Anne Marie Sferra

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.