Tiffany Bustamante

Co-Chair, Bad Faith Group

Recent Publication:

Hurricane Coverage Ruling Clarifies Appraisal Scope In Fla.

Tiffany Bustamante, co-chair of the firm’s Bad Faith group, wrote the expert analysis column “Hurricane Coverage Ruling Clarifies Appraisal Scope In Fla.” for Law360.

Tiffany concentrates her practice on complex civil litigation, with extensive experience in matters pertaining to property, casualty, commercial general liability, and bad faith litigation. She has participated in all phases of the defense of these matters, from initial discovery through dispositive motions, expert discovery, settlement negotiations, and trial practice, in both federal and state courts. She has litigated numerous coverage issues on behalf of commercial carriers, including declaratory relief, breach of contract, bad faith, punitive damages, fraud, prima facie tort, tortious interference, and deceptive trade practices claims.

Prior to joining the firm, Tiffany was a partner with a boutique litigation firm based in Miami, Florida. There, she represented insurers in complex coverage claims involving directors’ and officers’ liability, professional liability, general liability, first-party property coverage, and bad faith litigation. She also provided insurers with coverage and excess exposure opinions, monitored potential excess exposure issues, conducted complex coverage analysis, and handled multiple claimant issues.

For over a decade, Tiffany has served as a guardian ad litem volunteer, first with the Eighth Judicial Circuit in Gainesville, Florida, and currently with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami, Florida. In this role, she provides the court with recommendations for the care of children and advocates on behalf of abused, neglected, and abandoned children. 

Tiffany earned her bachelor of science, cum laude, from Florida State University and her juris doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She currently serves as an appointed member on the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Law Alumni Council (LAC).

Tiffany currently serves as the co-vice chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Bad Faith group. She also serves on the Global Insurance Department’s Tech Innovation Committee, spearheading efforts to incorporate and leverage cutting edge artificial intelligence tools to deliver faster, more accurate, and cost-effective legal services to insurer clients.

Tiffany is a fluent Spanish speaker.

Experience

News

Super Lawyers Names 15 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys to its 2024 Florida List

July 03, 2024

Eight Cozen O’Connor attorneys have been recognized as Super Lawyers, including Susan N. Eisenberg, James A. Gale, Howard S. Krooks, Samuel A. Lewis, Ellen S. Morris, Stuart R. Morris, Ralf R. Rodriguez, and Martin T. Schrier. The seven Cozen O’Connor attorneys recognized as Rising Stars are Heather Beale, Tiffany Bustamante, J. Kent Crocker, Arielle Eisenberg, Alexandra J. Schultz, Natasha Shaikh, and Paul Souferis.

Cozen O’Connor Promotes 23 Attorneys to Member

March 15, 2024

“This is a group of terrific lawyers across many offices and practices areas and we look forward to following their achievements,” said Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Heller.

Super Lawyers Names 12 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys to its 2023 Florida List

June 30, 2023

Selection to Super Lawyers is based on peer nominations and evaluations, combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only 5% of attorneys are named Super Lawyers; only 2.5% of attorneys are listed as Rising Stars.

Publications

Hurricane Coverage Ruling Clarifies Appraisal Scope In Fla.

November 20, 2024

Tiffany Bustamante, co-chair of the firm’s Bad Faith group, wrote the expert analysis column “Hurricane Coverage Ruling Clarifies Appraisal Scope In Fla.” for Law360.

Split Decision: Florida Districts Clash Over Insurance Coverage for Unperformed Repairs [Property Insurance Law Observer Blog]

October 16, 2024

In the recent decision Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Qureshi, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that homeowners cannot recover replacement cost benefits unless they have incurred expenses for repairs. The court emphasized that under both the insurance policy's...

When the Appraisal Says One Thing, But the Policy Says Another: A Florida Insurance Case Study [Property Insurance Law Observer Blog]

October 09, 2024

In a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Wood v. GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company (2024 WL 3952571), the court affirmed that unambiguous policy limits remain enforceable even when an appraisal award exceeds those limits. This decision provides valuable...

Court Finds No Coverage for Loss Caused by Water Back Up Through a Storm Drain [Property Insurance Law Observer Blog]

March 04, 2024

In Carrico v. Stillwater Ins. Co., 23-CV-349-RAJ, 2024 WL 308106 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 26, 2024), the Western District of Washington considered competing motions for partial summary judgment in a property damage case involving a winter storm, where large amounts of rain and melted snow backed the drain...

Florida Appeals Court Reverses Appraisal Ordered In Storm Suit [Property Insurance Law Observer Blog]

August 02, 2022

On July 20, 2022, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded a trial court’s decision compelling the parties to proceed with appraisal and staying litigation until that appraisal was completed. Florida’s appellate court held that trial court erred in granting the motion to...

Eleventh Circuit: Jury Instruction About Notice to Insured of Settlement Demand Was Required (Florida) [Avoiding Insurance Bad Faith Blog]

July 20, 2022

In its recent decision, Brink v. Direct General Ins. Co., 38 F.4th 917 (11th Cir. 2022), the Eleventh Circuit ruled 2-1 that the Florida district court erred when it failed to instruct a jury that an insurer not only owed a duty to settle claims for its insured, but also owed a duty to advise its...

Education

  • University of Florida School of Law, J.D., 2015
  • Florida State University, B.S., cum laude, 2012

Awards & Honors

Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (Florida) 2023 - 2024 

  • District of Columbia
  • Florida
  • U.S. District Court -- Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court -- Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court -- Southern District of Florida

University of Florida Law Alumni Council