Melissa Shisler focuses her practice on insurance coverage, bad faith and appeals. Her litigation experience ranges from small, two-party actions to complex, multi-party and multi-tiered matters. She has achieved victories for her clients through summary judgment motions, dismissal of individual claims, and entire actions in construction defect, insurance bad faith, coverage and subrogation actions. Melissa has argued before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as Colorado's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. She also advises insurance clients throughout the claims process, counseling them on adjusting and claims handling, providing coverage opinions, and defending and prosecuting litigation with insureds.
Melissa thoroughly investigates the factual and legal details of her cases, exploring every strategic angle, from non-party liability to comprehension of industry standards. Her passion for crafting well-reasoned written arguments frequently culminates in successful appeals and motions at every stage of litigation, and she dedicates the same detailed approach to every matter she handles.
Areas of Focus
Appellate
Melissa is one of Wilson Elser's talented and dedicated appellate attorneys who can step in and bring the litigation cycle to a satisfactory conclusion. She has a thorough understanding of the highly technical and evolving discipline of appellate procedure.
Fidelity/Surety
Melissa is experienced in investigating and litigating fidelity bond claims, including those arising from employee dishonesty, Ponzi schemes, forgery and more. In addition to counseling insurers on coverage, she assists in preventing fidelity claims from escalating into lawsuits.
Insurance/Reinsurance Coverage and Defense
Melissa handles cases involving construction defects, insurance bad faith, coverage and subrogation actions, and constructive total loss matters.
Representative Matters
Successfully defended a liability carrier against a breach of contract and bad faith action arising out of the carrier's refusal to defend the insured against various governmental actions that alleged the insured had polluted the Arkansas River by introducing dirt and rock into it. The carrier denied the claim under the policy's Total Pollution Exclusion. On top of its alleged breach of contract damages, the insured sought attorney's fees and double damages under Colorado's bad faith statutes. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer and the Tenth Circuit affirmed on appeal, finding the allegations that the insured polluted the river by releasing dirt and rock into it fell within the Total Pollution Exclusion.
Received a favorable summary judgment ruling in an arbitration action against a fidelity carrier based on the insured's late notice and failure to provide a timely proof of loss. The action involved a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme. Despite the sizable claim and the insured's arguments that the carrier either waived the notice requirement or was not prejudiced by the same, the arbitration panel agreed that the claim was not covered as a result of the late notice and untimely proof of loss.
Prevailed in a subrogation action on behalf of a property insurer on a claim resulting from a fire loss where the insured had overlapping coverage from two carriers. The opposing carrier took the position that coverage under its policy was excess over our client's policy and refused to pay. The court disagreed, ordering the opposing carrier to pay one half of the sizable claim.
Achieved a victory in a protracted coverage dispute involving an uninsured motorist claim. The persistent individual plaintiffs sought benefits under a policy to which they had no entitlement as they did not qualify as insureds under a policy issued to a corporation. The case was dismissed on motion.
Memberships & Affiliations
Colorado Bar Association
Denver Bar Association
Colorado Defense Lawyer's Association
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