Bryan D. Bolton

Bryan D. Bolton is in charge of litigation at Funk & Bolton, P.A. He primarily represents life and health insurers, managed care companies, and third-party administrators in federal and state court litigation, including ERISA actions.

Mr. Bolton was an Associate Editor of the University Of Baltimore Law Review in 1982 and 1983. He is the author of "Important Terms for Inclusion in Confidential Settlement Agreements for Financial Services Companies", 35 U. Balt. L. Rev. 347 (2006), and "Has Spring Arrived for the Frozen-Out Minority?, Twenty Seven Trust v. Realty Growth Investors, 533 F. Supp. 1028 (D. Md. 1982)," 12 U. Balt. L. Rev. 565 (1983).

Following graduation from law school, Mr. Bolton practiced as a trial attorney with the Baltimore law firm of Freishtat & Sandler, where he engaged in complex civil litigation. From 1986 to 1996, Mr. Bolton concentrated in civil litigation at Shapiro and Olander, where he was the member in charge of insurance litigation. In 1996, Mr. Bolton co-founded the law firm of Funk & Bolton, P.A.

Mr. Bolton is a former member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, the policy-making body of the ABA. He is a Past-Chair of the Life Insurance Law Committee and a member of the Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the ABA. He is a former member of the ABA's Litigation Section Appellate Practice Committee. He is a past chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and is a past member of the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the MSBA. Mr. Bolton is a past chair of “Trial By Jury - The Lawyer's Craft,” which is sponsored by the Maryland State Bar Association.

Mr. Bolton is a member of the Defense Research Institute and is active in the Life, Health and Disability Law Committee. Mr. Bolton also is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations.

Mr. Bolton is a frequent speaker and presenter of papers on ERISA, employee benefits, and life and health insurance matters (some of which are available on our publications page). Mr. Bolton's presentations include (i) “Practical Issues in Handling Mental Disability Claims: Building Your Case From a Verification Standpoint,” American Conference Institute, 2005 (ii) “Hot Topics in Disability Bad Faith Litigation: An Overview and Some Recent Trends,” Mealey's Bad Faith Conference, 2004; (iii) “Special Considerations in the Investigation and Defense of Clinical Depression and Mental Illness Disability Claims,” American Conference Institute, 2003; (iv) “A Tough Pill to Swallow: The Impact of State Independent Review Laws,” International Claim Association 2003 Annual Meeting; (v) “What Constitutes ‘Appropriate Care’?,” American Conference Institute, 2003; (vi) “Health and Welfare Benefit Compliance in Maryland,” National Business Institute Seminar, 2002; (vii) “Is Any Care ‘Appropriate Care’?,” Defense Research Institute, 2001; (viii) “Rights and Obligations from Remediation and Rehabilitation Clauses,” American Conference Institute, 2000; (ix) “Disability Hot Spots,” American Conference Institute, 2000; (x) “Risk of Relapse Disability Claims,” Eastern Claims Conference, 2000; (xi) “Underwriting Insurance and Rescission Issues,” Baltimore Washington Underwriters Association, 1999; (xii) “Hot Topics in ERISA Fiduciary Liability Litigation,” Annual Meeting of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 1999; (xiii) “ERISA Fiduciary Liability Litigation,” Attorney's Forum of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 1998; (xiv) “Genetic Testing and Insurance Underwriting,” Moderator, 1998 ABA Annual Meeting; (xv) “An Overview of ERISA,” Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Bar Association, 1996; and (xvi) “What to do When Health Care Coverage is Denied,” Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education of Lawyers, 1996. Mr. Bolton also was a contributing author to “ERISA Survey of Federal Circuits,” Brooks Magratten, Editor, published by the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, 2005, Health and Disability Insurance Law Committee.