Robert J. Witmeyer

Robert J. Witmeyer Partner

214.379.4761

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Rob Witmeyer is a partner in the Dallas office of Mayer LLP. He is board-certified in insurance law in Texas. Before entering private practice, Rob clerked for the Honorable Harry Lee Anstead at the Florida Supreme Court.

Rob focuses his practice on insurance coverage issues. He has extensive experience analyzing complex coverage issues involving commercial auto, commercial property, cyber liability, directors & officers, excess and umbrella, general liability, and professional liability policies. Clients frequently retain Rob to advise them on policy limits/Stowers demands.

Rob also has extensive appellate and litigation experience, with a primary emphasis on “bad faith,” breach of contract, and declaratory judgment actions in courts around the country. He has worked on a wide variety of coverage disputes, including those involving advertising injuries, construction defects, environmental accidents, hail and wind damage, liquor liability, professional malpractice, trucking accidents, and uninsured motorists' claims. He has also handled sophisticated contract disputes involving insurance and indemnity issues in the oil and gas industry.

Rob has been selected by his peers as a Texas Super Lawyer every year since 2020 and Best Lawyers in Dallas since 2018. He is also a frequent author and lecturer on emerging coverage issues.

Rob is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. He and his wife, Sara, have two daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine. Rob volunteers frequently with his daughters’ school and other community organizations, including previously serving as a board member with the Epilepsy Foundation Texas-Dallas/Fort Worth for six years.

Services

Litigation
Insurance Coverage

Education

University of Miami School of Law, L.L.M., 2004
The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, J.D., 2003
Tulane University, B.A.,1999

Admissions

State Bar of Oklahoma, 2025
State Bar of New Mexico, 2019
State Bar of Texas, 2014
State Bar of Florida, 2005
State Bar of New York, 2004
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Distinctions & Certifications

Best Lawyers, D Magazine (2018- 2025)
Super Lawyers (2025)

Representative Experience

Willow Bridge Prop. Co., LLC v. Arch Specialty Ins. Co., No. 3:24-CV-0029-D, 2024 WL 5240154 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 27, 2024)
Century Sur. Co. v. Colgate Operating, L.L.C., 116 F.4th 345, 351 (5th Cir. 2024)
Hallmark Specialty Ins. Co. v. Frank Winston Crum Ins., 1:22-CV-00579-MJT, 2024 WL 1338051 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 28, 2024)
Star Ins. Co. v. Bullock Construction LLC, No. 4:22-CV-02403 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 20, 2023)
Walker Homes, Inc. v. Century Surety Co., No. 1-22-CV-00350 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 24, 2022)
Finger Oil & Gas, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., 5-20-CV-00712, 2021 WL 1241972 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 27, 2022)
Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. V. Progressive County Mut. Ins. Co., 4:21-CV-03297 (S.D. Tex. July, 19, 2022)
Acuity, A Mut. Ins. Co. v. Dominguez, No. 4:21-CV-0417-O, 2021 WL 4748584 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 12, 2021)
Star Ins. Co. v. Montoya, No. 1:19-CV-1243-RP, 2021 WL 1135030 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 8, 2021)
Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Century Ins. Co., Case No. H-18-1444, 2019 WL 3067504 (S.D. Tex. July 12, 2019)
Evanston Ins. Co. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., 909 F.3d 143 (5th Cir. 2018)
Children’s Hospital Colorado v. Lexington Ins. Co., No. 15-CV-01904-RPM, 2017 WL 1356092 (D. Colo. Apr. 13, 2017)
Paton v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., No. CV H-15-1371, 2016 WL 3900799 (S.D. Tex. July 19, 2016)
Capson Physicians Ins. Co. v. MMIC Ins. Inc., 829 F.3d 951 (8th Cir. 2016)
Mid-Continent Cas. Co. v. Christians Dev. Co., Inc., No. A-16-CV-031-LY, 2016 WL 6075573 (W.D. Tex. June 9, 2016)
SPJST Lodge #154 & Am. Sokol Org. v. Century Sur. Co., No. 4:15-CV-710-O, 2015 WL 12699508 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 23, 2015)
Evanston Ins. Co. v. Harbor Walk Dev., LLC, 814 F. Supp. 2d 635 (E.D. Va. 2011)
Gen. Fid. Ins. Co. v. Foster, 808 F. Supp. 2d 1315, 1316 (S.D. Fla. 2011)
Golding v. Drescher, 56 So. 3d 14 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2011)
Advantage Gen. Ins. Co. v. KILN/QBE Int'l, 8 So. 3d 1213, 1214 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2009)
Zeiger Crane Rentals, Inc. v. Double A Indus., Inc., 16 So. 3d 907 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2009)
Sys. Components Corp. v. Dep't of Transp., 985 So. 2d 687 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2008)

