Curtis J. Turpan is a partner in Harwood Lloyd’s Insurance Litigation Department specializing in the field of No Fault Personal Injury Protection (PIP). He began working as a law clerk at Harwood Lloyd while still in law school. He became an associate with the Firm in 1986 and was made a partner in 1997. He currently serves as the firm’s Co-Managing Partner.
Mr. Turpan is recognized as an expert in the field of PIP and automobile coverage litigation. He is one of only three defense attorneys serving on the 14 member Forthright Advisory Council for No-Fault Disputes in the State of New Jersey. In that capacity, he is involved in revising the rules and procedures of the PIP arbitration process as well as in the review and selection of the Dispute Resolution Professionals who preside over PIP arbitration hearings. Mr. Turpan is also a member of a select committee, created by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, the state agency that regulates PIP coverage and claims in New Jersey, designed to reform the current PIP arbitration process.
Mr. Turpan received his B.S. with Special Attainments in Commerce from Washington and Lee University in 1982. He received his J.D. from Seton Hall Law School in 1985.
Mr. Turpan was Law Clerk to Hon. James T. Murphy, Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, for the 1985-1986 Term.
Many of the major automobile insurance carriers and PIP vendors in New Jersey, such as Allstate, New Jersey Manufacturers, GEICO, Mercury, Amica, American Commerce Insurance, Avis/Budget Group, Global Liberty Insurance, Concentra Inc. and Auto Injury Solutions, trust Mr. Turpan to not only successfully defend the claims made against them but to also provide expert counsel and advice on how to prevent claims from being made against them in the first place. In his role as a counsellor, he has participated in revising the provisions of automobile insurance policies, drafting the terms of PIP Decision Point Review Plans, assisting out of state insurance carriers enter the New Jersey automobile insurance market, and providing training and support to claims’ personnel. As a litigator, he has personally handled thousands of PIP and coverage disputes throughout the state, and oversees the firm’s associates who also handle these matters. Mr. Turpan also has extensive experience with insurance fraud and SIU related PIP claims and has both successfully defended carriers against such claims and brought actions against medical providers who improperly received PIP benefits. He has appeared before the Appellate Division on numerous occasions and represented the prevailing party in several significant reported cases including Seaview Orthopedics v. NHR, et.al., which upheld a PIP carrier’s right to utilize PPO agreements, and Montemayor v. Signorelli, which held that the tort threshold selected by the named insured applied to the insured’s resident children who do not own their own automobile even if the child was an emancipated adult.
Mr. Turpan is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1985) and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1985).
In addition to the Forthright and DOBI committees discussed above, he is a member of the New Jersey Defense Association, the Bergen County Bar Association, the North Jersey Claims Association, the Central Jersey Claims Association and the South Jersey Claims Association.
