Floyd P. Bienstock

Partner

• fbienstock@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Phoenix Office

Floyd Bienstock is a partner in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP where he founded and now leads the Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith group.  He is an experienced trial attorney with a practice focusing on litigating insurance coverage and bad faith matters, including class actions, as well as complex commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts in Arizona and throughout the United States.

Mr. Bienstock is a frequent lecturer on civil trial techniques, insurance bad faith, and defending class actions.  He was Chair of the State Bar of Arizona's Trial Practice Section from 1988 to 1990. He was Managing Partner of the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP from 1990 to 1995.

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
Mr. Bienstock has an extensive insurance litigation practice.  He counsels insurers on coverage issues and represents insurers in declaratory judgment actions and civil litigation involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, bad faith, unfair trade and claims practices, and punitive damage claims.

Class Action Litigation
Mr. Bienstock has substantial experience defending class actions in commercial and insurance litigation matters, both at the certification stage and at trial.

Complex Commercial Litigation
Mr. Bienstock litigates diverse complex commercial disputes involving contract claims and business torts, as well as real estate, environmental, and professional liability matters at both the trial and appellate levels.

Representative Matters

Hager v. Allstate Insurance Company, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Fayette Circuit Court, Eighth Division, Case No. 98-C1-2482.  Plaintiff sought $1.425 billion in damages ($475 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages) on a third party bad faith claim against Allstate under Kentucky's Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act.  Plaintiff challenged Allstate's Claim Core Process Redesign casualty claim handling program, including the Minor Impact Soft Tissue and Colossus claim handling processes, and alleged that plaintiffs' claim against Allstate's insured was delayed for more than 2 1/2 years, before it was settled, in an effort to extort a more favorable settlement.  On October 10, 2007, after a two-week trial, the jury rendered a unanimous verdict for Allstate.  

Noteworthy

• Listed in Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition 2009 for Insurance Coverage
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America 2008 for Insurance Law
• Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Arizona College of Law (May 2008)
• Listed in Southwest Super Lawyers 2007 and 2008 for Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Defense
• Ranked, AZBusiness Top Lawyers 2008 for Commercial Litigation
• Chairman of the State Bar of Arizona Trial Practice Section (1988-1990)

Select News & Events

• Fourteen Steptoe & Johnson LLP Attorneys in Phoenix are Named Super Lawyers
• Best Lawyers in America Honors 43 Steptoe Attorneys
• 14 Steptoe Attorneys Named Southwest Super Lawyers
• Best Lawyers in America 2007 Lists Steptoe Attorneys
• Floyd Bienstock speaks at 16th National Advanced Forum on Bad Faith Litigation, November 7, 2007
• Litigating in the Bad Faith Minefield - The Defense Perspective, April 25, 2007, American Conference Institute Fifteenth National Advanced Forum on Litigating Bad Faith and Punitive Damages
• Floyd Bienstock Addresses Bad Faith Class Actions: Institutional Bad Faith, Computer Software, and Emerging Areas of Exposure, November 9, 2006, American Conference Institute's Fourteenth National Advanced Forum on Litigating Bad Faith and Punitive Damages
• Strategies for Defeating Class Certification, Institutional Bad Faith Claims and Claims Attacking Claim Valuation Software in Insurance Bad Faith Cases, American Conference Institute Fourteenth National Advanced Forum on Litigating Bad Faith and Punitive, November 9, 2006
• Preventing the Adjustor from Becoming the Achilles Heel of Your Bad Faith Case, Mealey’s Bad Faith Litigation Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 22, 2006
• Using the Adjustor Effectively, September 21, 2006, Mealey's Bad Faith Litigation Conference

More Seminars & Events »

Publications

• Litigating About Litigation: Can Insurers be Liable for too Vigorously Defending their Insureds?
  Spring 2007, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal
• Disclosure Obligations After Allstate Insurance Company v. Superior Court and Bryan v. Riddel
  October 5, 1994, State Bar of Arizona, Trial Practice Section
• Maximizing Your Effectiveness in Taking and Defending Depositions
  November 16, 1990, State Bar of Arizona, Trial Practice Section
• Real Estate Contracts in the Courtroom: Issues Relating to the Interpretation and Enforcement of Real Estate and Other Contracts
  July 26, 1989, State Bar of Arizona, Trial Practice Section
• Strategies for Defeating Fraud, Negligent Misrepresentation and Other Non-Contractual Claims in Breach of Contract Cases
  October 17, 1987, State Bar of Arizona, Trial Practice Section
• Recent Developments in Arizona Law Affecting Trial Lawyers
  April 8, 1986, State Bar of Arizona, Trial Practice Section
• The Classification of an Open-End Offender on Probation
  1979, 21 Ariz. L. Rev. 163

Professional Affiliations

• Chairman of the Board of the New Way Learning Academy (2008)
• Chairman of The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law National Board of Visitors (2004-Present)