Pictured from left to right: Rachel Cory, Emillie Cain, Mike Carr, Phil Richards, Kelsie Sullivan, Jessica Battson, and Hunter Bailey.
McAfee & Taft, Oklahoma’s largest law firm, has announced the expansion of its top-ranked Litigation Group with the addition of seven Tulsa-based trial lawyers, effective February 1, 2025.
The addition of litigators Phil Richards, Kelsie Sullivan, Jessica Battson, Mike Carr, Hunter Bailey, Emillie Cain, and Rachel Cory, as well as three professional support staff — all of whom concentrate their civil litigation practices on the representation of national and international insurance carriers in the fields of insurance law and litigation — further solidifies McAfee & Taft’s position as one of the region’s largest full-service law firms with 187 lawyers.
The combination also results in the state’s largest insurance defense practice, whose lawyers represent insurers exclusively by providing coverage opinions and analysis, litigating coverage disputes, and vigorously defending against claims of bad faith and extra contractual liability, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent underwriting, and violations of consumer protection laws involving a broad range of policies.
“We are pleased to welcome Phil Richards, one of the state’s most accomplished trial lawyers, and his esteemed team of colleagues to McAfee & Taft,” said shareholder and trial lawyer Bill Leach. “We’ve known this group for years, collaborated with them on a number of high-profile lawsuits and class actions in Oklahoma, and have the utmost respect for their knowledge, expertise, professionalism, and proven track record in the courtroom.”
“Insurance litigation, and notably bad faith litigation, is an expansive and challenging area of law, particularly in Oklahoma, that requires defense attorneys who are not only aggressive, but who are always prepared to take cases to trial,” said Leach. “We’re very fortunate to add a team of lawyers who can step in immediately to provide added strength in this rapidly expanding area of practice, and whose approach, practice and quality of work complements ours and allows us to provide seamless services to our combined clientele.”
The new group of lawyers is led by prominent Tulsa trial lawyers Phil Richards and Kelsie Sullivan. An elected Fellow in both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Coverage Counsel, Richards is a veteran trial lawyer who has tried more than 100 cases to verdict before juries in state and federal courts throughout Oklahoma and has successfully handled appeals before the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals, Oklahoma Supreme Court, and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sullivan has more than 20 years of experience representing insurance carriers, including a number of Fortune 500 clients, in all phases of insurance law and litigation. While the majority of her practice is focused on defending insurers in personal and commercial coverage disputes and bad faith litigation, she is also often called upon to provide counsel to insurers regarding claims handling, coverage issues, and dispute avoidance.
“Adding this talented team of civil litigators to our strong insurance defense bad faith practice provides us with an enhanced opportunity to quickly build upon our success in this area,” said managing director Michael Lauderdale. “Not only is this a win for the firm, but it’s also a win for the many insurance companies doing business in Oklahoma who demand highly knowledgeable, courtroom-ready trial lawyers to battle against bad faith claims.”
With 187 attorneys and offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Springfield (MO), McAfee & Taft is one of the nation’s 250 largest law firms as ranked by National Law Journal. Its Litigation Group is top ranked as a Band 1 firm in Oklahoma by the publishers of the exclusive Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.