People
Karen M. Dixon
Partner
- Chicago
Biography
Karen Dixon devotes her practice to counseling insurers on complex insurance coverage issues and litigating coverage matters on their behalf under commercial general liability, professional liability, pollution liability, and workers compensation and employers liability insurance policies. She institutes as well as defends coverage litigation on an insurer’s behalf, ranging from opioids, sexual abuse, to Biometric Information Privacy Act claims.
In addition, Karen has a counseling practice focused on advising an insurer throughout the entire claim handling process. She has substantial experience in working with clients on making coverage determinations, drafting coverage position letters, selecting defense counsel, coordinating cost share agreements and pursuing other sources of recovery.
Karen is a Chambers USA Ranked lawyer, client feedback describes her as “a great strategic thinker” with “a burgeoning reputation among insurers for her expertise in mass tort, personal injury, and data privacy matters.” Clients also note, “Karen is a terrific coverage lawyer who is both pragmatic and thoughtful in her approach,” and she is known for providing “opinions and findings with confidence and regularly offers recommendations on the best path forward.”
In addition, Karen has a counseling practice focused on advising an insurer throughout the entire claim handling process. She has substantial experience in working with clients on making coverage determinations, drafting coverage position letters, selecting defense counsel, coordinating cost share agreements and pursuing other sources of recovery.
Karen is a Chambers USA Ranked lawyer, client feedback describes her as “a great strategic thinker” with “a burgeoning reputation among insurers for her expertise in mass tort, personal injury, and data privacy matters.” Clients also note, “Karen is a terrific coverage lawyer who is both pragmatic and thoughtful in her approach,” and she is known for providing “opinions and findings with confidence and regularly offers recommendations on the best path forward.”
Honors
- Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Insurance: Dispute Resolution-Illinois, 2022 - present
- AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability
- American College of Coverage Counsel, Fellow
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Insurance Law, 2021 - present
- Leading Lawyers, 2017-2019
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association
- DRI
- Union League Club of Chicago
- IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law – Alumni Board of Directors, 2012-2018
Experience
EXPERIENCE
Karen has represented and counseled insurers in matters involving a wide-variety of coverage issues. The following is a representative sample of certain types of matters in which she is routinely involved:- Obtained summary judgment in client’s favor that it had no obligation to defend or indemnify underlying opioid litigation by governments and Native American tribes.
- Obtained judgment in insurer client's favor that it had no obligation to indemnify an $8 million consent judgment in an underlying blast fax case.
- Secured judgment in insurer client's favor that it had no duty to defend or indemnify multiple underlying diacetyl injury suits based on corporate succession and coverage law.
- Successfully negotiated multiple coverage-in-place and defense cost allocation agreements on behalf of insurers.
Publications & Presentations
- What is BIPA and Is there Insurance Coverage for it? Should I even Care if I'm not in Illinois? American College of Coverage Counsel 11th Annual Meeting, May 12, 2023, Panelist.
- What is BIPA and Is there Insurance Coverage for it? University of Illinois Presentation, Urbana-Champaign, IL, April 24, 2023, Panelist.
- Hot Topics Overview - Opioid Litigation, PERRIN Insurance Coverage & Allocation Conference, Chicago IL, April 18, 2023, Panelist.
- What is BIPA and Is there Insurance Coverage for it? Should I even Care if I'm not in Illinois? ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar, Tucson, AZ, March 3, 2023, Panelist; 2022 ABA Women in Insurance Network (WIN) Regional CLE Program, Washington, D.C., October 13, 2022, Panelist.
- The Dynamic of the Defunct Insured and Bad Faith, For the Defense, May 2020, Co-Author.
- The Insurance Jungle – Navigating your Way to Successful Results, IICLE, St. Louis, Missouri, May 4, 2015, Panelist.
- Choice of Law, IICLE Handling Insurance Coverage Disputes, Chicago, Illinois, September 5, 2014 and Bloomington, Illinois, September 17, 2014, Presenter.
- Choice of Law, Handling Insurance Coverage Disputes, IICLE, September 2014, Presenter.
- The Nuts and Bolts of Illinois' Target Tender Doctrine, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, February 14, 2012, Presenter.
- Excess Insurance – Keeping Tabs on the Primary Insurer in a Developing World of Insolvency, Allocation, and Number of Occurrences, Emerging Issues in Insurance Coverage, The Chicago Bar Association, April 21, 2009, Presenter.
- Excess Insurance, Chapter 19, Commercial and Professional Liability Insurance, IICLE 19-1 (since 2022)
- The Insurer's Contract 'Right' to Defend-the 'Tripartite' Relationship Reconsidered, 39 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 1119, 2004.
News
Skarzynski Marick Lawyers Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2025
08/15/2024Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP is proud to announce that Michael Marick, John Black, Karen M. Dixon, James Kallianis, Michael Rosen, and Timothy Wright have been selected for inclusion in the 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Insurance Law.
Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes Skarzynski Marick & Black and Individual Lawyers in Insurance Dispute Resolution
06/06/2024The 2024 edition of Chambers USA: Leading Lawyers for Business has ranked Skarzynski Marick & Black LLP for “Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer.” This year, the firm received a Band 1 ranking in Illinois and a new ranking for New York. Individually ranked lawyers include Illinois-based partners Michael M. Marick, James H. Kallianis, and Karen M. Dixon and New York-based partner, James A. Skarzynski. Chambers highlights the firm as being “very knowledgeable and thorough, with a deep bench of talented insurance coverage lawyers,” and “the team combines technical expertise with sound judgement and strategic thinking.”
Firm Events
ABA Litigation Section Women in Insurance Conference
10/08/2024Karen M. Dixon will be speaking on a panel titled, “How to re-CLAIM Efficiency When Arbitrating Insurance Disputes,” as part of the ABA Litigation Section Women in Insurance conference.
2023 American College of Coverage Counsel - 11th Annual Meeting
04/25/2023James Skarzynski and Karen M. Dixon will be speaking on upcoming panels for the American College of Coverage Counsel - 11th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
PERRIN Insurance Coverage & Allocation Issues Conference
04/18/2023Karen M. Dixon will be speaking on the panel, “Hot Topics Overview” on April 18th for the PERRIN Insurance Coverage & Allocation Issues Conference in Chicago, IL. The session will be moderated by Bryan Feldscher.
2022 ABA Women in Insurance Network (WIN) Regional CLE Program
10/13/2022Karen M. Dixon will be presenting at the 2022 ABA Women in Insurance Network Regional CLE Program in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, October 13th.