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Perry M. Bentley

Member, Lexington

859.231.3930

Perry is a Member in Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Lexington office and has been with the firm since 1984. He serves as Chair of the Tort, Trial & Insurance Services practice and Co-Chair of the Arbitration & Mediation practice.

Perry is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Among the highlights of Perry’s career is being named a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum®, a distinction for trial lawyers who receive a verdict or settlement of one million dollars or more. Among his multi-million verdicts/settlements was a seven-week trial that followed an explosion that destroyed his client’s factory. He secured a compensatory award of $122 million, believed to be the largest in Kentucky history. The verdict included damages for the destruction of the plant and lost profits. The jury also awarded $1.3 million in punitive damages.

For his work on behalf of his manufacturing client, and many other legal accomplishments at SKO, Perry has been named “Lawyer of the Year” by the Best Lawyers in America® peer-review publication for four consecutive years. In 2019, he was named by Super Lawyers as being considered one of Kentucky’s Top 50 lawyers.

Prior to practicing law, Perry was a certified public accountant.

Tort, Trial & Insurance Services: Perry focuses on professional negligence (non-medical), personal injury, products liability, fire and explosion, insurance coverage and defense, insurer insolvency/rehabilitation and insurance bad faith. He represents clients in all aspects of litigation, from initial investigation and discovery to trial and appeal.

Arbitration & Mediation: Perry also acts as a mediator in a variety of cases ranging from personal injury to professional negligence and complex business disputes.

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Practices

Arbitration & Mediation

Tort, Trial & Insurance Services

Education

University of Kentucky College of Law
1984, J.D., High Distinction

University of Kentucky
1979, B.S., High Distinction

Admissions

Kentucky

United States Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court, Western District of Kentucky

Recognition

AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
Benchmark Litigation: Local Litigation Star-Insurance, 2013-2017
Best Lawyers in America®, Lawyer of the Year, 2012-2017

Kentucky Super Lawyers® Honoree, 2007-2022
The American Trial Lawyers Association: Top 100 Trial Lawyers, 2007

Affiliations

American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
American Bar Association
Kentucky Bar Association

Defense Research
National Society of Insurance Investigators
American Association for Justice, Associate Member
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Arlington Christian Church, Deacon and Sunday School Teacher
Foster Parent
Midway Foundation for Integrative Medicine, former Board Member
Woodford Youth Soccer Association, former Coach and Board Member

Work Highlights

Wrongful Death: Domestic Violence

Estate of Amanda Ross v. Steven R. Nunn, Fayette Circuit Court, Civil Action No. 09-CI-05104. Obtained a judgment against Steven R. Nunn in the amount of $24,253,298.85 for the wrongful death of Amanda Ross. The trial team has pursued foreclosure of Nunn's real property, garnishment of his pension assets and garnishment of his prison commissary account in partial satisfaction of the judgment. The trial team also successfully defended the right of the Estate to garnish Nunn's pension funds despite a Kentucky statute that Nunn claimed provides a partial exemption for those assets. See Stephen R. Nunn v. Diana M. Ross as Personal Representative of the Estate of Amanda Ross, 2015 Ky. App. Unpub. LEXIS 593 (Ky. App. 2015) (review denied Supreme Court Case No. 2015-SC-473 (February 10, 2016)).

Insurance Bad Faith

Sazegari v. GEICO Gen. Ins. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist LEXIS 54822 (W.D. Ky. 2008), aff’d, No. 08-5990, 08-6015 (6th Cir. 2009). Represented GEICO in a bad faith lawsuit arising from a property damage claim. After years of litigation that began in state court, obtained summary judgment from the federal district court and successfully argued the merits of the case before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009, obtaining an oral ruling from the bench.

Professional Negligence

Barbara A. Abel et al v. J. Brent Austin et al, 411 S.W.3d. 728 (Ky. 2013). Successfully defended an attorney accused of misappropriation of client funds, obtaining summary judgment from the trial court which was then affirmed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court in a published opinion.

