Garrick L. Gallagher
Shareholder
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Mr. Gallagher concentrates his practice on complex civil litigation throughout Arizona, the United States, and abroad. He has been interviewed by Dateline NBC, local news networks, the Los Angeles Times, London Times, and Gentlemen’s Quarterly in connection with cases he has handled, and those matters have also been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The American Lawyer.
Full Biography
Garrick Gallagher joined the firm in 1988, and is a Shareholder, Director and Past President (2000-2006) of the firm. Mr. Gallagher earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1984, and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981.
Mr. Gallagher concentrates his practice on complex civil litigation, including insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, insurance coverage litigation, excess and surplus lines, directors and officers liability, personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, professional negligence, construction, and intellectual property litigation.
He regularly advises and represents parties in complex personal injury, insurance bad faith and primary/excess coverage matters. He is often hired to assist insurers with Arizona Damron and Morris Agreements involving stipulated judgments entered after denials of coverage or threatened to be entered when reservations of rights have been issued. Mr. Gallagher is frequently retained in high exposure cases and coverage disputes to manage risk and resolve difficult cases. His clients respect his ability to resolve matters efficiently.
He has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest AV®, Preeminent™ rating, AVVO Rated 10 Superb, has been selected as one of Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, was selected to Best Lawyers in America for 2013-2022, including 2021 Phoenix Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation – Defense and 2019 Phoenix Lawyer of the Year – Litigation-Insurance, was recognized in the 2010-2020 editions of Southwest Super Lawyers, was named by Super Lawyers as one of Arizona’s Top 50 Lawyers from 2012-2020, was recognized as one of Arizona’s Top 100 Lawyers by the Arizona Business magazine, and has also been selected to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100.
Mr. Gallagher has substantial and innovative alternate dispute resolution experience as a neutral. He regularly serves as a mediator, arbitrator and settlement conference judge. Mr. Gallagher also serves as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Maricopa County Superior Court.
He is admitted to the State Bar of Arizona, the United States District Court, Districts of Arizona, Colorado and West Texas, the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
He is a member of the State Bar of Arizona (member Board of Governors; President, Young Lawyers Division, 1991-1992); Maricopa County Bar Association; The Federal Bar Association; The Defense Research Institute; and the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel.
Education
University of Arizona College of Law, Tucson, Arizona
J.D. – 1984
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
B.A. – 1981
Major: Economics
Bar Admissions
- Arizona
- U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
- U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court, District of Western Texas
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Joined Firm
1988
Professional Associations
- State Bar of Arizona, Member
- State Bar of Arizona, Member, Board of Governors, 1991 – 1992
- State Bar of Arizona, Young Lawyers Division, President, 1991 – 1992
- Maricopa County Bar Association, Member
- Federal Bar Association, Member
- The Defense Research Institute, Member
- Arizona Association of Defense Counsel, Member
- Arizona Insurance Institute
- Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
Significant Representations
Mr. Gallagher is regularly retained as monitoring counsel for insurers in high exposure matters, including mass tort and property damage claims around the country. He represented the insurers as monitoring counsel in the West, Texas litigation arising out of a fertilizer plant explosion resulting in claims for over $500,000,000 in damages. He is also monitoring counsel for various insurers in connection with the claims arising from the tragic 2017 shootings in Las Vegas.
Mr. Gallagher regularly represents parties in complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation matters. In Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Gallagher recovered a $5,950,000 verdict on behalf of U.S. Fire Ins. Co. in a bad faith failure to settle action against the primary insurance carrier. Mr. Gallagher represented the Insurer in insurance coverage litigation arising out of 16 class action suits seeking damages related to organic milk allegedly produced in violation of organic standards. He also represented the Insurer in insurance coverage litigation arising out of claims for $500 million in damages from alleged infringed copyrights or trademarks and appropriation of intellectual property.
In the Larry L. Hillblom probate case in Saipan, one of the largest and most litigious probate cases in the world, Mr. Gallagher successfully represented one of the heir claimants in securing the client’s share of the $600,000,000 estate.
Mr. Gallagher has evaluated liability, damages and coverage issues involving directors and officers claims involving allegations of mismanagement of assets and breaches of fiduciary duties, including claims arising out of the billion dollar collapse of Mortgages, Ltd.
In addition to regularly defending clients against multi-million dollar claims, he has recovered more than $100 million on behalf of clients in various jurisdictions.
Presentation Speeches
“Active Assailant Claims — Lessons From the Las Vegas Mass Shooting Litigation; and What Employers Need to Know About Workplace Violence and OSHA Enforcement,” co-presented with Michael Rubin of Goldberg Segalla, Lockton Law Day, February 13, 2020, Denver, CO
“Liens & Mediation: Help the Mediator Help You,” Arizona Association for Justice, Trial Lawyers’ Annual Liens Seminar, February 7, 2020, Phoenix, AZ
“Active Assailant Claims and Lessons From the Las Vegas Mass Shooting,” Claims & Litigation Management-Arizona Chapter, December 2, 2019, Phoenix, AZ
“Lessons Learned from Las Vegas, El Paso, Dayton, and Other Deadly Weapon Events,” co-presented with Harry Rhulen of CrisisRisk Strategies, LLC and Joe Gilliland of Beazley Group, Webinar, November 20, 2019
“Active Assailant Preparation & Prevention,” co-presented with Harry Rhulen of CrisisRisk Strategies, LLC and Joe Gilliland of Beazley Group, Resort Hotel Association 2019 Annual Conference, August 21, 2019, Pebble Beach, CA
“Active Shooters, Insurance Coverage, and Risk Prevention in Facing an Active Shooter Incident,” CLM – 2019 Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality Conference, Feb 6-8, 2019, Dallas, TX
“The Affordable Care Act: A Better Way to Argue an Alternative Damage Award?”, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance Annual Conference, March 30, 2017, Nashville, TN
Representative Clients
- Great American Insurance Group
- Chubb
- Swiss Re
- Sorenson Capital
- Trek Bicycle Corporation
- Overhead Door Corporation
- City of Phoenix
- State of Arizona
- Maricopa County Community College District
Awards
- P 602.532.5720
- F 602.230.5053
- Phoenix, Arizona
- garrick.gallagher@sandersparks.com
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