Joel C. Hopkins

Joel Hopkins' business practice includes counseling insurance companies, risk retention groups, producers, self-insureds, third party administrators and policyholders in regulatory, organizational, operational, coverage, claims, bad faith and insolvency issues. He regularly counsels business clients on a wide variety of insurance and risk transfer matters, including complicated coverage and program issues relating to mergers and acquisitions. He counsels a diverse group of clients on insurance product development, compliance and evaluation. He also creates, reviews and improves claims, coverage and regulatory policies, procedures and manuals, and has participated in numerous expert evaluations of coverage and claim disputes.

Joel serves as claims and coverage counsel to several professional liability insurers, risk retention groups, group captives and self-insureds. His 10 years of insurance industry experience provides clients with practical claims handling and coverage advice with a focus on regulatory compliance and bad faith prevention. He recently served as counsel to a large self-insured health plan and currently acts as the administrator of a self-insured workers' compensation fund.

In his insurance litigation practice, Joel represents insurers, self-insureds, producers, third party administrators and policyholders in contractual and regulatory disputes arising under life, health and property and casualty insurance policies. He has litigated numerous coverage and bad faith actions in state and federal courts and has represented insurers and producers in actions before state insurance departments, including regulatory investigations and enforcement and licensure actions. He has defended many insurers and producers in actions brought by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department as the rehabilitator or liquidator of insolvent insurers.

Joel is a frequent lecturer on a variety of insurance related topics, including insurance coverage, claims and bad faith, non-insurance risk transfers, captives, risk retention groups, self insurance and contract surety, among others. Joel is also certified as a Professional Mediator through the Mediation Training Institute International.

In addition to his insurance practice, Joel’s practice also includes transactional and litigation work associated with public and private construction projects.

Prior to joining Saul Ewing, Joel worked for nearly 10 years as an insurance professional with two major insurance companies. During that time, he earned his Associate in Risk Management and Associate in Claims designations from the Insurance Institute of America.

Joel is admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania state and federal courts and in New Jersey state courts and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.