boston College Law Review
  • Union College, B.A. 1981 magna cum laude
    Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

  • The Best Lawyers in America©, Insurance Law, 2009-2027
  • The Best Lawyers in America©, Litigation - Insurance 2027
  • Chambers USA, Massachusetts Insurance Law, 2020-2022
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers, 2016-2026
  • Elected Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel
  • Elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
  • Selected as a Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law Awardee

  • American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel, Elected Fellow
  • Volunteer Lawyers Project, Board of Directors, 1989-2016
  • PAIR (Political Asylum and Immigration Representation) Project, former Director
  • Boston Bar Association, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, former Director

 

  • Successfully litigated one of the first environmental contamination and “sick building” syndrome cases in Massachusetts, securing coverage for a public utility for contamination at several sites and for Urea-formaldehyde foamed-in-place insulation (UFFI) claims.
  • Secured coverage for a multi-million dollar civil rights judgment against a municipality after its insurers disclaimed coverage.
  • Defeated two class-action suits challenging a leading health insurer’s revisions to its prescription drug plans.
  • Successfully defended insurers in numerous bad faith suits alleging bad faith claims handling and wrongful failure to settle underlying suits that resulted in multi-million dollar excess judgments.
  • Obtained summary judgment rejecting a claim that the insurer owed prejudgment interest in addition to the policy limits, and successfully defended that ruling on appeal.
  • Successfully defended an insurer in a suit challenging a policy’s claims-made notice and timing requirements.
  • Successfully defended insurers in suits seeking coverage for sexual misconduct.
  • Obtained coverage for a punitive damages award after the insurer disclaimed coverage.
  • Worked with insurers to re-design and rewrite their portfolios of insurance products.