Biography

In over 40 years of practice, Mary McCutcheon has represented corporate and individual policyholders in an extensive range of insurance coverage disputes.

She has guided her clients through complex disputes arising out of a variety of scenarios, including securities actions, venture capital and private equity litigation, intellectual property and technology errors and omissions disputes, highly sensitive employment claims, mass casualty personal injury actions, professional liability, and construction and delay claims.

Mary has special, in-depth expertise advising companies and individual directors on claims under directors’ and officers’ liability, management liability, and other financial services liability insurance products, related indemnification issues, and the placement of those policies.

She utilizes her in-depth legal expertise and strong interpersonal and negotiating skills to achieve creative, cost-effective, and highly satisfactory solutions for her clients, working with her clients, their insurance broker, and their client’s defense counsel, as well as the insurers, to achieve the client’s goals. By emphasizing a collaborative and strategic approach, the dispute can be understood as a problem to be solved rather than an adversarial situation, with correspondingly better results. Although litigation is always a viable option, Mary strives instead to convince her opposing counsel that a practical, agreed-upon solution is a better outcome for everyone concerned.

Mary is a founding member and past president of the American College of Coverage Counsel. She is a past member of the editorial boards of the ABTL Newsletter and the CGL Reporter and former editor of the “Directors & Officers Liability Insurance” chapter in the California Practice Guide Insurance Litigation. She speaks on insurance topics at professional conferences, such as those sponsored by the American Bar Association, the American College of Coverage Counsel, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Association of Corporation Counsel.

Distinctions

  • Chambers USA: Insurance Policyholder - California (Ranked since 2005, Band 1 2020-2023)
  • Daily Journal “Top Women Lawyers” in California (2019)
  • Legal Momentum’s Women of Achievement Award (2016)
  • Best Lawyers in America, Insurance Law (2013-2024)
  • Northern California Super Lawyers in Insurance Coverage since (2004-2023)
  • Who's Who Legal - Insurance & Reinsurance (2017-2023)

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Past President, Founding Member of the Board of Regents, American College of Coverage Counsel, Chair of Membership Committee and Member of the Executive Committee
  • Board of Directors, past President, chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, National Center for Youth Law
  • Member, Past Chair, Bar Association of San Francisco's Committee on Attorney Fee Disputes
  • Former Co-chair, Directors and Officers Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee

Firm Highlights

Publication

California AI Proposal Rethinks Consumer Scope and Recordkeeping

The California Privacy Protection Agency will revisit its  draft  regulations for automated decision-making technology on March 8, including use of artificial intelligence to process personal information. Comment periods should be coming soon in 2024...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Unpacking Prudent Investments, PRIs and MRIs

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Episode 73 discusses frequently used terms in the nonprofit world pertaining to investment activities. Public charity and private foundation directors and officers need...

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News

Brookfield Forecloses on 2,150-Unit Veritas Portfolio With Uncontested $464M Bid

Restructuring, insolvency, and creditors rights partner Gary Kaplan provided expert commentary in The Real Deal  article, "Brookfield forecloses on 2,150-unit Veritas portfolio with uncontested $464M bid." Read the full article  here  (subscription may be...

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Publication

Employment Law Update for Nonprofits With Holly Sutton

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Charities, foundations, and their founders often request help addressing employment practices and compliance questions. In this episode, host Cynthia Rowland is joined by Holly...

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News

Lawdragon Names 7 Farella Lawyers Among “Leaders in Environmental Law”

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that seven lawyers were selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law . Farella lawyers selected for inclusion: Sarah...

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News

Winston Liaw Named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that Winston Liaw has been named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2024. Winston joins a select group of...

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News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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Publication

Achieving Compatibility Between Solar Project Developers and Mineral Estate Holders

By Dirk R. Mueller , Alyssa Netto , and Will Russ Texas and California lead the country in terms of solar energy generating capacity while also maintaining major oil and gas production operations, which...

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: A Guide on Beneficial Ownership for Nonprofit Executives

The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, represents a significant shift in regulatory requirements for entities across the United States. This act, set to...

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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