Tamara Smith Holtslag

Tamara is an accomplished civil litigator and insurance coverage lawyer. Over the past 28 years, she has developed a particular expertise in handling complex insurance matters and insurance coverage litigation, advising clients on insurance coverage and best claims handling practices, defending medical professionals and others in professional liability and state board and licensure matters, and defending businesses and owners against business, tort and contract claims. She represents clients in the courts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including the state business courts and federal courts, in disciplinary matters before state licensing bodies, and in private arbitration.

In the area of insurance coverage litigation, Tamara has extensive experience representing insurers in declaratory judgment actions involving interpretation of policy language and determinations of coverage in various courts. She has successfully appealed many matters before the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Tamara counsels clients daily on insurance coverage issues, avoidance of bad faith claims, and other issues of insurance contract interpretation that often implicate the laws of various states across the nation.

Tamara is the Chair of the Insurance Law Section (2013 – present) of the New Hampshire Bar Association, a position that she has continually held since she petitioned the NHBA to establish the Insurance Law Section in 2012. She is also one of the founding leaders of the Boston Chapter of the Association of Professional Insurance Women, a national organization.

Tamara is a frequent speaker and panelist for industry and bar association events, the most recent of which include: the American Bar Association’s 31^st Annual Midyear Meeting of the Tort and Insurance Practice’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, “Recent Developments on an Insurer’s Right to Recoupment,” (February 23-25, 2023, Phoenix, Arizona); RIMS (The Risk Management Society) Presentation, “Coverage Litigation and Insurability of Business Interruptions Related to COVID” (January 25, 2023, Dover, New Hampshire); the New Hampshire Bar Association’s CLE, “Insurance Law 2021” (May 6, 2021, live webcast); the American Bar Association’s 27^th Annual Midyear Meeting of the Tort and Insurance Practice’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, “Developments in InsurTech and Insurance Coverage Issues Presented by the Sharing/Gig Economy,” (February 21-23, 2019, Phoenix, Arizona); and the New Hampshire Bar Association’s CLE, “Emerging Insurance Risks & Business Concerns in the Sharing Economy,”  (November 7, 2018, Concord, New Hampshire).

• Founder and member of Leadership Board, Boston Chapter of the Association of Professional Insurance Women
• Founder and Chair, Insurance Law Section, New Hampshire Bar Association (May 2013-Present)
• Boston Bar Association
• Women’s Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• American Bar Association

• Author, “Cyber Liability: An Overview of Corporate/Law Firm Exposure, Preparedness, and Cyber Insurance,”  New Hampshire Bar News, February 2024 (Co-Authored with Scarlett Rajbanshi, Esq. of Peabody & Arnold and Jessica Eldridge, Sr. VP & Practice Director of Cyber, J.S. Held Forensic Accounting/Insurance Service’s Practice)
• Speaker, the American Bar Association’s 31^st Annual Midyear Meeting of the Tort and Insurance Practice’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee: “Recent Developments on an Insurer’s Right to Recoupment,” February 23-25, 2023, Phoenix, Arizona
• Speaker, RIMS (The Risk Management Society) Presentation: “Coverage Litigation and Insurability of Business Interruptions Related to COVID,” January 25, 2023, Dover, New Hampshire
• Author, “Business Interruption Coverage Cases Still Trending Toward Insurers,” New Hampshire Bar News, February 16, 2022
• Faculty, New Hampshire Bar Association’s CLE: “Insurance Law 2021,” May 6, 2021, live webcast
• Author, “Businesses Largely Without First Party Insurance Coverage For Losses On Account Of Pandemic, Despite Coverage Lawsuits,” New Hampshire Bar News, February 17, 2021
• Faculty, American Bar Association, 27th Annual Midyear Meeting of the Tort and Insurance Practice’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee: “Developments in InsurTech and Insurance Coverage Issues Presented by the Sharing/Gig Economy,” February 21-23, 2019, Phoenix, Arizona
• Faculty, New Hampshire Bar Association CLE: “Emerging Insurance Risks & Business Concerns in the Sharing Economy,” November 7, 2018, Concord, NH
• Faculty, New Hampshire Bar Association CLE: “Auto and Uninsured Motorist Insurance in New Hampshire,” April 13, 2017, Concord, NH
• Faculty, New Hampshire Bar Association CLE: “Cyber Liability & Data Breach from the Insurance & Business Perspective,” September 2015, Concord, NH
• Faculty, Boston Bar Association Seminar: “Common Coverage Issues: Or Everything You Need to Know About Insurance Before You Are Sued,” May 2015, Boston, MA
• Faculty, Willis 9th Annual Managed Care Organization/Pharmacy Benefit Manager Roundtable Roundtable: “High Octane Coverage Issues in Managed Care E&O,” October 2014, Chicago, IL
• Faculty, New Hampshire Bar Association Annual Meeting: “Insurance Law Update,” 2013, Concord, NH
• Faculty, MCLE’s 15th Annual Employment Law Conference, 2012, Boston, MA
• Author, “Mandatory Reporting Under Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA) in the Employment Law Context,” MCLE, Employment Law Conference, 2012
• Author, “New Medicare Secondary Payer Act Has Teeth: How to Protect Your Clients,” New Hampshire Bar News, December 2011
• Author, “Vicarious Liability: Let the Master Answer,” American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, June 2007

