Francis P. Burns III is a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Lavin O’Neil Ricci Cedrone & DiSipio. Mr. Burns was one of the original members of the firm at its founding in 1985. He was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in 1978.
Mr. Burns’ practice is varied but focused principally on complex litigation involving the defense of product liability actions and all dimensions of insurance coverage including bad faith disputes, coverage analysis and declaratory judgment actions in which he has represented both insurance companies and policyholders. Mr. Burns’ experience includes the defense of class actions alleging defective product design and wrongful denial of insurance coverage.
His product liability litigation experience has been an area of national scope. He designed and directed a national program for field investigation, discovery management, risk assessment, expert witness selection and trial preparation for a body of actions involving allegations of defective design and failure to warn. He has been admitted to practice on a pro hac vice basis in more than ten states. Products at issue have included passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, material handling equipment, manufacturing equipment, pharmaceuticals, and office equipment.
Insurance coverage analysis and declaratory judgment litigation in state and federal courts has been a major part of his practice. Engagements have arisen under commercial general liability, professional liability, commercial auto, life and disability, commercial and personal auto, commercial property and homeowner policies. Mr. Burns is frequently consulted by other members of the firm when pending litigation triggers coverage issues affecting the duty to defend or indemnify the firm’s client or liability coverage available to co-defendants. He has defended insurance companies in bad faith actions and counseled businesses confronted with high exposure suits but limited insurance. Mr. Burns completed work on a Master of Laws in Health Law to further inform his practice interest in health care insurance coverage, HIPAA privacy regulations, and fraud and abuse laws applicable to federal benefit programs.
Most recently Mr. Burns has expanded his practice to include counseling religious communities on a variety of matters, including sexual abuse claims, liability insurance, health insurance and the duties of members of religious communities who serve as directors on boards of for-profit and non-profit corporations.
Mr. Burns graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, from St. Joseph’s College. He earned his Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law and his Master of Laws degree (Honoris Causa) from the Widener University School of Law. The Master of Laws focuses on Health Law in order to further inform Mr. Burns’ practice in health care insurance coverage, HIPAA privacy regulations, and fraud and abuse laws applicable to federal benefit programs.
In addition to his admission to practice in Pennsylvania, Mr. Burns has been admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. He has been admitted pro hac vice in more than ten states and he has tried cases in both state and federal courts.
Mr. Burns is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Pennsylvania Defense Institute, and the Defense Research Institute. He has lectured on the topics of case preparation and expert witnesses in the graduate program in trial advocacy at Temple Law School.
