KEVIN J. MCALONAN is a graduate of the Arizona State University College of Law and has been admitted to practice law in Arizona since 1990. He has been an attorney with Solomon & Relihan P.C. since 1993, where his practice focuses on personal injury litigation, including the related areas of conservatorships, insurance coverage, subrogation and reimbursement, and appellate litigation. He has written the briefs in a number of appellate court cases that established important rights for personal injury victims, including:

• Mitchell v. Dillard Department Stores, Inc., 197 Ariz. 209, 3 P.3d 1129 (Ct. App. 2000) (1 CA-CV 98-0449). Established that an off-duty police officer, working as a department store security guard, was acting under color of state law for purposes of a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 at the time he wrongfully detained our client. The defendants were ordered to pay our client $27,000 in compensatory damages, $430,000 in punitive damages, as well as his attorney's fees and costs.
• AH v. Arizona Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund, 190 Ariz. 526, 950 P.2d 1147 (1997) (CV-97-0109-PR). Our client was injured in a two vehicle collision, and she should have been entitled to policy-limit settlements from both drivers' liability coverages ($15,000 each), plus a policy limit settlement from her mother's underinsured motorist coverage ($15,000). But both insurance carriers became insolvent, and the Arizona Property & Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund claimed that state law entitled our client to only $15,000. The Arizona Supreme Court held that our client was entitled to the full amount of all three coverages (a total of $45,000), and awarded her attorney's fees as well.
• Piner v. Superior Court, 192 Ariz. 182, 962P.2d 909 (1998) (CV-96-0577-PR). Our client was injured in a rear-end collision on his way to work in the morning, suffering soft-tissue injuries of his neck, upper back, left arm, and head. Before he could see a doctor, our client was rear-ended a second time a few hours later, and again felt similar pain following that collision. The drivers who caused the collisions argued that our client's claims against them must be dismissed unless he could prove which specific injuries and damages he suffered in each collision (an impossible task). The Arizona Supreme Court held that the negligent drivers (not our client) had the burden of proof on apportioning damages between the two collisions, and if the negligent drivers could not satisfy that burden, they would each have to pay half our client's damages.

Kevin McAlonan also is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars. Some of his CLE presentations include:

• Some Discovery and Other Pretrial Issues Plaintiff's Counsel Should Consider, Nursing Home and Assisted Living Litigation (Lorman 2007);
• Claims for Reimbursement Under ERISA: Attacking the Foundation, Liens (AzTLA 2003);
• Claims for Reimbursement Under ERISA: The Ninth Circuit and Beyond, Liens (AzTLA 2002);
• Sauce for the Gander: Does ERISA Permit Plans to Enforce Claims for Reimbursement Against Personal Injury Victims?, Liens (AzTLA 2001);
• ERISA Liens, Liens (AzTLA 2000, 1999, & 1997)
• Medicare and AHCCCS/ALTCS Liens, Nursing Homes (AzTLA 2000);
• Third-Party "Interests" in Personal Injury Settlements, Ethics (AzTLA 1998); and
• Private Health Plan Reimbursement: Some Current Issues, Liens (AzTLA 1995).