Biography

Dennis G. Rolstad concentrates his practice in business and insurance litigation, trials and counseling, including particularly construction coverage and bad faith, construction defect litigation, fiduciary duty litigation, ERISA, and healthcare matters.  For more than twenty years, Mr. Rolstad has represented, counseled, and defended insurers, fiduciaries, and their policyholders before state and federal courts in California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Alaska, and consults on cases throughout the country.  Mr. Rolstad also litigates class actions and other complex litigation, and has particular focus on OCIPs and wrap policies.  He has successfully argued multiples times before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and other appellate courts.  In addition to his trial and litigation work, Mr. Rolstad is a proponent of Alternative Dispute Resolution and is adept at creatively resolving matters of all sizes.   

Publications and Presentations

Mr. Rolstad is a frequent writer for Sedgwick's newsletters and is the co-editor of the chapter on Group Insurance in the California Practice Guide, Insurance Litigation. Other publications include:

• “Insurers May Be Sued Directly Under ERISA,” Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Alert (June 2011);
• “California Department of Insurance to Introduce Bill Seeking to Bar Discretionary Clauses in Life, Health and Disability Insurance Policies,” Sedgwick’s Life, Health & Disability Alert (February 2011);
• “ERISA Party’s Achievement of 'Some Degree of Success on Merits' Does Not Automatically Permit Award of Attorneys’ Fees,” co-author, Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Newsletter (Fall 2010);
• “Supreme Court Bolsters Continued Application of ERISA Discretion,” Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Alert (April 2010);
• “The Death of the Discretionary Clause?” Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Alert (November 2009);
• "Spinner Court Holds No Breach of ERISA Fiduciary Liability Over Notifications of Optional Coverage," Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Newsletter (Winter 2009);
• "Supreme Court Decision: Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Glenn, __ S.Ct. __, 2008 WL 2444796 (June 19, 2008) (U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 06-923)" (coauthor), DRI’s The Voice (June 2008);
• "Supreme Court Advances Totality of Circumstances Test for Discretionary Review of ERISA Decisions Made by Conflicted Fiduciaries," Sedgwick Healthcare Law Alert (June 2008);
• "Change in the Landscape: ERISA Fiduciary Claims in the Wake of La Rue" (coauthor), published on the website of RLI Executive Products Group News (June 2008);
• "9th Cir. Requires More From ERISA Claims Administrators And Reviewing Physicians," Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Newsletter (Spring 2008);
• "Supreme Court Holds 401(k) Participant Can Sue for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Under ERISA" (coauthor), Sedgwick’s Healthcare News Flash (February 2008);
• "Ninth Circuit Courts More Likely To Allow Discovery in ERISA Actions Following Abatie" (coauthor), Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Newsletter (Winter 2007);
• "ERISA Alert: State Interference With ERISA Decision Making" (coauthor), Sedgwick’s Healthcare Law Newsletter (Winter 2006);
• "Ninth Circuit Effects Sea Change In ERISA Discretionary Review," Employment Law 360 (December 2006);
• "ERISA Alert:  Technical Procedural Violations Do Not Change the Standard of Review," Sedgwick's Healthcare Law Newsletter (Summer 2005);
• "ERISA Alert:  Consideration of Evidence from Outside the Administrative Record on De Novo Review," Sedgwick's Healthcare Law Newsletter (Spring 2005);
• "ERISA Alert:  Conflict Preemption of State Statutes," Sedgwick's Healthcare Law Newsletter (Fall 2004);
• "Additional Insured Coverage" (coauthor), Daily Journal (February 2001);
• "CGL Coverage for After-Acquired Properties" (coauthor), Daily Journal (November 2000);
• "Design Build Construction Contracting" (coauthor), Construction Management (July 1999).

Mr. Rolstad also makes frequent presentations on insurance, construction, ERISA, and healthcare topics to clients and industry professionals, including:

• Sedgwick Health Law Seminar Series, “Spotlight on ERISA: Fiduciary Litigation and the Erosion of Discretionary Review,” presented in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA ( June 8-9, 2011) and Hartford (October 6, 2011)
• Sedgwick Health Law Seminar Series, “The Continuing Battle Over ERISA Discretionary Clauses and Streamlined Procedures,” presented in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco, CA (May 24-25, 2010), and Hartford, CT (September 22, 2010)
• National Center for Employee Ownership, "Protecting Yourself From Legal Problems: Audits, Lawsuits, and Insurance Issues," co-presented at the meeting on Fiduciary Issues for Internal ESOP Trustees, San Francisco, CA (June, 2009)
• Sedgwick Health Law Seminar, "Selected Developments in ERISA and Bad Faith Liability," presented in Hartford, CT (October, 2008)
• Lorman Education Services "Insurance Bad Faith Claims Seminar," co-presented in San Francisco, CA (May 2008, May 2007);

Memberships & Honors

Mr. Rolstad is a member of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

While attending law school, Mr. Rolstad was articles editor of the Federal Communications Law Review and extern for the Honorable William J. Rea of the United States District Court, Central District of California, in 1989.