HOME> ATTORNEY BIOGRAPHIES> JAMES P. STEELE
Practice Areas:
Insurance Coverage
Complex Litigation
Professional Liability
General Liability
Non-Profit and Charitable Organizations Practice
Religious Institutions Practice
Appellate Practice
Bar and Court Admissions:
Maryland, 1992
District of Columbia, 1995
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1995
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, 1997
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2007
Education:
University of Delaware
Degree: Bachelor of Arts (History)
Date: 1987
The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Degree: Juris Doctor
Date: 1992
Professional and Civic Organizations:
D.C. Defense Lawyers’ Association (President 2010-11 Term)
The Barristers
D.C. Bar, Member, Torts Section
D.C. Bar, Member, Litigation Section
Defense Research Institute, Membership Subcommittee of the Insurance Law Committee.
Carmody Open Golf Tournament, Executive Committee
Greg Gannon Canned Food Drive, Executive Committee
Personal Statement:
Jim Steele is a Member of the firm. His practice includes insurance coverage, complex litigation, professional liability, general liability litigation, non-profit and charitable organizations practice and religious institutions practice. Jim has litigated matters on behalf of insurance carriers, private corporations, entertainment venues, non-profit and charitable organizations and religious institutions in federal and state trial and appellate courts in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Jim counsels insurance companies in coverage disputes and litigates coverage cases. Jim’s coverage cases have involved construction mishaps, professional liability claims, uninsured/underinsured motorist policy provisions, subrogation claims, third party additional insured disputes, lead paint exclusions, “other insurance,” provisions and more. Jim has arbitrated coverage disputes involving defense costs claimed by purported additional insureds and whether uninsured motorist benefits were available in a death case under Maryland’s “reduction” system of uninsured motorist coverage.
Jim also litigates cases involving attorney, accountant and insurance broker malpractice claims, wrongful death/survival actions, serious personal injury and property damage cases, subrogation disputes and more. In these cases, Jim has represented a wide variety of clients, including lawyers, title companies, appraisers, property developers, apartment complex owners, property managers, religious institutions, non-profit and charitable organizations, pharmacies, restaurants and national retail companies.
Jim is the President of the D.C. Defense Lawyers’ Association, where he has spent the past few years organizing CLE presentations at the DCDLA’s winter ethics lecture and annual convention. Jim also serves on the Membership Subcommittee of the Defense Research Institute’s Insurance Law Committee. He has received an AV (highest) rating from Martindale Hubbell Law Directory.
Jim has written several articles on topics including insurance coverage, general liability, motor vehicle accidents and uninsured/underinsured motorist policies. Jim has authored or co-authored articles for such publications as Insurance.Law 360, DRI’s electronic newsletter, The Voice and the BNA Health Care Law Reporter, as well as Carr Maloney’s E-Newsletter, Legally Speaking. These articles include “Managing Multiple Coverage Claims (Parts I and II),” “Injuries in a Health Care Practitioner's Office: Where is the Insurance Coverage?,” “Two Recent Decisions Highlight Different Approaches to Whether Disgorged Profits are Covered as Damages,” “Maryland’s First Party Bad Faith Statute,” “Fair Debt Collections Practices Act: Debts, Debt Collectors, and the Mini-Miranda Provision,” and “Grumpy Neighbor Cases in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.” Jim has presented these and other topics to clients and at the D.C. Defense Lawyers’ Association Annual Convention.
