Scott Neal Godes

Scott Neal Godes

Barnes & Thornburg LLP
  • Insurance Claims
  • District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia
Badges
Claimed Lawyer ProfileSocial Media
Biography

Scott Godes focuses on representing corporate policyholders regarding insurance coverage issues. He is an experienced litigator who has extensive experience in trying complex insurance coverage disputes, including class actions, in state, federal, bankruptcy, and appellate courts, as well as in commercial arbitrations.

Practice Area
Insurance Claims
Bad Faith Insurance, Business Insurance, Disability Insurance, Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Motor Vehicle Insurance, Property Insurance
Additional Practice Areas
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Bad Faith
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
District of Columbia
District of Columbia Bar
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Massachusetts
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Pennsylvania
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Virginia
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Professional Experience
Partner
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
- Current
Scott N. Godes is a veteran trial lawyer with experience in insurance coverage matters and technology issues. He is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Washington, D.C., office and is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, Co-Chair of the Data Security and Privacy Practice Group, member of the Insurance Recovery and Counseling Group, the Internet & Technology Law Group and the Federal Procurement Practice Group.
Counsel
Dickstein Shapiro LLP
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Mr. Godes has represented a variety of clients seeking to obtain insurance coverage from their insurance companies. He received a decisive victory as lead counsel in a landmark four-month asbestos-related insurance coverage class action trial. The decision was featured on the front page of the New York Law Journal and Business Insurance. In that case, the policyholder's insurance companies asserted that they had paid out their aggregate limits for all of the policyholder's asbestos-related claims, and therefore, owed no additional coverage. Mr. Godes obtained a verdict that ruled decisively against the insurers, finding that there was additional premises/operations ("non-products") coverage for every asbestos claim under the policies, without regard to the policies' aggregate limits. That case was the first asbestos non-products coverage case resolved favorably against the insurers after a full trial on the merits. The case also favorably resolved a number of other critical issues, including notice, number of occurrences, and the statute of limitations. Mr. Godes also has represented policyholders in declaratory judgment insurance coverage actions, insurance-related bankruptcies and adversary actions, insurer rehabilitation actions, and commercial arbitrations. He has litigated and advised clients regarding insurance coverage for directors and officers and securities claims; business interruption losses; first party property damage; crime and theft; computer data, hardware, and software claims; mass tort liabilities; product liability claims; class actions; asbestos claims; environmental property damage; flood claims; and class actions. He also has been instrumental in settling more than $800 million in insurance coverage claims on behalf of corporate policyholders.
Associate
Gilbert Heintz & Randolph LLP
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FindLaw, Inc.
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Associate, Law Clerk, Summer Associate
DLA Piper
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Education
The George Washington University Law School
J.D. | Law
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Honors: Graduated with Honors Honors, Legal Writing Honors, Introduction to Advocacy Moot Court Board member Managing Editor, Public Contract Law Journal
The George Washington University Law School Logo
Middlebury College
B.A. | Political Science, Spanish
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Honors: Graduated Cum Laude
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Awards
Co-Chair, Computer and Technology Subcommittee
American Bar Association, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee
Professional Associations
Massachusetts State Bar
Member
- Current
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Publications
Articles & Publications
Data Breaches Are Not Going Away Will Your Company Be Covered for Those Risks?
e-Commerce Law & Strategy
Discerning the Duty to Defend: When A Company is Incorrectly Named In A Lawsuit
Claims Magazine
Strategy for Creating an Effective Corporate Compliance Program
LexisNexis Matthew Bender
"Dusting Off an Old Law" - Insurance Coverage for Trespass to Chattels Claims
Risk and Insurance
Total Cessation of Business Is Not Required for BI Coverage
Advisen
Insurance Coverage for Cyberattacks
Lexis Insurance Law Center
Ensuring Contingent Business Interruption Coverage
Insurance Law360
Delaware Court Refuses to Apply Pro Rata Allocation to Directors and Officers Insurance Policy and Rejects Excess Insurers' Attempts to Deny Coverage Because There Were Settlements of Lower Layers of Coverage
Lexis Corporate & Securities Law Center
Should Outside Directors Request the Purchase of Independent Director Liability Policies?
Securities Docket
Delaware Court Refuses to Apply Pro Rata Allocation to Directors and Officers Insurance Policy and Rejects Excess Insurers' Attempts to Deny Coverage Because There Were Settlements of Lower Layers of Coverage
Lexis Nexis
New York Court Affirms D&O Coverage for Derivative Claims and Requires Advancement of Defense Costs
Securities Docket
When is a lawyer not a lawyer? When the lawyer handles claims.
Lexis Nexis
Come out, come out wherever you are: a primer on finding missing policies
Lexis Nexis
Insurance companies' public filings: chock full of information helpful to policyholder counsel
Lexis Nexis
Eleven Years After Frontier and Porter Hayden, Insurers Still Wrongfully Refuse to Provide Premises-Operations Coverage: An Analysis of the Keasbey Decision
American Bar Association - Coverage Journal
New York Court Finds That Aggregate Limits Do Not Apply to Asbestos Installation Claims
Mealey's Litigation Report
Insurance Coverage for Asbestos Claims: Laying Out a Case on Behalf of Insulation Contractors
Insurance Law
Government Contracting on the Internet: Abandoning FACNET as the Government' Network for Electronic Commerce
Public Contract Law Journal
Websites & Blogs
Website
Barnes & Thornburg biography
Blog
Blog
Corporate Insurance Blog
Contact & Map
1717 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 289-1313