Michael Barnes

Michael Barnes is a Partner and a coverage advisor and trial lawyer in Dentons' Litigation and Dispute Resolution department, working in the San Francisco office. His primary practice area is Insurance Law. As a member of the firm's Core Coverage and Claims Practice, he counsels insurers on claims-handling and coverage issues, defends bad faith suits, and litigates contribution actions among insurers.

He has advised clients on thousands of claims in more than thirty states under policies of general liability, homeowners, commercial and personal automobile, environmental impairment liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, disability, health and accident, fidelity, long-term care and marine insurance. In addition to advising clients in California and the West, he has acted as national coverage counsel for firm clients, coordinating coverage positions and drafting briefs on significant issues. He also handles commercial litigation, including the defence of class actions and agency disputes.

He has first-chaired jury and bench trials in both state and federal court and was trial counsel in Blair v. Allstate, featured in the Daily Journal's Top Defense Verdicts of 2003. In 2008 and 2009, he obtained consecutive federal court defence verdicts in three cases, including Schaber v. Allstate and Cecena v. Allstate. He has also been involved in more than fifty appeals and writ proceedings as appellate counsel, co-counsel or amicus counsel, including seminal decisions such as Collin v. American Empire, Delgado v. Auto Club and Swain v. California Casualty.

As coverage counsel in trial court proceedings, his work has led to numerous published decisions on issues of first impression, such as Allstate v. LaPore, American Empire v. Bay Area Cab, Samson v. Allstate, Lindsey v. Admiral, Great American v. Ace Oil, Moncada v. Allstate and Fireman's Fund v. National Bank of Cooperatives. He also advises corporate clients on risk management issues ranging from insurance coverage questions to indemnity agreements, and regularly advises insurance clients on policy drafting and revisions.

He is a frequent speaker and writer on insurance coverage and litigation topics, including monthly contributions to the Insurance Litigation Reporter, where he sits on the editorial board. He co-authored chapters on liability insurance for the New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition and New Appleman Insurance Law Practice Guide.

His recognition includes being named to the Hall of Fame for Healthcare: Health Insurers in The Legal 500 (2021–2023) and selected as a Northern California SuperLawyer (2006–2013). He holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School (1985) and an AB, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Duke University (1982).