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Linda J. Knight
Partner
Women ADVOCATE Committee Chair
Overview
Linda Knight helps insurers and their insureds successfully resolve complicated first- and third-party litigation to minimize potential exposure when stakes are high.
Linda has particular experience defending insureds in catastrophic loss cases and insurers in coverage and bad faith litigation. This has allowed her to build a national practice and serve clients as trial counsel in federal and state courts throughout the country, with an exemplary record of strong results for her clients in highly contentious matters.
Linda also serves as Chair of the Spencer Fane connect group, Women ADVOCATE. In this role, Linda helps facilitate Women ADVOCATE’s mission to promote the recruitment, retention, and advancement of female professionals in the firm.
Credentials
Education
- University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2007 (J.D.)
- University of Denver, 2004 (B.A.)
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
- Won a significant victory before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation for an insurance company facing an attempt to centralize all federal COVID-19 business-interruption insurance cases.
- Represented various insureds in high-exposure jury trials in several cases around the country, including five trials in five different states in recent years.
- Represented numerous insurance companies in high-exposure bad faith cases in Colorado.
- Won complete affirmance in the 10th Circuit of summary judgment in favor of an insurance company, resulting in dismissal of breach of contract and bad faith claims.
- Successfully settled multiple cases with exposure in the hundreds of millions of dollars, including some on a “walk-away” basis.
- Obtained extremely favorable midtrial settlement for a renowned boutique hotel in a multimillion-dollar catastrophic injury lawsuit.
- Won a defense verdict in a bench trial in Colorado involving a real estate dispute.
- Represented a manufacturer of electronic devices in product liability litigation in Florida.
- Negotiated favorable settlement during trial for a racetrack operator in a catastrophic case in Virginia involving permanent injuries to a minor.
- Obtained favorable settlement of bad faith claims on the eve of trial for an international insurance company related to a denial of coverage on a construction policy.
- Negotiated very favorable settlement for an Arizona restaurant facing multimillion-dollar catastrophic injury claims under dram shop liability laws.
- Obtained a favorable settlement for a construction company in a trucking wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia.
- 5280 Magazine, Top Lawyers, Insurance, 2024
- Chambers USA, Insurance, 2023
- Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Insurance, 2023-2024
- Colorado Super Lawyers, Rising Star
- Insurance Coverage, 2020-2022
- Personal Injury – General Defense, 2013-2019
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Fellow
- Litigation Counsel of America, Senior Fellow
- Trial Law Institute
- Diversity Law Institute
- Asian American Insurance Network
- CBA Insurance Committee Board Member, Insurer Representative 2023-2024
- Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel
- Member, 2019-present
- Diversity Committee, 2023-2024
- Colorado Membership State Representative, 2020-2024
- Professional Liability, Vice Chair, 2022-2024
- Professional Women’s Forum, Vice Chair, 2022-2023
- Insurance Industry Institute, Vice Chair, 2022-2023
- Extra Contractual Liability, Chair, 2023-2024
Presentations
- “Are We Covered? A Primer on Commercial Insurance for Corporate Counsel and Risk Managers,” ACC Colorado CLE, January 18, 2024
- “Caught in a Trap, Can’t Walk Out: Ethics and Defense in a Multiple Party Civil Rights Representation,” FDCC Winter Meeting, February 21, 2023
- “Parametric Insurance: What You Need to Know,” FDCC Insurance Industry Institute, November 11, 2022
- “Taking the Offense Against Emerging Tactics in Bad Faith Litigation,” Colorado Defense Lawyers Association (CDLA) Annual Conference, August 5, 2022
- “The New Perry Mason: Mastering the (Technical) Art of Virtual Depositions,” Construction, Energy and Utilities, Extra-Contractual, and International Sections of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), August 4, 2021
- “Trial Examination & Presentation: Tips from the Pros,” Colorado Litigators’ Summit, co-sponsored by the Litigation Section of the Colorado Bar Association, October 26, 2018
- “Defending Against Reptile Theory in Depositions,” USAA, September 12, 2018
- “Strategic Litigation,” Great American Insurance Company Claims College, September 2015
- “Strategic Mediation,” Great American Insurance Company Claims College, September 2014
Publications
- FDCC Insights, “2023 Forecast for Extra Contractual Development”