Anne Marie Sferra

Ohio

Bricker & Eckler LLP
100 South Third Street
Columbus, OH 43215
United States

Tel: 614.227.2394

Email: asferra@bricker.com
Web: www.bricker.com

Anne Marie Sferra is chair of the Litigation practice group. She has trial and appellate experience litigating a wide variety of commercial and insurance cases, including class actions, mortgage servicing litigation, life and health claims, bad faith claims and coverage issues. Anne Marie also has substantial experience handling many original actions, constitutional issues, tort reform issues and election law matters.

In 2008, Anne Marie became the first Columbus-area attorney to be certified as an Appellate Law Specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association. Anne Marie is counsel on numerous amicus curiae briefs, primarily in the Ohio Supreme Court, on behalf of statewide and national organizations, including the Ohio Manufacturers Association, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Hospital Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Insurance Association, and others.

Selected Experience:

  • Class action lawsuit victory
    Successfully argued before the Eleventh District Court of Appeals on behalf of the State of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in a case in which the plaintiff attacked the validity of a previously settled class action alleging that ODNR had unlawfully taken the private property of more than 13,000 property owners along Lake Erie’s coast by incorrectly identifying the public/private boundary along the shore. The Court upheld enforcement of the settlement agreement and the civil contempt order.
  • Landmark court decision ends “eviction by affidavit” practice
    Bricker lawyers successfully filed an amicus curiae brief to highlight and end the dehumanizing and negative ramifications of a decades-old “eviction by affidavit” practice on behalf of a number of organizations that serve vulnerable and underserved populations. For more details, please view Bricker’s recap of the case.
  • Workers’ compensation settlement defense
    Represented a medical center in defending a workers’ compensation settlement that was challenged by an employee, who, despite agreeing to the settlement, argued that the settlement amount was insufficient to cover their interests for the reimbursement of medical costs. Defended this settlement in front of the Ohio Industrial Commission, which is the adjudicating body of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, allowing the medical center to leave its fully negotiated settlement agreement intact.
  • Listed, Best Lawyers in America (Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation), 2010–2023
  • Listed, Top 25 Women Columbus, Ohio Super Lawyers, 2013–2023
  • Listed, Top 50 Women Ohio, Ohio Super Lawyers, 2016–2023
  • Listed, Ohio Super Lawyers (Appellate; General Litigation; Insurance Coverage), 2009–2023
  • Recognized, ChambersUSA, Litigation: General Commercial – Band 2, 2021-2023; Band 3, 2011–2015, 2018–2020; Band 4, 2008–2010, 2016–2017
  • Recipient, 2021 Professionalism Award, Columbus Bar Association
  • Listed, Top 50 Columbus, Ohio Super Lawyers, 2017–2021, 2023
  • Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys Member of the Year, 2018
  • Columbus Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America (Appellate Practice), 2014, 2018
  • Listed, Top 100 Ohio, Ohio Super Lawyers, 2017
  • Ranked, AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell
  • Recognized, Columbus Business First’s “The Verdict,” 2005
  • Recipient, Columbus Jaycees’ Ten Outstanding Young Citizens of Greater Columbus Award, 1996
  • Ohio State Bar Association Certified Specialist – Appellate Law
  • Ohio State Bar Association Appellate Law Specialty Board
  • Member, American Bar Association; Ohio State Bar Association; Ohio Women’s Bar Association; Columbus Bar Association
  • Admitted, State of Ohio; United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio; Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; Supreme Court of the United States
  • Speaker, “Appeals,” Ohio State Bar Association Webinar, Litigation Basics, June 2021
  • Author, “Arbitration: What to do when there is no right to appeal?” Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys Quarterly Review, Summer 2019
  • Speaker, “Panel Discussion on the Latest Developments in Litigation,” Ohio Insurance Institute Continuing Legal Education Symposium, March 2019
  • Speaker, “Appellate Practice Brief Writing,” Ohio State Bar Association, November 2018
  • Speaker, “Women in the Law Panel Discussion,” DRI Annual Meeting, October 2018
  • Speaker, “Sharing our Experience: How Women’s Initiatives Can Impact Your Legal Practice Setting,” Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, Women in the Law Seminar, June 2018
  • Author, “Show, Don’t Tell in Mediation,” Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys Quarterly Review, Spring 2018
  • Speaker, “’Appeals: The Basics – Technical and Procedural Requirements, Brief Writing, and Oral Argument,” Ohio State Bar Association, September 2017
  • Author, “Ohio apology statute covers admissions of fault,” Bricker & Eckler Publications, September 2017
  • Author, “Sixth Circuit Should Follow Lead of Tyson Foods and Reject Representatives Evidence Use in FLSA Collective Actions,” Washington Legal Foundation, June 2017
  • Author, “Sorry seems to be the hardest word: Ohio’s apology statute for healthcare providers,” Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys Quarterly Review, Winter 2017
  • Speaker, “Mediation in Ohio Courts of Appeal,” Ohio Courts of Appeals Judges Association, February 2017