Notable Engagements by Focus Area

Insurance Coverage Engagements

We are assisting a developer in resolving, with insurance proceeds, a number of suits arising out of constructions defects in a housing development in the East Bay.
We represented a general contractor in a successful claim under an OCIP for coverage for alleged defects and related costs in the construction of a zinc extraction facility at a brine processing plant in the Salton Sea.
We acted as class coverage counsel in a number of claims relating to defective products installed in homes, including pipes and roofing materials. Because in many of these cases the defendant manufacturers were no longer in business, our pursuit of the companies’ insurance proceeds was critical to the funding of multi-million dollar settlements for each class.

We represented an insolvent company in mediation and litigation efforts which resulted in a significant recovery for the bankruptcy estate under the company’s directors and officers policy.
We successfully arbitrated and ultimately obtained an advantageous settlement of an insurer’s rescission claim based on a biomedical technology company’s financial restatement.
We have worked with a number of defense counsel to settle multi-million dollar securities claims against technology, biomedical, manufacturing and transportation companies. We often have been able to settle these claims without resort to litigation. In other instances, however, we have successfully pursued litigation or arbitration against recalcitrant insurers.

We advised the Port of a Bay Area municipality, and consulted with its brokers and insurance underwriters, on the purchase of a pollution legal liability insurance program to cover the Port's indemnification obligations given to the purchaser and developer of portions of the Port's commercial district.
We represent a national mining company in coverage litigation arising out of a number of contaminated sites across the United States.
We negotiated and drafted insurance programs covering mold and microbial contamination in connection with condominium conversion projects of existing apartment complexes, some of which had pre-existing mold contamination that had been remediated. This work included negotiations on the drafting appropriate environmental clean-up standards in insurance policies for mold contamination in residential structures.
We represented the Port of Oakland in efforts to obtain early transfer of FISCO from the U.S. Navy to the Port, with special emphasis on structuring indemnification and environmental insurance requirements for the development of the project. We also advised the Port on insurance and related issues involved in the transfer, remediation and development of the former Oakland Army Base.

We represented a national self-insured employer in its effort to manage and reduce $150 million to $200 million in workers’ compensation exposure in over 20 states which arose as a result of the potential insolvency of its excess carrier. As part of our representation, we worked with lobbyists and consultants to successfully amend the governing statue of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (“CIGA”) to provide CIGA protection to self-insured employers with specific excess workers’ compensation insurance from insolvent carriers.

We represented a popular rock music band in a lawsuit against its insurance carrier to recover costs incurred in defending claims for trademark and service mark infringement and violation of the right of publicity. We successfully argued that the band’s commercial general liability (CGL) policy, which provided coverage for “advertising injury,” obligated the insurer to defend and indemnify the band despite the insurer’s attempt to broadly exclude certain intellectual property claims from the definition of “advertising injury.” The court’s favorable ruling resulted in a settlement in which the band recovered $1.65 million.
We represented a medical technology firm involved in a patent and antitrust lawsuit, recovering millions of dollars under general liability policies for attorneys’ fees and costs associated with both the defense of antitrust allegations and the prosecution of its own patent claims.

We have represented a number of Bay Area homeowners in large claims arising out of fire, earthquake, water damage and other claims, obtaining recoveries in the millions of dollars.
We represented a large hotel chain in recovering approximately $27 million against its insurance carrier for property losses arising out of a fire at a hotel located at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
We represented a restaurant in a dispute regarding appropriate repairs and business losses arising out of a fire in the Marina District of San Francisco.
We are advising a number of wineries in connection with losses suffered in a recent warehouse fire.

We represented a Bay Area Port and its environmental consultants in designing an environmental cost cap and pollution legal liability insurance program that was acceptable to the Port, the U.S. Navy, the regulatory agencies and the State of California, for the transfer of "Rough and Ready Island" for development, including as a large staging and ground transportation center for the import of automobiles from Asia.
We advised a residential developer on liability and environmental coverage for a large condominium development in downtown San Francisco including the review of both owner-controlled and contractor-controlled insurance program alternatives. The project also involved an environmental management plan agreement with the City of San Francisco, and we advised the company on placing environmental insurance to cap the incremental construction cost related to unanticipated remediation costs in consultation with environmental experts.
We participated in the development of a written risk management policy manual for a large real estate owner and developer entering the condominium market, including analysis of the risks from the standpoint of the client as a contractor and developer of both new construction and conversion projects.