Gerard F. Pignato

Gerard F. Pignato has been practicing in Oklahoma since 1985 and has extensive trial and litigation experience.

During his practice career, Mr. Pignato has reviewed and analyzed thousands of claim files from many different insurance companies. He has participated in roundtable discussions, claim handling, and bad faith risk avoidance activities as part of his insurance law practice. He has given countless presentations to insurance companies and self-insured risk retention groups on a variety of coverage, claim handling, and bad faith issues. Mr. Pignato is responsible for numerous reported decisions, state and federal. A list of his reported decisions is set forth below.

Mr. Pignato has been involved in the drafting of insurance policies, including endorsements to those policies, and has also drafted comparable plan documents for self-insurers. He has worked closely with insurance company committees and corporate counsel in connection with the evaluation of existing policy language and possible amendments.

Martindale Hubbell has rated Mr. Pignato an “AV” which is the highest rating awarded in terms of skill, integrity and ethics. He has been listed as one of the top attorneys in Oklahoma in Oklahoma Magazine and Distinctly Oklahoma Magazine. He has also been selected as a Super Lawyer (2013-2023), a “Top Rated Lawyer” in American Lawyer & Corporate Counsel Magazine and is published in the Top 100 Magazine for excellence in the field of insurance law. Mr. Pignato has tried well over 100 jury cases in both state and federal courts across the state and has tried more than 20 bad faith cases to jury verdict. He lectures locally and nationally on insurance topics, with particular emphasis on bad faith litigation and coverage disputes.

Practice Areas

Complex insurance litigation
Bad faith litigation
Automobile Law
Government Tort Law
Water Law

Education

Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island (B.A. 1981)

University of Oklahoma College of Law
Norman, Oklahoma (J.D. 1984)

Bar Admissions

State of Oklahoma
United States District Court
(Western, Northern and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma)
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Reported Decisions

Palmer v. Beech Aircraft, 897 F,2d 1529 (10th Cir. 1990)
Woods v. Budget Rent-A-Car, 825 P.2d 1350 (OKla. 1992)
Nitzel v. Hon. Niles Jackson, 879 P.2d 1222(Okla. 1994)
McSorley v. Hertz Corporation, 885 P.2d 1343 (Okla. 1994)
In re Cooper Mfg. Corp. v. The Home Indemnity Company, 131 F.Supp.2d 1320 (N.D. Okla. 2001)
Horn v. GEICO, 86 Fed. Appx. 405 (10th Cir. 2004)
Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma – Self Insured Group v. National American Insurance Company, 116 P.3d 206 (Okla. Civ. App. 2005)
Tal v. Hogan, 453 F.3d 1244 (10th Cir. 2006)
Hackworth v. Progressive Insurance Company, 468 F.3d 722 (10th Cir. 2006)
Garnett v. GEICO, 186 P.3d 935 (Okla. 2008)
GEICO v. Quine, 264 P.3d 1245 (Okla. 2011)
Western World Insurance Company v. Markel American Insurance Company, 677 F.3d 1266 (10th Cir. 2012)
Griffey v. Kibois Area Transit Systems, 328 P.3d 687 (Okla. Civ. App. 2014)
Sinor’s Long Bay Marina v. Wagoner County RWD No. 2, 335 P.3d 262 (Okla. 2014)
Board of County Commissioners of Delaware County v. Association of County Commissioners, 339 P.3d 866 (Okla. 2016)
Heath v. Guardian Interlock Network, Inc., 369 P.3d 374 (Okla. 2016)
Martin v. Gray, 385 P.3d 64 (Okla. 2016)
Satterfield v. GEICO, 287 F.Supp.3d 1285 (W.D. OKla. 2018)
Dallas v. GEICO, 445 P.3d 873 (Okla. Civ. App. 2019)
Shotts v. GEICO, 943 F. 3d 1304 (10th Cir. 2019)
Burns v. Combites, 2020 OK CIV APP 11, 471 P.3d 87.
Faust Corporation v. Harris, 2020 OK CIV APP 20, 467 P. 3d 710.
Johnson v. CSAA Gen. Ins. Co., 478 P.3d 422 (Okla. 2020).
Hickman v. State of Oklahoma ex rel. Service Oklahoma and GEICO Casualty Company, 2023 OK CIV ALL 17, ___ P.3d___.

Professional Activities

Oklahoma Bar Association
Defense Research Institute (DRI)

Publications

Pignato, Gerard F., WHEN A CONFLICT OF INTEREST ARISING OUT OF A RESERVATION OF RIGHTS ALLOWS AN INSURED TO SELECT HIS OWN COUNSEL AND CONTROL THE DEFENSE, AN OKLAHOMA FORECAST, 64 OBJ 1646 (1993)