Publications & Speeches

Co-Author and Co-Presenter, The Texas Anti-Indemnity Act – Over Ten Years Later and Still Significant Uncertainty, 21st Annual Advanced Insurance Law, State Bar of Texas, June 6, 2024
Presenter, An Update on Stowers, 31st Annual Insurance Symposium, April 5, 2024
The Texas Anti-Indemnity Act, 18th Annual Construction Symposium, February 2, 2024
Stowers: Back to the Basics, 30th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 21, 2023
Stowers: Predictable Plots and Stumbling Blocks – A Panel Discussion, 30th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 21, 2023
Keep Truckin’! Coverage and the MCS-90, 30th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 21, 2023
Rescission vs. Cancellation, 29th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 8, 2022
Update on the Eight Corners Rule in Texas, 29th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 8, 2022
Construction Update, 18th Annual Advanced Insurance Seminar, October 1, 2021
Co-Author and Co-Presenter, Anti-Indemnity Laws Impact on Construction Projects, 2021 CLM Construction Conference, September 23, 2021
Co-Author, Puzzling Out the Laws, CLM Construction Claims Magazine, September 2021
542A Elections, 28th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 9, 2021
Exploring the 8 Corners Rule: Extrinsic Evidence & The Duty to Defend, 28th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 9, 2021
The Anti-Indemnity Act’s Impact on the Duty to Defend, 16th Annual Construction Symposium, January 29, 2021
THC, CBD, and Me: The ABC’s of Cannabis and its Effect on Claims, Medicine, Legislation, and Litigation, CLM Focus, November 3, 2020
Co-Author and Co-Presenter, Ripping and Tearing Your Way Into Coverage, CLM Construction Conference, October 1, 2020
Presenter and Author, Determining the Applicable Substantive Law for the Insurance Coverage Lawsuit, 17th Annual Advanced Insurance Law Course, State Bar of Texas, June 4, 2020
No Coverage for Attorney's Fees, 25th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 5, 2019
Insurance Coverage for Rip and Tear Costs, 14th Annual Construction Symposium, January 25, 2019
Unlocking the Mystery of Use of Extrinsic Evidence in the Duty to Defend, September 19, 2018
U.S. Metals and the Aftermath, 25th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 2018
Last Man Standing: Allocation of Settlements and Triggering Coverage, 13th Annual Construction Symposium, January 2018
I Rip, You Tear, the Carrier Pays?, 2017 CLM & Business Insurance Construction Conference, October 11, 2017
Allocation and Other Insurance, 24th Annual Insurance Symposium, April 7, 2017
Author, Texas Supreme Court Denies Rehearing in U.S. Metals v. Liberty Mutual, Journal of Texas Insurance Law, Fall 2016, Volume 14, Number 2.
U.S. Metals: "Physical Injury"; "Impaired Property" Exclusion; Impact On “Rip And Tear” Costs, 23rd Annual Insurance Symposium, April 8, 2016
UTCLE 19th Annual Insurance Law Institute, Co-Author of “Environmental Claims: Old Battles—New Issues,” November 13-14, 201
Co-Author, Burden of Proof in Coverage Litigation (in five parts), IRMI (2013-14)
Co-Author, Arising out of: How Strong is the Connection?, IRMI (August 2010)