From advising clients at policy renewal and through the claims process to representing clients in litigation or alternative dispute resolution of coverage disputes, Latosha delivers comprehensive end-to-end counsel. She regularly advises and represents clients on all major forms of insurance coverage — commercial general liability, directors and officers liability (D&O), business interruption, event cancellation, employment practices liability, and cyber. She has handled and tried cases in state and federal trial courts throughout the country. She also has experience representing clients in products liability, alcohol beverage control litigation, and other complex litigation matters.

Latosha is an accomplished author and lecturer on topics related to insurance coverage and risk management. She has presented at seminars across the country, including the ABA Women In Insurance Network (WIN) annual conference on emerging issues in insurance coverage for cannabis operations and the ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar on General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR). She is active in the American Bar Association and currently serves as Treasurer of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She previously served as Treasurer-Elect for the organization during the 2021-2022 term and Secretary during the 2020-2021 term. Latosha has an active pro bono practice, which includes vigorously fighting for full democracy for D.C.’s disenfranchised residents.

Relevant Experience

• Analyzed coverage for COVID-19 losses, including business interruption and event cancellation, for various industries, including global private equity firm portfolio companies, financial institutions, retailers, and non-profit organizations
• Represented cedent in state and federal court disputes with facultative reinsurers over coverage for payments for underlying asbestos lawsuits, and involving follow-the-fortunes and follow-the-settlements doctrines, allocation disputes, and reinsurance limits disputes
• Represented the interests of a large utility provider in an action to recover costs related to environmental cleanup from more than two dozen excess liability insurance carriers, and involving issues related to the expected or intended loss doctrine, coverage trigger, and allocation
• Recovered first-party expenses incurred in response to privacy breach incident for national home services provider
• Represented the interests of a multi-national automotive manufacturer in obtaining multiple voluntary dismissals of products liability suits alleging defective airbags
• Obtained jury verdict for cedent in federal court dispute with facultative reinsurer over coverage for underlying asbestos lawsuits
• Obtained jury verdict for a multi-national automotive manufacturer in a two week trial in a wrongful death and survival action suit alleging manufacturer and design defects
• Obtained reversal on appeal of a decision by the Virginia ABC Board to terminate an existing beer franchise agreement for a Virginia beer wholesaler
• Prevailed on a motion to dismiss claims of breach of contract for a large garage door corporation

Education
BA, University of Cincinnati, 2001

• Year in Review: Top Insurance Cases of 2020

  By Latosha Ellis |January 2021

• Year in Review: Top Insurance Cases of 2018

  By Latosha Ellis |January 2019

• Riot-Related Damage, Income Losses Covered Under Most Business Owners’ Policies, Daily Business Review
• Expert Analysis: Gov't Shutdown Can Trigger Event Cancellation Insurance, Law360
• Year in review: Top insurance cases of 2018, Thomson Reuters Westlaw
• 2020 Year in Review: Top Insurance Cases of 2020, American Bar Association
• Top Insurance Cases of 2020 - Part 1: Business Interruption, Insurance Coverage Law Center
• Top Insurance Cases of 2020: Part 2 - Other Noteworthy Cases, Insurance Coverage Law Center
• Supply Chain Disruption? Don’t Overlook Insurance, Retail Industry 2021 Year in Review
• Key Lessons From Peloton’s Tread+ Recall, Risk Management Magazine
• Lift as You Climb: Accepting the Call to Mentorship, TYL Digital Publication, American Bar Association
• When Good Isn't Good Enough: Interpreting Undefined “Best Efforts” Clauses in Virginia, VBA Journal
• The New Bermuda Triangle: Arbitration of Coverage Disputes Under the Bermuda Form, American College of Coverage Counsel Member News Article of the Month
• What are the Options? Litigating the Availability of Safety Features, The Brief, ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Journal
• Do the Right Thing: Do Virginia Lawyers Need a Rule for That? YLC Docket Call, Virginia State Bar
• To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate? That is the Captive Cell Question, Business Law Today
• On the Record: The Importance of Issue Preservation Throughout Litigation, Virginia Lawyer Magazine
• Outside Counsel Statements and the Party Exception to Hearsay, ABA Litigation - Pretrial Practice & Discovery
• “Insurance Law in the District of Columbia,” The District of Columbia Practice Manual 2020 Update
• Cybersecurity Insurance – Mitigating Compliance Risk Under the DFARS and Other Federal Regulations, Contract Management
• 2020 Retail Industry Year in Review