Heidi Vogt is a Shareholder with substantial and broad experience in litigation matters with a particular focus on insurance coverage disputes, commercial disputes and complex litigation.  

Heidi serves as the co-Chair of the Insurance Coverage and Risk Management Section. She has represented insurance companies in Wisconsin and across the country in both state and federal courts in complex insurance coverage matters for more than 30 years. She represents and counsels insurance clients on a wide variety of topics including general liability, environmental, asbestos, toxic tort, products, construction defect, mold, bad faith, mass tort, trucking, intellectual property, firearms litigation, employer liability, first party property, and professional liability. She is frequently retained to negotiate and draft allocation agreements among insurers and develop creative solutions to various insurance coverage issues.

Heidi lectures on a wide variety of topics including environmental insurance coverage, claims handling best practices, bad faith litigation, motor carrier issues, and advertising injury liability/personal injury liability coverage.

The following is a representative sample of her experience representing insurers in insurance coverage matters:

• Obtained a no coverage determination from the appellate court on behalf of two insurers in an environmental coverage case where the insured sought to recover over $68 million.
• Represented an insurer in COVID cases including class action cases as well as single plaintiff cases. 
• Represented primary insurer of a municipality involved in a high-profile shooting in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Represented several insurers in numerous environmental insurance coverage actions involving PCB contamination of the Fox River, the estimated cleanup was over $1 billion.
• Represented insurer of two RV manufacturers in multidistrict litigation venued in the Eastern District of Louisiana involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs alleging bodily injuries arising out of formaldehyde exposure after living in emergency housing units made available by FEMA following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
• Represented insurer in the City of Edgerton action, one of the first environmental insurance coverage matters in Wisconsin, and a case in which the Wisconsin Supreme Court first ruled on the issue of “suit” and “damages” in the environmental insurance coverage context.
• Represented insurers to favorable conclusion in a variety of environmental contamination actions across the country, including multiple actions with cleanup costs in excess of $100 million.
• Represented primary insurer in Louisiana action involving tens of thousands of asbestos claims; negotiated and drafted a cost share agreement.
• Represented a health insurer in bad faith actions in more than ten cases across the country.
• Represented a primary insurer of a food manufacturer concerning bodily injury claims resulting from allegedly tainted food product.
• Represented insurers in numerous construction defect and product liability cases across the country.
• Represented an insurer of a national retail chain that went into bankruptcy relative to the bankruptcy issues presented as well as personal injury and property damage claims asserted under the policies.
• Represented an insurer of restaurants and taverns in numerous actions arising out of alleged sexual assault by an employee of a co-worker or patron.
• Represented excess insurer in a dispute between a primary insurer and the excess insurer concerning the primary insurer’s duty to settle within primary limits, potential exposure exceeded $50 million.
• Represented insurer in an insurance dispute involving a component part manufactured for the auto industry, alleged damages exceeded $10 million.
• Represented Complex Insurance Claims Litigation Association and the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance as amicus curiae in a number of appeals including Society Insurance, a Mutual Company v. Town of Franklin; Plastics Engineering Co. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co.; Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. of Wisconsin v. Bradley Corp.; Vance v. Sukup; Hydrite Chemical v. Aetna Cas. & Surety Co.; and, Columbia Casualty Co. v. Appleton Papers Inc.

The following list is a small representative sample of her experience in non-insurance matters:

• Represented an owner of manufacturing facility where more than 150 former or current residents of the adjacent neighborhood asserted bodily injuries and property damage claims due to alleged exposure to Penta contamination.
• Represented more than 100 property-poor school districts in an action against the State of Wisconsin seeking a declaration that the school finance formula for public education was unconstitutional.
• Represented a foreign exchange program that was sued by a student claiming the organization was negligent after she was sexually abused by her host father.
• Represented a component part manufacturer involved in a massive recall of a boat component part.
• Represented a plaintiff in an attorney malpractice action, jury found the attorney had committed malpractice.
• Represented an owner of shopping malls in several states relative to environmental matters.

Representative published decisions:

• Johnson Controls v. Central National
• Martinsville Corral vs. Society Insurance
• Ruan Transport v. Sentry Insurance A Mutual Company
• Sentry Insurance A Mutual Company v. Ironshore Specialty Insurance Company
• City of Edgerton v. General Casualty Company of Wisconsin
• Alsteen v. Wauleco, Inc.
• Menasha Corp. v. Lumberman’s Mutual Casualty Company
• State v. City of Rhinelander
• Quad/Graphics, Inc. v. One2One Communications, LLC
• Kristin Beul, et al. v. ASSE International, Inc., et al.