View All Work Highlights

News Publications Seminars

SKO Attorneys Selected to 2022 Kentucky Super Lawyers, Jan. 6, 2022

KENTUCKY SUPER LAWYERS RECOGNIZES 39 STOLL KEENON OGDEN ATTORNEYS, Dec. 11, 2020

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 47 Stoll Keenon Ogden Attorneys, Nov. 27, 2019

SKO Attorneys Recognized Among 2020 Best Lawyers in America®, Aug. 15, 2019

SKO Helps Fill 2,500 Backpacks for Children in Need, Feb. 6, 2019

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 52 Stoll Keenon Ogden Attorneys, Dec. 11, 2018

SKO Attorneys Recognized Among 2019 Best Lawyers in America, Aug. 15, 2018

SKO Attorneys Recognized Among Best Lawyers in America, Aug. 16, 2017

Five SKO Attorneys Recognized Among Top 50 Kentucky Super Lawyers, Nov. 18, 2016

Seven SKO Attorneys Named 2017 Local Litigation Stars, Nov. 14, 2016

Best Lawyers in America Chooses 61 SKO Attorneys for 2017 Publication, Aug. 30, 2016

Twelve SKO Attorneys Named 2017 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers®, Aug. 29, 2016

Lea Pauley Goff and Richard G. Griffith named among Top 50 Kentucky Super Lawyers, Nov. 30, 2015

SKO Attorneys Recognized as 2016 Benchmark Litigation Stars, Oct. 1, 2015

SKO Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers®, Aug. 17, 2015

SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2016, Aug. 17, 2015

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 57 Stoll Keenon Ogden Attorneys, Nov. 24, 2014

SKO Recognized by Benchmark Litigation for Outstanding Service, Sep. 17, 2014

SKO Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers®, Aug. 18, 2014

SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2015, Aug. 18, 2014

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 42 Stoll Keenon Ogden Attorneys, Nov. 26, 2013

SKO Recognized by Benchmark Litigation for Outstanding Service, Oct. 28, 2013

SKO Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, Sep. 24, 2013

SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2014, Aug. 19, 2013

SKO Recognized by Benchmark for Litigation and Appellate Services, Oct. 2, 2012

SKO Attorneys Named “Lawyer Of The Year” by Best Lawyers, Sep. 19, 2012

61 SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2013, Sep. 7, 2012

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 31 Stoll Keenon Ogden Attorneys, July 20, 2012

SKO Attorneys Named “Lawyers of the Year” by Best Lawyers, Oct. 12, 2011

SKO Recognized by Benchmark: Litigation as a Leading Litigation Firm in KY, Oct. 10, 2011

53 SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2012, Sep. 6, 2011

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 25 SKO Attorneys, July 25, 2011

Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC Recognized by Benchmark Litigation, Oct. 17, 2010

26 SKO Attorneys Recognized by Kentucky Super Lawyers, July 28, 2010

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 27 SKO Attorneys, Aug. 15, 2009

49 SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Aug. 6, 2009

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 26 SKO Attorneys, July 29, 2008

Best Lawyers in America Recognizes 41 SKO Attorneys, June 19, 2008

39 SKO Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Sep. 19, 2007

Kentucky Super Lawyers Recognizes 24 SKO Attorneys, June 19, 2007

Planning for Catastrophe: Lessons in the Wake of West, Texas, June 17, 2013

Trying the Soft Tissue Injury Case in Kentucky, 1996-1998

Everything a Land Surveyor Needs to Know to be a Witness, 1997

Trying the Automobile Injury Case in Kentucky, 1994

Bad Faith Litigation in Kentucky, National Business Institute Inc., 1993-1994

Bluegrass Claims Association Seminar, UIM, UM, and No-Fault Law Developments, 1993

Writing Settlement Agreements in General Mediations, various mediation train sessions for the Mediation Center of Central Kentucky