Michael J. Gridley

Mike represents insurers in complex litigation involving professional liability, general liability, and property insurance coverage. He provides advice and counsel on a wide range of insurance issues, including transactional liability, director and officer liability, legal malpractice and other errors and omissions claims, environmental liability, bodily injury and property damage claims, bankruptcy, technology, emerging issues, and bad faith.

Representative Matters

• Represents clients in a variety of complex insurance litigation issues before federal and state courts, including motions practice, discovery, briefing, argument, and trial, including extensive experience addressing complex discovery and trial readiness issues.
• Counsels clients on risk management strategies and develops solutions to resolve underlying exposures for clients.
• Conducted multiple portfolio-wide assessments of a client’s exposure in critical business lines, including providing strategic advice for existing and future claims practices.
• Represented insurer on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court from a $14 million judgment in a case involving whether a comprehensive general liability policy provided coverage for hundreds of asbestos claims, obtaining a decision reversing and directing that judgment be entered for the insurer. Travelers Indemnity Co. v. CNH Industrial America, LLC, 2018 WL 3434562 (Del. July 16, 2018).
• Extensive experience assisting clients with risk mitigation and conducting internal investigations and risk assessments.
• Extensive pro bono litigation and trial experience, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issues impacting students with mental illness at colleges and universities, child custody and adoption, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, and prisoners’ rights matters.
• While counsel at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, handled employment litigation matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and in federal district and appellate courts.

Professional Experience

• Associate Counsel, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2018-2025)
• Private law practice (2006-2018)
• Legal Intern, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (2004)
• Legal Intern, Onondaga County District Attorney's Office, Syracuse, NY (2003)

Affiliations

• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)
• The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association

Recognitions

• Department of Commerce’s Distinguished Attorney Award (2022)
• Named “Legal Lion” by Law360 (2018)
• Named to Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Shortlist for Americas Rising Stars: Best in Insurance & Reinsurance (2018)
• Recipient of Washington Lawyers' Committee Outstanding Achievement Award for pro bono work on prisoners' rights cases (2015)