Mr. Parker's primary areas of practice are litigation, insurance coverage and insurance bad faith law, and consumer finance law.
Representative Experience
· Former Assistant General Counsel, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Washington, D.C., 1993 - 1998
· Former Deputy City Attorney for the City of Inglewood, California, Criminal Division, 1989 - 1992
· Extensive first-chair trial experience, primarily representing defendants in insurance and bad faith litigation, general tort litigation and the prosecution in criminal cases
· Extensive experience representing insurance companies in insurance coverage and bad faith disputes in West Virginia
· Significant appellate experience, successfully representing defendants before appellate courts in West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on a wide range of insurance and tort law issues
· Demonstrated success in handling a high volume of medium-exposure tort cases for a large self-insured entity (WMATA)
· Obtained a reversal on appeal of a trial court's decision to force a workers' compensation insurance carrier to provide deliberate intent insurance coverage to an employer that had never purchased such coverage
· Obtained a reversal on appeal of a trial court's decision to force an insurance company to provide liability insurance to the State of West Virginia for an injury sustained by a child on State property
· Obtained a defense verdict for a major hand-held power equipment manufacturer accused of fraud, breach of contract and various statutory violations in connection with the cancellation of a distributorship agreement
· Obtained a defense verdict in a lawsuit by a plaintiff alleging Multiple Chemical Sensitivity ("MCS") as a result of a toxic exposure aboard a WMATA bus
· Obtained a directed verdict for the defense, upheld on appeal, in a lawsuit by a plaintiff alleging serious neurological and psychological damage as a result of an accident aboard a WMATA train
· Obtained a reversal on appeal of a jury verdict in favor of a mentally disabled plaintiff alleging serious physical injuries as a result of being struck by a car while exiting a WMATA bus
Affiliations
· American Bar Association
· Defense Research Institute
· Former Member, Board of Governors, Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia
· Former Chair, Insurance Law Committee, Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia
Publications
· Co-Author, "Court Decision Important to Future of Insurance Industry in W.Va.," December 2011
· "Taking Effective Depositions," Lorman Educational Services, January 1999 and January 2000
Reported Cases
· West Virginia Employers' Mutual Insurance Company v. Summit Point Raceway Associates, Inc., 719 S.E. 2d 830, ____ W. Va. ____ (2011)
· National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh v. Miller, ____ S.E. 2d ____, ____ W. Va. ____, 2012 WL 602894 (2012)
· WMATA v. Reading, 109 Md. App. 89, 674 A. 2d 44 (1996)
· Chapman v. Kamara, 118 Md. App. 418, 702 A. 2d 977 (1997)
Awards and Distinctions
· Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law
· Recognized as a West Virginia Super Lawyer, Insurance Coverage and Civil Litigation Defense