- Represented top-tier national insurance carriers in putative class actions or mass actions in over 35 states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- Defending P&C insurers as national coordinating counsel and MDL counsel in business interruption litigation nationwide relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, at trial and appellate levels, including representation and argument before the MDL panel.
- Defended two life insurers in putative class actions nationwide claiming that it is improper to include profits and expenses in the cost of insurance (COI) calculations/deductions on universal life policies, including leading defensive discovery strategy, defending key corporate witnesses at deposition and preparing them for trial, and considering legal strategy for class certification, summary judgment, and trial.
- Defending an automobile insurer in two putative class actions in New Jersey and Illinois challenging its alleged disclosure of claimant and insured information to Verisk/ISO as violative of state privacy laws.
- Obtained, as lead counsel, complete dismissal in a putative class action in the Eastern District of California asserting claims that our client should have refunded more private passenger automobile insurance premiums than it did due to decreased driving during the COVID-19 pandemic in deference to the primary jurisdiction of the California Department of Insurance. This case was a pacesetter in the industry as one of the first victories in California on this issue.
- Defending a national insurer in a putative class action in the Central District of California asserting claims that it should have refunded more insurance premiums than it did to businesses under commercial property policies due to closures and decreased sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Obtained an appellate win as lead counsel in the Delaware Supreme Court for an insurance company against a declaratory judgment action alleging that a code used in denying health care invoices does not qualify as a “written explanation of denial” under the Delaware Workers’ Compensation Act.
- Represented an insurance company in a putative nationwide class action in Pennsylvania against allegations claiming wrongful denial of coverage for an accident while participating in a high-performance driving event.
- Defending an insurance company in a Pennsylvania class action alleging wrongful denial of coverage for an uninsured motorist claim.
- Represented an insurer in an Arkansas class action involving an alleged made-whole subrogation issue.
Partner,
- Phone: +1 404 881 4249
- Email: tiffany.powers@alston.com
Resolving complex and critical business disputes is instrumental to Tiffany’s national practice. Clients trust Tiffany, co-leader of the Insurance Litigation & Regulation Team, as a thought partner and legal strategist because she not only defends the litigation at hand but also helps them navigate the convergence of enterprise and legal issues for a holistic approach.
- Lead counsel in an insurance coverage and bad-faith lawsuit in Augusta, GA that claimed losses to hotel property resulting from Hurricane Florence.
- Lead counsel in an alleged nationwide ERISA class action against a Fortune 250 insurer alleging systemic failure to pay interest.
- Co-lead trial counsel representing a national insurance carrier in a jury trial of individually named plaintiffs’ class action claims in federal court in the Western District of Washington after defeating a Washington state putative class. Obtained a defense verdict on all counts. As the first case to go to trial in a series of diminished-value class actions across the country, this was a landmark case for the insurance industry on this issue.
- Won summary judgment, affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a California putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The district court and Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff failed to establish actual harm or material risk of harm, harmonizing principles from the Supreme Court’s Spokeo ruling.
- Coordinating counsel on certain high-priority institutional issues for a top-tier national insurer on two policyholder class actions, hundreds of individual cases consolidated in an MDL, and accompanying regulatory investigations concerning allegations of bad-faith failure to pay hurricane-related claims in Texas.
- Won summary judgment on a class action in Pennsylvania alleging that a Fortune 50 auto insurer did not appropriately pay for durable medical equipment under its medical payments coverage.
- Won dismissal of a Florida class action, affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit, challenging a Fortune 50 auto insurer’s subrogation practices under its medical payments coverage. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with the district court’s opinion that the complaint, even as amended several times, failed to allege an imminent injury.
- Obtained a nominal settlement in Pennsylvania for a top-three national property & casualty insurer for a class action challenging auto carriers’ alleged failure to provide statutorily required premium discounts for antitheft devices.
- Obtained dismissal of a policyholder class action pending in federal court in Arkansas alleging systematic violation of notifying insureds of a Fortune 50 auto insurer of the right to reimbursement.
- Served as lead or co-lead counsel on numerous bad-faith lawsuits on time-limited demand issues.
- Assumed a leading role to counsel and advised a university in its recovery and maximization of insurance assets in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- Won summary judgment on behalf of a national insurance carrier on a contribution claim presenting an issue of first impression in Georgia.
- Managed a massive internal investigation for a top national insurance carrier in response to various attorney general and Department of Insurance inquiries in the wake of high-profile claims brought by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer relating to producer compensation and alleged bid-rigging activities.
- Representing, advising, and counseling multiple national auto insurance carriers in claims raising potential bad-faith issues and in high-stakes bad-faith litigation.
- Assumed the leading role in property insurance recovery efforts in the wake of a sugar refinery explosion.
- Serving in a supervising and coordinating role as national counsel to a leading insurance carrier, advising on claims handling and potential bad faith on hurricane coverage issues.
A seasoned litigator and business counselor, Tiffany Powers co-leads Alston & Bird’s Insurance Litigation & Regulation Team and defends complex litigation matters, focusing on the insurance industry. For over 25 years, Tiffany has served as lead or co-lead counsel to insurers in class actions, mass actions, MDLs, and high-exposure bad-faith matters. Her practice is national in scope, encompassing state and federal court litigation at the trial and appellate levels in the most hostile, notoriously plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions and against prominent plaintiffs’ counsel.
Tiffany has been in the trenches defending the insurance industry for nearly every macro issue it has faced over the last two decades, including privacy and AI litigation. On the property and casualty side, Tiffany has represented the nation’s top insurers in litigation involving COVID-19, 9/11/2001, and other catastrophic and weather events. In the life insurance realm, Tiffany has extensive experience defending multiple clients against cost of insurance class actions across the country. Her regulatory experience includes market conduct examinations and attorney general investigations.
Tiffany is recognized for her proficiency by Chambers USA in Insurance (Georgia).
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Georgia
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia
Education
- University of Georgia (J.D., 1999)
- Vanderbilt University (B.S., 1995)
- Litigation
- Business Litigation
- Insurance
- Class Action & Multidistrict Litigation
- Insurance Litigation & Regulation
- High Exposure Claims, Coverage & Bad-Faith Defense
- Insurance Regulatory Guidance
- Insurance-Related Antitrust Defense
- Policy Drafting & Product Development
- Policyholder Class Action Defense