Linda Foreman

Practice Areas

Insurance coverage for policyholders.—I specialize in solving insurance coverage problems for commercial clients. My experience includes Property and General Liability, Errors & Omissions, Employment Practices and Cyberliability. Our firm’s extensive practice in the Construction and Real Estate/Development industries results in expertise in Builders Risk and wrap-up liability policies such as OCIP & CCIP.

“Your reputation is that you are better at getting insurance companies to pay money than anyone.” This comment came from the owner of a general contracting company who worked with and against me on tens of claims over twenty years. The successes come by thorough analysis of the law and, especially, investigation of the facts, then developing a strategy to gain leverage with the insurer in the claims process or litigation. We have succeeded obtaining coverage under policies requiring the contractor to have written indemnity agreements with subcontractors, where there is no written subcontract for the Project. Experience in the industry led us to ask about other projects because general contractors frequently use the same subcontractors. We used these contracts, coupled with the documentation of the work on the litigated Project, to satisfy the written contract requirements. Representing a defunct general contractor in a construction defect case brought by the Owner, I negotiated with claims representatives in advance of mediation, resulting in the insurers paying the entire settlement and my client receiving $60,000 from the subcontractor’s insurer. Counsel for the insurer said “Linda, you are the only person in town who does this.” He did not mean it as a compliment, but I took it as one.

“But you don’t take on the insurance companies.” That is the rest of the comment referred to above. The comment is accurate insofar as meaning my practice is not concentrated in bad faith litigation and suits against the insurers for coverage and violation of Washington statutes such as the Insurance Fair Conduct Act. Years of trial experience taught me about litigation risk. My clients, not me, bear that risk. Litigation is one of my favorite tools, but it is not always the wisest course for the client. In 1993, I created expanded coverage for “Collapse” under the standard form commercial property policies by winning motions in federal court. The insurer refused to settle, despite the loss, vowing to appeal, because the judge’s ruling had the practical effect of changing coverage under millions of policies. Ultimately, the court forced a settlement (another litigation risk), but the lesson is “winning” can be “losing” with an insurance company, where a client’s million-dollar claim offers no leverage because the insurer will appeal, as it cannot afford to lose. Another lesson came from the litigation of a commercial property claim where my client called in December, asking to settle by year end. He authorized me to accept $300,000. I told him the case was worth far more. The insurer offered $150,000. In May, our motion for summary judgment succeeded and we settled for $1.5 million. My client was pleased but said he would have been just as pleased if we had reached an agreement in December because he needed the money to pursue an opportunity. The lesson is always understanding the client’s situation and not substitute aggressive litigation for achieving the client’s business goals and objectives.

Career

Linda L. Foreman has been a partner at Foreman Sturm & Thede LLP since its founding in 2017. She gained valuable experience learning how insurers manage claims as a partner in an insurance defense firm. During her fourteen-year tenure at Foster Pepper & Shefelman (now Foster Garvey) she, along with Thomas Ahearne, created a policyholders insurance practice. Her experience litigating and trying cases in state and federal court has been invaluable. Over the years she has presented at many CLEs, including for the ABA, and has published an article for an ABA magazine.

Clients

Our insurance practice on clients having problems—casualty losses or lawsuits. We have repeat clients, but feel identifying projects is a better way to present our experience.

The Rise on Madison, Nexus Condominiums, Colman Bldg. UPS Facility at Boeing Field. Regata Condominiums, The Merc Apartments, Seattle/Eastside) ,East Clearwell Water Filtration Plant (Everett), Komachin School (Thurston) The Washington Building (Tacoma), Suntop Farms (Kitsap Co.), Pacific Rim Aquarium (Tacoma) and multiple Seattle downtown buildings and apartments after the Nisqually Earthquake.

Education