Traci S. Rea

"Traci Rea is always attentive and helpful with the information she provides, and is quick to respond with any follow-up questions."
Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial client

Traci is a tested trial lawyer with 30 years of experience in delivering creative and efficient resolutions to her corporate clients’ complex commercial litigation. She has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance policy proceeds for her clients in a wide variety of contexts, including amounts due under mortgage insurance policies, professional liability policies, comprehensive general liability policies, first party property policies, fidelity bonds, title insurance policies, and directors and officers liability policies. Traci also has successfully represented clients in the financial, natural gas, health care, nutritional supplements, and manufacturing industries in a host of high-stakes commercial disputes. Her litigation experience includes actions seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage insurance for securitized mortgage pools, commercial oil and gas litigation raising issues of first impression, and countless multimillion-dollar complex commercial disputes. Traci has successfully resolved her clients’ complex commercial disputes in arbitrations and litigation in state and federal courts throughout the United States, including in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Illinois, California, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.

Experience

Representative matters

Led a trial team in a three-week international arbitration securing awards in excess of $40 million for our client in a contentious dispute with a former franchisee.

Served as trial counsel in a two-week arbitration where the panel dismissed $50 million breach of contract indemnity and fraud claims against our health care client.

Served as trial counsel for a major financial institution in a one-week bench trial in Delaware where the court dismissed all claims against our client for alleged breach of fiduciary duties in the administration of a substantial family trust fund.

Led a trial team in a three-week international arbitration securing awards in excess of $40 million for our client in a contentious dispute with a former franchisee.

Served as trial counsel in a two-week arbitration where the panel dismissed $50 million breach of contract indemnity and fraud claims against our health care client.

Authored amicus brief supporting the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting Act of 2001 as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al., 178 A.3d 737 (Pa. 2018).

Represented a major financial institution in insurance coverage litigation involving a $100 million fidelity bond claim arising out of employee dishonesty in connection with a complex life insurance credit facility.

Served as lead litigation counsel for a non-profit organization in a will contest action challenging the charitable distribution of a $30 million estate.

Served as trial counsel in three week shareholder oppression suit resulting in a $5 million jury verdict for an individual shareholder in a family business, as well as judicial award of attorneys’ fees.

The Babcock and Wilcox Co. v. American Nuclear Insurers, A.3d , 2015 WL 4430352 (Pa. July 21, 2015). Authored amicus brief advocating for the “reasonable settlement standard” ultimately adopted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the context of obtaining an insurance company’s consent to settle.

Fluor Corp. v. Superior Court of Orange County, 354 P.3d 302 (Cal. 2015). Authored an amicus brief resulting in the California Supreme Court’s reversal of the Henkel decision and a holding that insurance policies that are assigned after a loss occurs must respond to the liability.

United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Kelman Bottles, 538 Fed. Appx. 175 (3d Cir. Sept. 23, 2013). Represented client on appeal, resulting in the Third Circuit’s reversal of the district court’s no-coverage ruling on our client’s multimillion-dollar property damage claim.

Represented leading mortgage lender against mortgage insurers in various arbitrations and litigations across the country, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgage insurance proceeds on defaulted residential mortgages.

Successfully represented several clients in litigating insurance claims where the insurance carrier denied the claim contending there was no occurrence because the damages resulted from faulty workmanship.

Recognitions

Selected through peer review for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© for Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025
Ranked in Chambers USA for Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Litigation: General Commercial, 2025
Recognized by BTI Consulting as a 2020 BTI Client Service All Star

Credentials

Education

University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1995, J.D., magna cum laude; Order of the Coif, Member, University of Pittsburgh Law Review
University of Pittsburgh, 1990, B.A., French

Professional admissions & qualifications

Pennsylvania

Court admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals - Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals - Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court - Western District of Pennsylvania

Professional affiliations

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Children’s Theater Festival Advisory Board
The Pittsburgh Legal Diversity & Inclusion Coalition – Chair, Community Building Subcommittee
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity – Pittsburgh City Lead for Law Student Mentoring Programs

Clerkships

U.S. Court of Appeals - Third Circuit, Honorable Carol Los Mansmann

Practices

Insurance Recovery

Litigation & Disputes

False Claims Act

Class & Collective Action Litigation

Trials & Arbitrations

Media mentions

Insurance Cases To Watch In 2016

Traci S. Rea

Pittsburgh

Experience

Representative matters

Recognitions

Credentials

Education

Professional admissions & qualifications

Court admissions

Professional affiliations

Clerkships

Media mentions

Insurance Cases To Watch In 2016

Hanover’s 3rd Circ. Win Exposes Policyholders To Vague Suits

Policyholder keeps coverage despite merger

Obscure 1872 law provides new insurance policy guidance

Calif. Policy Transfer Ruling Ends Insurer ‘Windfall’

Policyholders entitled to coverage despite insurers’ refusal to settle

High Court Allows Insureds to Settle Without Insurer Consent

Insurers Could Face Inflated Settlements Under Pa. Ruling

Pa. Justices Bless Disputed $80M Radiation Settlements

4 Insurance Battlegrounds To Watch In Pennsylvania

Bad Faith Suits Poised To Rise After Pa. Assignment Ruling

Insurance Cases to Watch In 2015

Indalex Ruling Threatens Insurers with Greater Tort Exposure

Policyholders To Use Indalex As Ammo In Faulty Work Suits