Eight new partners have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP’s insurance and business trial practice.
Peter Klee, Ronald Getchey, Charles Danaher, John Brooks, Nathan Arrington, Randal Crispen and Marc Feldman will be joining the San Diego office, while Theona Zhordania will work in the firm’s Los Angeles office.
The eight-strong group previously worked together at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.
They have knowledge in business and insurance litigation, specifically bad faith cases ranging from large first-party property insurance disputes to multi-million dollar claims for excess judgements.
Their clients have included Allstate, State Farm and Travelers, and the group has represented clients in federal and supreme courts in Southern California.
Zhordania has represented clients in securities fraud litigation, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims, first amendment cases, employment and real estate disputes, and allegations regarding malfeasance against officers and directors.
Feldman and Arrington have handled lawsuits in state and federal trial courts throughout California, and Fedman has argued cases before the California Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit..
Crispen specialises in complex business disputes. He currently represents a major insurer in coverage litigation arising out of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association players' concussion injury litigation.
Brooks and Danaher focus on insurance litigation, specifically class action defence. Brooks also represents class action defendants in a variety of fields, including insurance, unfair competition and false advertising, and credit card privacy.
Danaher has also defended clients in class actions involving the payment of overhead and profit, the payment of sales tax, the manner in which actual cash value is determined, whether coverage exists for innocent co-insureds, issues involving medical-pay coverage, and allegations of premium overcharging.
Klee has handled more than 1000 cases throughout the US over the past 25 years. His clients include most of the major insurance carriers in California, including Fireman's Fund, MetLife, Infinity, and the Automobile Club of Southern California.
Frank Falzetta, head of Sheppard Mullin’s insurance practice, commented on the acquisition of the team: "The group are widely regarded as one of the premier insurance litigation groups in the state and are known as highly skilled litigators and trial lawyers with tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge in insurance bad faith and coverage matters.”
