Overview
Sara Brundage is an insurance coverage and litigation attorney who handles complex commercial disputes involving domestic and international commercial insurance companies, captives and risk-retention groups, self-insured entities, and other corporate entities on coverage, claim loss, cyber liability, and risk analysis. She has extensive experience handling insurance coverage and reinsurance matters for clients, including disputes arising out of professional and general liability, advertising, construction, data security and privacy, directors and officers, employment, environmental, errors and omissions, and products liability.
- Represents policyholders and insureds in insurance and reinsurance reimbursement disputes that involve third-party liability claims
- Counsels clients on interpreting and constructing insurance policy language, risk management issues and coverage disputes
- Advises clients on complex insurance claims, reinsurance issues, bad faith exposures, and general business matters
- Provides policy language with manuscripted policies for captives, self- insurers and risk retention groups
- Conducts policy form reviews and comparisons
- Assists clients in legal and coverage issues arising in the operation of a self-insured loss control and claims management program, including the preparation of coverage analyses (i.e. reservation of rights and denial letters)
- Advises clients in a wide range of issues, such as defense rights of policyholders involved in pending litigation and complex commercial litigation matters
- Frequently speaks at industry seminars and for clients on insurance risk, coverage and related issues
Services
Practice Areas
Experience
Representative Matters
- Successfully resolved a variety of batch claims involving captives and sexual misconduct claims with reinsurance funds totally more than $1 billion in the aggregate;
- Represented captive in 4 week arbitration in Bermuda and London involving complex reinsurance disputes arising from pre-suit settlement of numerous medical malpractice claims due to experimental procedures on hundreds of patients;
- Negotiated favorable settlement with a reinsurer involving a coverage dispute over application of the criminal acts exclusion;
- Represented insured in successful negotiations to secure coverage with cyber carrier arising out of the release of confidential business records of thousands of clients stored electronically on company’s server;
- Counseled prominent healthcare system in securing contribution from various reinsurers following the settlement of multiple medical malpractice lawsuits involving instrument sterilization claims;
- Obtained a favorable dismissal of a $30 million claim for withdrawal fees against former subscribers of a reciprocal insurer.
Prior Experience
- Pretzel & Stouffer, Chartered, Associate, 2006-2011
Credentials
Education
- cum laude, Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition, Top 10 Oralist; First Place Brief, North Central Region; Third Place Brief, World Competition; Recipient of Scribes Brief Writing Award (2005)
- Spanish Literature
- Organizational Studies
Admissions
- Illinois
- Michigan
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- 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 Tenth Circuit
Recognition
Awards
- Listed in Chambers USA, 2024
- Recognized in Band 1, the top tier, in Insurance in Michigan
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Women in the Law Class of 2019
- Michigan Super Lawyers, Recognized as a Rising Star, 2013-2016
Professional & Community Involvement
State Bar of Michigan
- Insurance and Indemnity Law Section, 2012-present
- Litigation Section, 2012-present
Illinois State Bar Association, 2006-present
American Bar Association, 2006-present
Ingham County Bar Association, 2012-present
Kalamazoo Bar Association 2012-present
Chicago Bar Association, 2006-present
Chicago Bar Foundation Young Professionals Board, 2009-2012
Huntington’s Disease Society of America
- Drive to Cure HD Committee, 2013
PRO BONO
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, volunteer attorney working with Spanish-speaking victims of domestic violence to prepare and submit applications for citizenship pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Open Roads Bike Program, volunteer attorney