Robert T. Horst, Attorney

Mr. Horst  represents insurers in complex coverage disputes, bad faith litigation, class action defense, and the investigation of suspected fraud.  Mr. Horst is an experienced and effective litigator, having tried over forty cases to verdict before a jury and hundreds more bench trials.  Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, Mr. Horst has litigated matters pro hac vice in numerous jurisdictions throughout the nation, including Delaware, Ohio, Florida, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Washington. 

The following are some of the favorable results Mr. Horst has obtained for his insurer clients:

• Obtained voluntary discontinuance of Philadelphia litigation before jury selection when policyholder plaintiff's pre-trial settlement demands exceeded $1 Million based on carrier's assertion of statutory counterclaim for insurance fraud;
• Successful defense verdict on behalf of commercial lines carrier after assertion of denial based on unambiguous water exclusion, despite allegations of bad faith, breach of policy contract and demand for reformation of policy (also included pre-trial dismissal of claims for negligence and for violations of consumer protection statute);
• Obtained voluntary discontinuance of Philadelphia litigation by homeowners policyholder who accused carrier of bad faith and damages under consumer protection statute after demonstrating policyholder's claims regarding personal property claim were false, incomplete and misleading and that accompanying receipts were fraudulent;
• Represented personal lines insurer in national class action venued in Ohio involving valuation methods of estimating worth and value of "total loss" vehicles, with parallel matters in Oklahoma, West Virginia and Florida, which resulted in res judicata effect for carrier in subsequent litigation in multiple jurisdictions;
• Secured dismissal of all claims against 4 insurers in Philadelphia class action litigation involving attack on payment of "actual cash value" under property insurance claims.

A frequent lecturer on topics related to insurance, the law and law firm management, Mr. Horst has presented to numerous organizations, trade groups, and insurers, including the Loss Executives Association, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Insurance Society of Philadelphia, Property Loss Research Bureau, and Pennsylvania Bar Institute, amongst others. 

He has published numerous times and eagerly awaits the Fall 2009 publication of the text Extracontractual Litigation Against Insurers (Incisive Media) which he co-authored and edited. Mr. Horst has recently been quoted in The New York Times, The National Underwriter, The Legal Intelligencer, www.examiner.com and the Jackson Clarion Ledger (Mississippi). 

In addition to his practice, Mr. Horst presently leads NLdH's Recruiting and Professional Development efforts and is also proudly serving as General Counsel to the International Association of Special Investigative Units ("IASIU"), the insurance industry's leading "fraud-fighting" organization, which has 40 chapters worldwide and a membership numbering over 4,000.  He also acts as an expert witness in the area of insurance bad faith litigation and serves as a private arbitrator in insurance coverage matters. 

Mr. Horst was NLdH's Managing Partner from 2003 -2008 and is one of the firm's founding partners.