Anthony F. Stringer

As a litigator, Anthony represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide array of disputes and has tried cases in state and federal courts as a first-chair trial lawyer. As an insurance coverage lawyer, he represents policyholders in matters involving both commercial and personal lines of coverage.

Anthony joined Calfee in 1999 and was elected Partner with the firm in 2008.

In 2013, he voluntarily resigned from the partnership to pursue an entrepreneurial interest outside the practice of law. In 2015, he returned to Calfee as a Senior Counsel.

Honors & Recognitions

• The Best Lawyers in America^®, Insurance Law (2022-2024) and Commercial Litigation (2024)

Education

J.D., cum laude, The Ohio State University College of Law, Order of the Coif, 1999

B.A., cum laude, Fordham University, Academic All American (Baseball), 1995 

Experience

Representative Insurance Coverage Matters

• A publicly traded, Fortune 100 corporation filed two lawsuits against our client, an Ohio manufacturing company, in federal courts in two states. The Plaintiff's claims against our client involved allegations that construction material, which the Plaintiff purchased from our client and installed in its retail stores, was defective and had caused alleged damages. The lawsuits involved more than 50 retail stores located throughout the country. Following a confidential settlement between the Plaintiff and our client, Calfee now represents the client in an insurance coverage litigation in the United States District Court against its three insurance companies. These lawsuits were the most significant that the client has ever faced, and the insurance claims will involve the interpretation and application of key controversial, recent Ohio Supreme Court precedent regarding coverage triggers and compensable property damage, with the coverage case potentially establishing new law exploring the boundaries of that precedent.
• Provided insurance coverage consulting and advocacy services to a privately held manufacturing company, in connection with its efforts to secure defense and indemnification coverage for a pending environmental contamination lawsuit involving a city on the West Coast of the U.S. This matter, which was settled in 2022, was important because it presented unique issues of captive insurers in relationship to public market insurers, along with novel interpretation and application of exclusionary language, including pollution exclusions.
• Calfee’s client, a large university, faces hundreds of claims by former student-athletes alleging violations of U.S. Title IX in connection with sexual misconduct committed by a former doctor employed by the university. Calfee serves as the university’s outside insurance coverage counsel, leading the client’s efforts to secure insurance coverage for the defense and indemnification of those claims valued at multi-billion dollars. This matter is important due to the magnitude and social significance of the pending claims against the client and it involves highly unique and sophisticated insurance coverage issues, including the interpretation and application of various types of insuring agreements and exclusions.
• Serving as insurance coverage counsel for a privately held client’s efforts to recover its losses from its insurer, a publicly traded Fortune 1000 company. In 2020, the client company sustained extensive property and business interruption losses as a result of violent protests that occurred in the wake of the George Floyd protests. This matter involves key questions about how to interpret and apply property insurance policies in the context of civil unrest and rioting, which has become increasingly common in the U.S.
• Multiple Ohio municipalities and private companies have filed two high-stakes class action lawsuits against our client, an insurance company, alleging the client fraudulently collected certain fees. In addition to serving as the client’s defense counsel in the underlying litigation, Calfee is serving as the client’s insurance coverage counsel, having successfully secured a defense and indemnity from the client’s liability insurer. Calfee continues to manage the coverage claim to maximize the value of the insurance coverage available to our client. This matter is important because of the high costs of defending against the class action, as well as the fact that the class action poses significant reputational and financial risks to the client, with insurance coverage a key component in mitigating those risks.
• Multiple Ohio municipalities and private companies have filed two high-stakes class action lawsuits against our client, an insurance company, alleging the client fraudulently collected certain fees. In addition to serving as the client’s defense counsel in the underlying litigation, Calfee is serving as the client’s insurance coverage counsel, having successfully secured a defense and indemnity from the client’s liability insurer. Calfee continues to manage the coverage claim to maximize the value of the insurance coverage available to our client. This matter is important because of the high costs of defending against the class action, as well as the fact that the class action poses significant reputational and financial risks to the client, with insurance coverage a key component in mitigating those risks.
• Serving as policyholder-side insurance coverage counsel to a publicly traded, Fortune 500 company serving 1+ million businesses in the U.S. and Canada, in connection with extensive losses the client suffered when Hurricanes Laura (2020, Category 4), Ida (2021, Category 4), and Ian (2022, Category 5) battered the U.S. This matter is important because it involves key questions of how to interpret and apply property insurance policy provisions in the context of natural disaster and climate change-related losses, particularly in light of the insurance company’s efforts to limit the client's losses based on the impact of other competing natural disasters.

Representative ERISA Litigation Matters

• Filed a lawsuit against two large national healthcare administrative companies alleging the breach of our client’s contracts permitting countrywide access, at significant discounts, to the defendants’ provider networks. This lawsuit, filed after several years of unsuccessful negotiations among the parties during which Calfee advised the client, asserts claims of breach of contract and tortious interference. 

Representative Business, Corporate, and Commercial Litigation Matters

• Representing a mutual health insurance company in several litigation matters, specifically: (1) a class action lawsuit challenging the client's practices in connection with "value-based contracting" with medical providers; (2) a class action lawsuit challenging the client's practices also in connection with "value-based contracting" by medical providers but with a larger putative class; (3) an action alleging the breach of our client's agreements with two national insurance providers.
• Represented companies in business disputes involving contract and business tort matters.
• Represented policyholders in coverage disputes against insurance carriers.
• Defense of products liability and other tort claims, including toxic torts, asserted against publicly traded and privately held companies.
• Represented owners, design professionals, contractors, and material suppliers in construction law matters.
• Defense of professional malpractice claims.
• Appellate advocacy, including oral arguments before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Ohio Supreme Court, and Ohio appellate courts.

First Chair Trial Experience

• Jury trial of a complex dispute involving a public utility and property owner.
• Jury trial of an insurance subrogation matter involving property loss resulting from a fire.
• Jury trial of a multi-million-dollar business dispute involving one of the largest oil refinery expansion projects in the history of the United States.
• Jury trial of a complex construction dispute involving the development of a high-end residential golf community.
• Jury trial of a business dispute involving an explosion at a large chemical manufacturing facility.
• Jury trial of a business dispute involving a sale of goods transaction between a manufacturer and supplier.
• Jury trial of a tort action involving claims for negligent hiring, retention, and supervision.

Additional Representative Trial Experience

• Jury trial – directed verdict on behalf of a public utility in a complex property dispute.
• Jury trial – defense verdict on behalf of a public utility in an insurance subrogation matter.
• Ohio Supreme Court – favorable ruling on behalf of an Ohio municipal corporation in a million-dollar tax case.
• $10+ million insurance recovery under a first-party insurance property policy.
• $3.7 million insurance recovery under a commercial general liability policy.
• $1.2 million insurance recovery under a directors & officers policy.
• $1 million insurance recovery under an employment practices liability policy.
• Summary judgment grant on behalf of a publicly traded company in a complex business dispute.
• Arbitration hearing of a multi-million-dollar construction dispute involving renovations to the United States Supreme Court building (American Arbitration Association Washington D.C.).
• Arbitration hearing of a multi-million-dollar business dispute involving Medicaid billing fraud and breach of contract (American Arbitration Association Cleveland).