PROFESSIONALS

Mariah Quiroz

Partner
blank image Mariah Quiroz
2501 North Harwood Street
Suite 1210
Dallas, TX 75201, US

T: 469.290.9044 F: 469.290.9041
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Biography
BIOGRAPHY
Mariah represents international and domestic insurance companies in complex, high-stakes coverage matters and bad faith litigation across the country.
Mariah provides counsel to her clients on claims issues involving catastrophic bodily injury, construction defects, indemnity clauses, oil and gas, personal and advertising injury, pollution and environmental losses, professional negligence, technology services and products, and workplace incidents.
 
Mariah is Board Certified in Insurance Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Memberships

  • Dallas Bar Association’s Tort & Insurance Practice Section
  • State Bar of Texas’ Insurance Law Section
 
Mariah is a former president and board member of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association.

Awards & Rankings

  • The Best Lawyers in America® (Insurance Law and Litigation - Insurance), Best Lawyers®, 2021 – 2024

Before Nicolaides

Previously, Mariah was a partner at a national law firm, where she devoted her practice to representing insurance companies in complex coverage matters and litigation for approximately two decades.

Outside Nicolaides

Mariah enjoys traveling and hiking state and national parks with her husband and four children. When at home, Mariah is usually cooking Tex-Mex food and working on home improvement projects with her family.
EXPERIENCE
  • Represented multiple major international insurers in various matters in Texas arising out of catastrophic environmental losses and claims for clean-up costs related to industrial waste and treatment facilities, chemical plant explosions, oil-field operations, dry-cleaning operations, and leaking underground gasoline storage tanks.
  • Obtained defense verdict on behalf of insurer as second-chair trial attorney in federal jury trial.
  • Negotiated favorable resolution of multi-million dollar coverage and bad faith case in Texas regarding claims of personal and advertising injury arising out of business disparagement for major international insurer.
  • Negotiated favorable resolution of multi-million dollar coverage and bad faith case in Texas regarding claims under pollution legal liability policy for major international insurer in high-profile case.   
  • Negotiated favorable resolution of complex case in Texas on behalf of major international insurer regarding catastrophic damage to reactor at oil refinery.
  • Successfully defended major international insurer against contentious additional insured tender involving oil-industry incident, ultimately winning motion to dismiss premised on forum selection clause.
  • Represented international industrial services company in complex Texas lawsuit regarding contractual indemnity and additional insured coverage arising out of fatal incident at oil refinery.
  • Obtained favorable resolution for major international insurer in complex coverage and bad faith litigation in Hawaii arising out of alleged construction defects in high-profile commercial property.
  • Successfully represented major international insurer in separate lawsuits filed in Arkansas  regarding coverage and bad faith claims arising from carbon monoxide exposure at hotel and the catastrophic failure of storage silo at direct-reduced iron facility.
  • Successfully represented major international insurer in coverage and bad faith litigation in New Mexico involving complex contractual indemnification claim.
  • Obtained judgment in coverage dispute involving theft of trade names and trade secrets as second-chair trial attorney in Texas court.
  • Obtained complete grant of summary judgment in coverage litigation involving substantial losses arising from commercial transportation container prototype that was damaged during testing and could not be certified for use.
  • Obtained several summary judgments on behalf of insurers in Texas and other states regarding their duty to defend and/or indemnify against high-dollar claims, including those for business disparagement, additional insured coverage, failure of product or services, and professional liability.
  • Negotiated dismissal of coverage litigation against insurers, without settlement payment, in favor of successfully resolving coverage disputes out of court and at a significant cost-savings to client.
  • Represented insurers in appellate matters in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eighth Circuits, and Texas appellate courts, obtaining affirmance of summary judgments.
INSIGHTS

ADDITIONAL SPEAKING & WRITING

  • Panelist, "Who Pays the Piper When the Music Stops?: Business Interruption Hacks for a Data Breach," American Bar Association Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar, Tucson, Arizona (March 2018)
  • Panelist, "Interaction or Lack Thereof Between Cyber, Property, and Crime Coverage: What’s Being Covered Where and When?," American Conference Institute 14th Cyber and Data Risk Insurance Conference, San Francisco, California (November 2016)
  • Panelist, "Cyber Breach Response and Cyber Law and Claims Scenarios," CPCU Society Dallas - All Industry Day, Dallas, Texas (October 2016)
  • Panelist, "Property Based Risks & Bodily Injury Resulting from a Cyber Event: Who Should Cover These Risks?," American Conference Institute 13th Advanced Forum on Cyber & Data Risk Insurance, New York, New York (July 2016)
  • Speaker, "Information Security, Privacy Liability & Breach Response: A Post-Mortem Examining the Legal Liability and the Best & Worst Practices after a Breach Incident," Regional Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, Austin and San Antonio, Texas (May 2016)
  • Co-presenter, "Emerging Trends in Insurance for 2016 - Are You at Risk?," 38th Corporate Counsel Institute Sponsored by The University of Texas School of Law, Houston and Dallas, Texas (April and May 2016)
  • Panelist, "Cyber Liability: Surviving the Wild Frontier," Insurance Coverage Trends and Development Sponsored by the Texas Insurance Academy, Dallas, Texas (May 2016)
  • Panelist, “Emerging Coverage Issues for Cyber Claims; Availability of New Insurance Products; Claims Trends and Underwriting Considerations; and Managing Claim Aggregation and Accumulation That Cyber Insurance Brings,” American Conference Institute’s 12th National Advanced Forum on Cyber and Data Risk Insurance, Chicago, Illinois (March 2016)
  • Panelist, “Cybersecurity: What Defense Lawyers Need to Know about Cyberliability, Cybercrime, and Coverage,” International Association of Defense Counsel Southwest Regional Meeting, Dallas, Texas (March 2016)
  • Panelist, “Information Security, Privacy Liability and Breach Response: A Post-Mortem Examining the Legal Liability and the Best and Worst Practices After a Breach Incident,” Dallas Regional Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (February 2016)
  • Panelist, "Cyber Insurance and Cyber Security," Texas State Bar Advanced Business Law Course, Houston, Texas (November 2015)
  • Panelist, "Hacking Through Cyber Insurance," 20th Annual Insurance Law Institute Sponsored by The University of Texas Law School and the Insurance Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, Dallas, Texas (November 2015)
  • Co-presenter, “Cyber Insurance," Legal Issues in the Texas Hospitality Industry CLE, Dallas, Texas (November 2015)
  • Co-presenter, "Hacking Through Cyber Insurance," Texas State Bar Advanced Insurance CLE, San Antonio, Texas (June 2015)
  • Panelist, "Insuring Cyber liability and Cyber-Related Risks," Tort & Insurance Section of the Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, Texas (May 2015)
  • Presenter, "Insurance Recovery for Cyber-Security Disasters," State Bar of Texas (April 2015)
  • Co-presenter, “Hacking Through a Cyber-Claim and Related Insurance Issues,” Texas State Bar Business Essentials CLE, Dallas, Texas (March 2015)
NEWS