Michael J. deBarros

"Regardless of the challenge at hand, I bring a level of intensity and efficiency that results in proactive and thoughtful advocacy on behalf of insureds faced with high-stakes, complex insurance disputes."

Mike deBarros is the leader of Kean Miller’s Insurance Coverage and Recovery practice group. Mike represents insureds in obtaining the insurance coverage they bargained for. He regularly represents Fortune 500 companies and local businesses against insurance companies.

Mike has handled hundreds of Texas and Louisiana insurance matters involving commercial general liability, directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, pollution liability, crime, builder's risk, commercial property, errors and omissions, and cyber/privacy insurance policies. He litigates and negotiates business-critical verdicts and settlements, often in excess of a million dollars.

From pursuing insurance carriers for failure to pay, to litigating settlements within stated policy limits, Mike has collectively recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients from insurance companies. He brings veteran know-how to enforcing policyholder rights under a wide variety of insurance policies.

Mike’s knowledge of Texas and Louisiana insurance law makes him a go-to advisor in the region. Mike helped “write the book” on insurance law. He is the author of the Louisiana and Florida chapters of the ABA's Reasonable Expectations: Interpreting Insurance Policies in Common Law Jurisdictions, and a co-author of the ABA’s The Reference Handbook on the Commercial General Liability Policy. Moreover, Mike’s familiarity with the major carriers often results in his ability to anticipate their next move and then leverage that position as the catalyst for his client’s win.

Mike also reviews, drafts, and negotiates a full array of insurance and indemnity provisions in service agreements, purchase orders, statements of work, leases, supply agreements, construction contracts (including AIA contracts), and other agreements – all designed to keep his clients away from potential liability and disputes. In everything he does, Mike is appreciated for being hyper-efficient in conserving client resources and bringing significant value to his clients.

In addition to his insurance coverage practice, Mike represents trustees, succession representatives, and businesses in a variety of commercial disputes, including trust and estate matters and antitrust, RICO, and shareholder derivative lawsuits.

Prior to joining the firm, Mike clerked for Chief Judge Ralph E. Tyson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, as well as for Justice Nkabinde in South Africa’s highest court. During law school, he served as a Judicial Extern for Justice John L. Weimer of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

These experiences allowed Mike to understand the court system from the inside out and have resulted in a higher level of efficiency and problem-solving for his clients – particularly before the Middle District of Louisiana and the Louisiana Supreme Court. Mike is fluent in the rules, protocols, and arguments that are most persuasive to these courts given that he analyzed claims as a court insider early in his career.