Mr. Wesley R. Payne, Attorney

Mr. Payne is a Partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Life, Health and Disability and Insurance Fraud Practice Groups.  He primarily focuses his practice in the areas of insurance defense, bad faith, extra-contractual damages and coverage matters.  He is an AV rated attorney by the Martindale-Hubbell rating system with extensive jury trial experience and he has successfully defended wrongful death, extra-contractual damages, product liability, asbestos, toxic tort, environmental, mass tort, commercial auto, construction, insurance coverage, disability, ERISA and general liability cases.  Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Payne managed an in-house litigation office for a major insurance carrier and assisted in the carrier's regional and national efforts to coordinate litigation for an asbestos client.  He also was a member of the national trial team for the client and tried cases in various state and federal courts throughout the country.  He is licensed to practice before all State and Federal Courts in Pennsylvania and Maryland and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  He has also written and lectured on bad faith, extra-contractual damages, civil litigation and uninsured and underinsured motorist issues.

Mr. Payne is the Chair of the firm's Diversity Committee, a member of the Operations and Budget Committee, Co-Chair of the firm's Homeless Advocacy Practice Group, a former coordinator of the litigation associates luncheon training program and serves as the firm's representative to the Board of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Program.  He is a member of the House of Delegates for the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Vice Chair of the Minority Bar Committee; Chair of the Defense Research Institute's Life, Health and Disability Sub-Committee on Diversity; an elected member of the Board of Governors for the Philadelphia Bar Association and Co-Chair of the Insurance Committee; and a Director for the Eastern Region and Chair of the Civil Procedure section of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute.  He is a member of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel and serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.  Mr. Payne was recently elected Assistant Treasurer of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Mr. Payne received his BA, cum laude, from Washington Lee University in 1985 and his JD in 1988 from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association.