Barry Zalma

Barry Zalma writes on the insurance industry claims practices for IRMI.com.

Mr. Zalma is a California attorney, insurance claims consultant, and author. His law practice emphasizes the representation of insurers and those in the business of insurance, and stresses first-party property matters, third-party liability coverage situations, and litigation support including expert testimony. His insurance consulting practice, Zalma Insurance Consultants, is available to insurers and insureds to assist in the resolution of insurance disputes or to provide expert testimony or consultation.

Mr. Zalma is a Certified Fraud Examiner and is a life member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He serves on the faculty of the Virtual University of the Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, writes a regular column for the magazine of the Agent & Broker Magazine and Zalma's Insurance Fraud Letter. He served as a director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Forensic Expert Witnesses Association Forensic Expert Witness Association. He is also a member of the California Conference of Arson Investigators, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the Southern California Fraud Investigators Association, the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and its Property and Coverage Committees, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute. He holds the designation Fraud Claim Law Specialist awarded by the American Educational Institution.

Mr. Zalma has testified as an expert witness in the California Superior Court, various U.S. District Courts, and the Superior Court of Nebraska. He is an internationally recognized expert on insurance claims handling, bad faith, insurance coverage, the commercial general liability (CGL) policy, insurance fraud, Jewelers' Block Insurance, and other inland marine coverages. Mr. Zalma is the author of, or has rewritten, CGL, fire, auto, earthquake, Jewelers' Block and other insurance policies for insurer clients.

In addition, Mr. Zalma is the author of Insurance: Cases and Materials on Coverage, Claims, and Litigation and California Claims Regulations both published by Carolina Academic Pressm 700 Kent Street, Durham, NC 27701 or can be ordered directly from www.cap-press.com/books/1689, Phone: (919) 489-7486, Fax: (919) 493-5668 and web@cap-press.com. He is also the author of Construction Defects: Litigation and Claims; Insurance Claims—A Comprehensive Guide; and Mold: A Comprehensive Claims Guide published by Specialty Technical Publishers, Vancouver, British Columbia, available at www.stpub.com or (800) 251–0381. He is also the author of The Truth, the Whole Truth & Nothing but the Truth, Property Claims 2nd Edition and Liability Claims and all course books and interactive courses published by ClaimSchool in its training programs. Zalma's Insurance Fraud Letter is available, free from ClaimSchool, Inc., and over the Internet at www.zalma.com. His Web log (blog) on insurance law, Zalma on Insurance, is also available at that site or at www.zic.bz. Mr. Zalma received his AB degree in Philosophy from Claremont Men's College and his JD degree from the University of West Los Angeles, College of Law.