Wisconsin Commercial Property & Large-Loss Insurance Attorneys

Yes, frequently. Brokers know our practice and refer commercial property losses; we collaborate without disturbing the broker relationship and brief brokers throughout the claim. Public adjusters often partner with us on technical estimating where coverage litigation is also needed — PAs handle the loss-side estimate, we handle the coverage-side legal posture. We don't compete with brokers or PAs; we add the litigation backstop they don't provide.

On contingency: no upfront cost, and no fee unless we recover money for you. Commercial claims vary in size and complexity, so we'll walk through exactly how the engagement works on your first call — which is free.

These are formal investigation tools the carrier can require under most commercial policies. An EUO is a recorded examination under oath; a Sworn Proof of Loss is a notarized formal claim statement. Both are mandatory if properly demanded, but both have significant procedural requirements the carrier often gets wrong. We attend EUOs with our clients, prepare the witness, and challenge defective demands. We assist with Sworn Proofs of Loss to ensure the carrier cannot use a technical defect to deny the claim. Treat any EUO or SPL demand as a serious moment to engage counsel — the carrier is preserving its denial position.

Depends on the loss profile. Appraisal under most commercial policies (ISO CP 00 10 and variants) is a binding three-person panel — each side appoints an appraiser, the appraisers choose an umpire — and the panel sets the loss amount. Carriers increasingly invoke appraisal because it can foreclose coverage litigation and can favor the carrier on contested causation questions. Sometimes accepting appraisal is the right move (clear coverage, just an amount dispute, where you have a strong appraiser). Often it's not (causation contested, BI complex, bad-faith leverage available). We run the math on both sides before responding to a carrier appraisal demand, and we handle the appraisal process if that's where the case goes.

BI calculations turn on three things: the period of restoration (how long until the business returns to pre-loss operations), the gross earnings or gross profit calculation method (depending on policy wording), and the extra-expense component. Disputes typically concentrate on (1) carrier attempts to compress the period of restoration to maximize savings, (2) gross-earnings vs. gross-profit methodology disagreements, (3) the make-up sales offset, (4) seasonal-business adjustments, and (5) the documentation supporting projected earnings. We work with forensic accountants on the BI calculation — typically retained at the start of the engagement — and the policy's BI worksheet endorsement controls a lot of the math.

Yes. Alongside our commercial work, we take on catastrophic residential losses: total-loss fire, tornado, severe hail and wind, and severe water damage. These cases run through the same Wisconsin fair-claims framework and the same litigation team we use every day for commercial claims, so homeowners get the same muscle behind their claim.

We represent only policyholders — never carriers, never adjuster panels, never insurance defense. This eliminates the most common conflict in commercial property work: the same carriers appear repeatedly across files, and defense firms that work with those carriers cannot represent you against them. We're not conflicted out by an existing carrier relationship because we don't have any. We also screen new matters carefully — if you've been referred by your broker or PA, we confirm there's no conflict on their side before engaging.

Wisconsin treats a policy as a contract and expects insurers to handle claims fairly — investigate promptly, explain a denial, and not stall or lowball to force a cheap settlement. When a carrier's conduct falls short of those standards, that conduct becomes part of the case rather than a footnote to it. Two practical points for Wisconsin commercial policyholders: the suit-limitation clause in your policy can be short and generally runs from the date of loss rather than the date of denial, and a documented record — scope, business income, and every carrier delay — is the strongest leverage you have. Building that record and putting the carrier's conduct into the demand is the core of how we move commercial claims.