Joseph A. Bailey III

Joe Bailey represents insurers in their most sophisticated matters arising under directors and officers and financial institution professional liability insurance policies as well as reps and warranties insurance policies. Joe has litigated coverage issues in state and federal courts throughout the country, at both the trial and appellate level, and has defended insurers in coverage arbitrations.

Joe has also acted as monitoring or coverage counsel in connection with a wide variety of proceedings against public and private company insureds, including securities litigation, derivative actions, criminal, administrative and regulatory investigations, bankruptcy adversary proceedings, antitrust litigation, and employment litigation.

• Prevailed on motion to dismiss and on appeal in coverage action involving application of WARN/FLSA exclusion to non-recourse settlement of action brought against bankrupt insureds’ directors and officers. See Adelman v. U.S. Specialty Ins. Co., No. 21-cv-02758-JST, 2021 WL 6427920 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 17, 2021), aff’d, No. 22-15048, 2022 WL 17883601 (9th Cir. Dec. 23, 2022).
• Prevailed on cross-dispositive motions in coverage arbitration involving claim under reps and warranties insurance policy.
• Represented insurer in a coverage and bad faith action involving whether a goods and products exclusion barred D&O insurance coverage for a government investigation of an insured organization that markets and sells opioid products, prevailing on cross-summary judgment motions. See Sentynl Therapeutics, Inc. v. U.S. Specialty Ins. Co., No. 19cv1667-LAB-AHG, 2021 WL 1087104 (S.D. Cal. March 19, 2021).
• Obtained judgment on the pleadings and an affirmance on appeal in a coverage and bad faith action involving whether an Insured v. Insured exclusion and an FLSA exclusion barred coverage for a wage and hour action, and whether the actual or potential for coverage standard applied to a defense costs advancement provision. See U.S. TelePacific Corp. v. U.S. Specialty Ins. Co., No. CV 18-5083-DMG (AGRx), 2019 WL 2590171 (C.D. Cal. 2019), aff’d, 815 F. App’x 155 (9th Cir. 2020).
• Prevailed on summary judgment and appeal in a coverage and bad faith action involving whether a prior acts exclusion barred coverage for the non-recourse settlement of a suit against a failed bank’s officers. See Zucker v. U.S. Specialty Ins. Co., No. 1:14-cv-20893-UU, 2015 WL 11216710 (S.D. Fla. 2015), aff’d, 856 F.3d 1343 (11th Cir. 2017).
• Represented excess insurer in a coverage dispute involving a request for professional liability insurance coverage for a False Claims Act settlement, prevailing on summary judgment and appeal. See First Horizon Nat’l Corp. v. Houston Cas. Co., No. 15-cv-2235-SHL-DKV, 2017 WL 2954716 (W.D. Tenn. June 23, 2017), aff’d, 742 F. App’x 905 (6th Cir. 2018).
• Won ruling from federal district court in Pennsylvania, later affirmed in relevant part by the Third Circuit, that a bank’s settlement of overdraft fee litigation was not covered “Loss.” See PNC Fin. Servs, Grp., Inc. v. Houston Cas. Co., No. 13-331, 2014 WL 2862611 (W.D. Pa. June 24, 2014).
• Obtained summary judgment ruling from California federal district court, holding that an Insured v. Insured exclusion barred coverage for the settlement of a wage and hour claim. See Tritech Software Sys. v. U.S. Specialty Ins. Co., No. CV10-00094-R, 2010 WL 5174371 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2010).
• Represented insurers in variety of litigation, arbitration, and pre-litigation coverage disputes and counseling matters involving D&O, E&O, private equity, financial institution, and R&W insurance policies.
• Acted as monitoring counsel for D&O insurers in wide variety of matters, including securities class actions, shareholder derivative litigation, private equity litigation arising from portfolio company failures, bankruptcy adversary proceedings, and various types of private company litigation.

• Panelist, “Emerging Trends & Exposures in International Collective Actions” PLUS D&O Symposium, New York, New York, February 2018
• “Trio of Recent Cases Affirms Broad Scope of Contract Exclusion,” PLUS Journal, November 2008

• District of Columbia
• Virginia
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

• J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
• A.B., magna cum laude, Princeton University

• Professional Liability Underwriting Society