Kelly J. C. Gallinger is a shareholder with the Brown Law Firm, P.C. Her practice principally involves insurance coverage litigation, first-party and third-party insurance bad faith litigation. She also handles environmental, personal injury, products liability, construction, and property damage litigation, in addition to assisting several first-party carriers at the claims investigation and litigation stages. Ms. Gallinger provides legal opinions on a broad-range of property and liability insurance issues, including: UM/UIM, all risk, asbestos, bad faith, builders risk, business interruption, and extended coverages. Ms. Gallinger has experience in complex, multi-party litigation and has litigated cases in state and federal courts in Montana and state courts in North Dakota and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This includes complex first-party and third¬ party insurance coverage disputes; including disputes well in excess of $10,000,000. Ms. Gallinger's involvement includes experience in all phases of litigation, including several matters which she has tried to a jury verdict. Ms. Gallinger is licensed to practice law in the states of Montana and North Dakota. She is a member of the Yellowstone Area Bar Association, Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association and Defense Research Institute.
Ms. Gallinger has experience in the handling of property damage losses and the cross-discipline problems that arise from these claims. For example, Ms. Gallinger obtained summary judgment on behalf of the insurance guaranty association establishing there can be no bad faith or violation of the Montana Unfair Trade Practices Act by the insurance guaranty association. This ruling was subsequently affirmed by the Montana Supreme Court. She also recently obtained summary judgment rulings on behalf of liability insurers regarding the application of the absolute pollution exclusion and the business exclusions in commercial liability and homeowners policies. In addition, Ms. Gallinger successfully represents insureds in defense of claims covered under comprehensive general liability policies and has successfully defended insureds against personal injury claims involving catastrophic injury and death.
Ms. Gallinger currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Practice and was appointed as a Commissioner in 2016. In 2018, Ms. Gallinger was selected to be a Fellow in the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (ACCEC). Ms. Gallinger was also selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer for the years 2018-2019 in the area of insurance coverage in the Mountain States Super Lawyers publication. Ms. Gallinger was a Mountain State Super Lawyer “rising star” from 2011 to 2014, and was featured in an article in the 2011 Super Lawyer publication. She is a frequent speaker and lecturer on legal topics covering a wide range of subjects and has made several presentations in the last 16 years at continuing legal educational conferences. She has also been a guest speaker at the University of Montana School of Law and Montana State University, Billings.
