PROFESSIONALS

Ellen Van Meir

Partner
blank image Ellen Van Meir
2501 North Harwood Street
Suite 1210
Dallas, TX 75201, US

T: 469.290.9045 F: 469.290.9041
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Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Ellen has more than two decades of experience providing sophisticated counsel to primary and excess insurers on issues with respect to coverage and claims handling. Ellen’s practice is focused primarily on significant losses and spans numerous industries, including construction, finance, manufacturing, oil and gas, and trucking.

Ellen represents her clients in complex disputes arising out of catastrophic bodily injury, cyber, environmental, intellectual property, professional malpractice, and property damage claims. She is adept at providing counsel on matters related to policy contract rights and obligations, good faith duties to insureds, and settlement and allocation issues involving bad faith, errors and omissions, liability, pollution, Stowers demand, and umbrella and excess coverage.

Ellen has also handled appellate matters in various Texas appellate courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits.

Ellen is Board Certified in Insurance Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. 

Memberships

  • American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
  • American College of Coverage Counsel
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Texas State Bar, Tort & Insurance Practice Group

Awards & Rankings

  • The Best Lawyers in America® (Insurance Law and Litigation - Insurance), Best Lawyers®, 2021 – 2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America® (Insurance Law and Litigation - Insurance), Best Lawyers®, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023
  • Top 50 Women, Top 100 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Super Lawyers®, 2022 
  • Texas Super Lawyers® (Insurance Coverage), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
  • Business Edition of Women in the Law, Best Lawyers®, 2022
  • Chambers USA, Insurance (2013-2023)
  • Dallas “Lawyer of the Year” (Insurance Law and Litigation - Insurance), Best Lawyers®, 2021
  • Top 50 Women Attorneys in Texas, Texas Monthly Magazine, 2018
  • Rising Star, Texas Super Lawyers®, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
  • Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40, D Magazine, 2006

Before Nicolaides

Previously, Ellen served as a leader of the insurance coverage and litigation practice group at a national law firm for over two decades, where she was also a member of the firm’s Management Committee.
EXPERIENCE
  • Obtained U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling in a $26 million environmental contamination suit.
  • Obtained U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling in a $20 million cyber coverage suit.
  • Obtained U.S. District Courts of Oklahoma and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rulings on issues involving general liability and employer liability coverage for workplace injuries.
  • Obtained Texas trial and appellate court decisions involving claims for pollution coverage.
  • Successfully handled several multi-million dollar personal and advertising injury claims on behalf of insurance carriers, both at trial and on appeal.
  • Obtained judgment in cases of first impression regarding occurrence and workplace accident endorsements under West Virginia and Arkansas law.
  • Appointed as national coverage counsel by major insurance group in regard to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 
  • Successfully resolved coverage disputes involving international losses and claims related to the Defense Base Act on behalf of insurance carrier. 
  • Represented major insurers in evaluating massive construction litigation claims in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Texas.
  • Obtained jury verdict and appellate decision for major insurance company in a case of allocation of covered damages between two insurers in a construction defect matter.
  • Negotiated a settlement on behalf of major insurer, successfully resolving a multi-million dollar dispute between major travel industry entities.
  • Litigated several commercial indemnity cases between major petrochemical companies.
  • Won personal and advertising injury case determining the scope of libel and slander offense coverage under Ninth Circuit law.
  • Successfully resolved multi-insurer copyright infringement case involving horizontal allocation, primary and excess, and personal and advertising injury issues related to theft of architectural plans.
  • Successfully negotiated resolution on behalf of major insurers for claims involving professional errors and omissions policies for Fair Claims Act, TRCA, SEC, RICO, and class action allegations.
  • Successfully resolved commercial property claims related to storm damage and bad faith.
  • Persuaded U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to affirm judgment, allocating a settlement to uncovered claims and requiring the insured to reimburse the carrier. 
INSIGHTS

ADDITIONAL SPEAKING & WRITING

  • Speaker, “Subrogation, Equitable Contribution, and Other Insurance: Untangling the Gordian Knot Without Prolonged Litigation,” American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel Annual Meeting (May 2017)
  • Speaker, “An Excess Carrier’s Duty to Defend: A Slippery Slope in a Tangled Web?,” American Bar Association Insurance Coverage Litigation Seminar (March 2014)
  • Speaker, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, 25th Annual ABA CLE Seminar (February – March 2013)
  • Speaker, "Stepping Back: Mid-Continent Ins. Co v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co.," University of Texas 16th Annual Insurance Law Institute (November 2011) 
  • Mentoring Dallas Women and the Law Association (2006)
  • Speaker, "Documentation, Duplication & Doom," All Industry Day (2005)
NEWS