Robyn L. Anderson

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Robyn Anderson handles a broad range of insurance recovery claims under property and casualty policies, but has particular experience with claims involving product recalls or food contamination, additional insured coverage disputes, business interruption and environmental and toxic tort liability. She also has extensive experience with insurance claims involving Lloyd’s and various solvent and insolvent London Market Companies. Her policyholder work often translates to significant insurance recoveries for her clients, without requiring protracted coverage litigation. Outside of claim recoveries, Robyn helps clients be proactive by reviewing their insurance portfolios and guiding them through the negotiation of coverage terms that will be best suited for their needs. An author of the hornbook chapter on Environmental Insurance for New Appleman on Insurance Law, Robyn is recognized as a leading insurance lawyer by numerous organizations including Benchmark Litigation and Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers.

Outside of her property and casualty insurance work, Robyn also has experience with ERISA, employee benefits and life, health and disability claim litigation. She regularly defends employers, ERISA plans, insurers and service providers in a wide range of employee benefit litigation throughout the nation, obtaining numerous favorable rulings for her clients.

Donating her time and experience to those in need, Robyn also serves as a volunteer attorney for the Legal Aid of Western Missouri.

Recent court decisions include:

Insurance Recovery

Philadelphia Indemn. Ins. Co. v. Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Inc., 6:15-CV-03030, 2016 WL 837951 (W.D. Mo. Mar. 3, 2016) (rejecting insurer’s late-notice argument and granting motion for partial summary judgment to policyholder on question of duty to defend under directors & officers’ liability policy)

ERISA

Rathman v. Union Security Ins. Co., 339 F. Supp. 3d 877 (D. Minn. 2018) (affirming claim administrator’s reasonable interpretation of the term “motor vehicle” in policy exclusion to include a snowmobile);
Cassidy v. Union Sec. Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 363354 (D. Min. Mar. 6, 2018) (finding an effective grant of discretionary authority in ERISA plan language, thus triggering deferential standard of review)
Gregory Johnson v. G&K Servs., Case No. 15-cv-3789, 2017 WL 6021292 (D. Minn. Dec. 5, 2017) (affirming, under de novoreview, the administrator's determination that plaintiff failed to prove disability by a preponderance of the evidence)

Court Memberships

Kansas
Missouri
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Honors

Selected among Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers, 2016-2017
Selected among The Best Lawyers in America®, 2015-2020
Selected by Ingram’s Magazine, 2014 Class of “40 Under 40”
Named among the Best Lawyers in America®
Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” (2012-2015), “Litigation Stars” (2013-2016) and “Leading Insurance Attorney”
Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers “Rising Stars”

Professional Affiliations

The Missouri Bar
Kansas Bar Association
Defense Research Institute (Life, Health & Disability Committee)

Publications

“ERISA Disability Claim Regulations Get a Facelift,” The Voice (DRI), Vol. 16 No. 4, February 2017
“Business Interrupted – What’s an Insured To Do?” First Chair Magazine, June 2013
“A Food Recall Strikes – Are You Ready?,” Food Safety Magazine, November 2011
“Environmental Insurance,” New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition, 2010
“Issues as to the Number of Occurrences Under Comprehensive General Liability Policies,” New Appleman on Insurance: Current Critical Issues in Insurance Law, Spring 2010
“Environmental Insurance,” Appleman on Insurance Law and Practice, 2nd ed., 2008
“Certificates of Insurance” and “Additional Insured” Coverage: Maximize Value and Avoid Pitfalls. The John Liner Review: The Quarterly Review of Advanced Risk Management Strategies, Vol. 22, No. 22. Summer 2008

Presentations

Emerging Legal Issues, Agricultural Roundtable, September 2013
Additional Insured Status Issues, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, June 2013
How to Get the Most Out of Your Liability Coverage After the Claim Comes In, MOPrima (August 2013), Risk Insurance Management Society - Ozarks Chapter, May 2013 (May 2013) and Association of Corporate Counsel – MidAmerica Chapter (April 2013)
Insurance Recovery in the Wake of Superstorm Sandy, National Law Journal Crisis Litigation Forum, May 2013
Insurance Litigation Trends, State of Litigation conference, Kansas City, 2010-2011
Insurance Hot Topics: Practical Advice for Corporate Counsel, 2009
Additional Insurance Coverage & Certificates of Insurance, Risk Insurance Management Society, Overland Park, Kansas, 2008
Tips on Handling Insolvent Claims, Risk Insurance Management Society, Springfield, Missouri, 2006