• AIG Property Casualty Company v. Lee Rosenthal & Ryan Denver, No. 22-CV-11401-ADB, 2024 WL 1075157 (D. Mass. Mar. 12, 2024) (summary judgment for insurer holding that insurer did not have a duty to defend insured who breached duty to cooperate by refusing to sit for examination under oath.)
• Nahant Pres. Tr., Inc. v. Mount Vernon Fire Ins. Co., 78 F.4th 48 (1st Cir. 2023) (affirming district court’s dismissal of lawsuit where insured provided late notice under claims-made policy.)
• Mary Alexandre v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA , 514 F. Supp.3d 375 (D. Mass. Jan. 20, 2021) (Affirmed on appeal to the First Circuit, 22 F. 4th 261 (Jan. 3, 2022) (Obtained summary judgment ruling in favor of insurer client in federal court, holding that claim administrator’s decision to deny AD&D benefits under an ERISA plan was supported by the substantial evidence in the record, and that its decision was neither arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion; the case concerned the definition of “Injury” in the Plan and the correct disclaimer of benefits under the Plan’s “Intentional Self-Inflicted Injury” Exclusion, as well as the appropriate framework utilized by the First Circuit when interpreting the term “accident” in AD&D insurance policies.)
• Selective Insurance Company of the Southeast v. Steadfast Insurance Co., 2021 WL 5052718 (Aug. 30, 2021) (Obtained summary judgment for client insurer on issues of insurance coverage under a Commercial General Liability policy, where auto exclusion applied to preclude coverage for accident arising out of “use” of van, where “completed operations rule” applied).
• Resolved suit against general contractor client alleged to have negligently overseen the renovation of million dollar Boston-area home (2021).
• Ark Underwriting v. Lexington Insurance Co.,  (D. Mass. 2020) (Obtained summary judgment for insurer in federal court on issues relating to additional insured coverage, where court found firm’s client did not have an obligation to defend or indemnify contractors on a large Boston-based project as they did not qualify as “additional insureds.” ).
• Resolved suit on behalf of skilled nursing facility in case alleging negligent treatment of resident with multiple co-morbidities (2020).
• Resolved large insurance coverage dispute for commercial insurer client in which coverage for underlying claims against a healthcare company were in dispute; case involved issues of insured cooperation, notice to the insurer, and lack of coverage for the type of claims and damages alleged under a manuscript policy (2019).
• Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 34 Mass. L. Rptr. 367 (2017) (summary judgment granted for client in coverage action interpreting Employer Liability/Worker’s Compensation Policy).
• Iodice Family Limited Liability Company d/b/a Look Ahead and Haley Charest as Assignee of Iodice Family Limited Liability Company d/b/a Look Ahead v. The Commerce Insurance Company and Western World Insurance Company (N.H. Super. Ct. No. 217-2015-CV-00126)(obtained summary judgment for client on various coverage grounds).
• Resolved multi-million-dollar insurance coverage fee dispute for commercial insurer client; case in Arbitration concerned the defense of an underlying antitrust action against large healthcare company.
• Obtained voluntary dismissal of insurance coverage suit brought against insurer client seeking over $1 million in damages. The case involved “related claims” issues in the claims-made insurance context.
• Lexington Ins. Co. v. United Health Group Inc., United Health Group Incorporated et al. (D. Mass. 2011)(obtained summary judgment for client in an insurance coverage action alleging over $28 million in damages under claims made managed care organization liability policy).
• National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co., 385 F.3d 47 (1^st Cir. 2004)(persuaded the First Circuit Court of Appeals to rule in favor of client, who insured a general contractor on a major construction project; decision dealt with “additional insured” obligations and “other insurance” provisions).
• Persuaded panel at binding arbitration to reject claim against insurer client that it owed architectural firm over $1 million in coverage for damages associated with construction of a Casino in Colorado.
• Sobeida Feliz v. Brian McNeill, M.D., United States, on Behalf of Tori Robinson, M.D. and Lawrence Hulefeld, M.D. (1^st Cir. 2012)(unpublished)(obtained dismissal of a suit against physician client in federal court for the plaintiff’s failure to properly serve him abroad under The Hague Convention).
• Amy Santangelo v. Wight, Century 21 Realty et al. (Mass. Super. Ct. 2005)(prevailed at trial on behalf of real estate agency clients; case alleged breach of a contract to purchase real estate).
• Cynthia Carinda, Executrix of the Estate of Virginia Cutler v. Cape Cod Healthcare, Inc. (Mass. App. Ct. 2001)(persuaded the Massachusetts Appeals Court to vacate a trial court ruling that would have required client, a Massachusetts hospital, to produce confidential medical records in violation of a Massachusetts statute.)
• Obtained $1.6 million settlement for a father and son grievously injured in a case involving negligent security. The case was featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

• 2023 Top Women of Law Honoree as selected by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• “Rising Star,”Super Lawyers (2005-2008, 2010-2011)
• “Top Young Professional Under 40,” New England Business Bulletin (2009)

• School Council (Elected Position), Brooks Elementary School
• Amateur Photographer
• Member, Winchester Country Club