Practice Areas Employee Benefits Litigation
Medical Malpractice
Workers' Compensation Appeals
Local Counsel
Commercial Litigation
Product Liability
Insurance Defense
Peter N. Lavalette is a partner with Robison, Curphey &
O'Connell and has extensive experience in various areas of
commercial litigation, including employee benefit issues under
ERISA, medical malpractice defense, product liability and intentional tort claims, and insurance litigation and coverage disputes,
and workers' compensation appeals.
Before law school, Pete served five years active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard, deployed as a deck watch officer aboard USCGC Morgenthau out of Alameda, CA for two years, and later in a procurement position at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C. In law school he was editor-in-chief of the University of Toledo Law Review, 1993-1994, and has been with RCO since his graduation from that law school in 1994.
PRACTICE DETAILS
Employee Benefits.
Litigation of employee benefit issues under ERISA including
fiduciary breach claims, long-term disability claims, and
related matters. Served as lead counsel in
Tullis v. UMB in which the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of a pension plan trustee in an ERISA Fiduciary breach/§404(c) safe harbor case.
Medical
Malpractice. Representing hospitals, physicians and
other care providers in the defense of personal injury actions, including wrongful death
and catastrophic injury claims.
Commercial Litigation
Claims. Practical and effective representation in complex
and routine disputes between businesses.
Product liability and
intentional tort claims. Includes the defense of manufacturers and suppliers in product liability and related claims.
Insurance Defense.
Representation of insurance carriers, and their insureds, in coverage disputes,
bad faith actions, examinations under oath and third-party claims.
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS
LifeStar Ambulance Board of Directors
Friendly Center (Past President)
Leadership Toledo
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Advisory Group of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of
Ohio
Toledo Bar Association (Bar Admissions Committee, Grievance
Investigation Committee)
Toledo Junior Bar Association (Past President)
University of Toledo College of Law Alumni Association Board of
Governors (Past President)
Ohio State Bar Association
American Bar Association
BAR ADMISSIONS
Ohio, 1994
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, 1995
