R. Brandon McCullough
Practice Areas
Overview
Brandon concentrates his practice primarily in the areas of insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, and complex commercial and business litigation. He represents international and domestic insurance companies in a wide array of coverage disputes in trial courts and on appeal in both state and federal courts. He has litigated and counseled insurers on issues involving numerous types of commercial and personal lines insurance policies, including commercial general liability, excess and umbrella liability, first-party property, builders’ risk, healthcare liability, directors and officers liability, environmental liability, auto liability, trucking liability, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and other specialty insurance products. Brandon’s coverage matters have included disputes over coverage for construction defects, environmental contamination, fires, explosions, equipment failures, latent and progressive injuries, sexual abuse claims, trucking accidents, and natural disasters. He also regularly represents insurers in high-exposure bad faith claims and has litigated and handled appeals in several of the most significant bad faith cases in Pennsylvania history. Brandon’s coverage practice also includes regularly providing insurance coverage opinions and advice to insurers throughout the claims handling process.
In addition to his coverage work, Brandon also has represented businesses and individuals in a wide variety of complex litigation matters, including cases involving restrictive covenants and trade secrets, securities fraud, breach of commercial contracts, professional liability of accountants, engineers and insurance brokers/agents, products liability, estates and trusts litigation, civil rights, property damage and personal injury.
Brandon is an active member of the Insurance Law Committee of DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar and the Allegheny County Bar Association, where he has taken on multiple leadership roles. He recently concluded serving a three-year term as a council member for the Federal Court Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association. He also served as Program Chair for the 2023 DRI Insurance Bad Faith and Extra-Contractual Liability Seminar held in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also a member of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA), a private, invitation-only, international organization of top defense trial lawyers.
Brandon has been elected as a Fellow in the prestigious American College of Coverage Counsel (ACCC). The ACCC is a national organization comprised of preeminent lawyers involved in coverage and extracontractual matters, with Fellows representing both policyholders and insurers and Honorary members from academia. As a member of the ACCC, Brandon joins an elite group of 400 distinguished lawyers from the United States and Canada, further solidifying his status as a leading authority in insurance coverage and bad faith law
Brandon regularly publishes articles and speaks at national and state-wide programs on insurance law and bad faith topics. He is also a graduate of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy, held at Stanford Law School. He has been selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2024, and was selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star each year from 2013 to 2023.
During law school, Brandon completed judicial internships with the Honorable Joy Flowers Conti of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Honorable John A. Zottola of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He also served as a law clerk for the staff counsel for a major insurance company.
Experience
Education & Credentials
Education
- Duquesne University, J.D. Cum Laude
- University of Pittsburgh, B.S. Magna Cum Laude
Bar Admissions
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit