Group of Preeminent Lawyers Focuses on Ethics, Efficiency
in Adjudication of Insurance Disputes

 

(SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7, 2012) — Mary McCutcheon, a partner at Farella Braun + Martel LLP, was selected to be a founding member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel. The newly formed organization was created by leading lawyers in the U.S. and Canada to improve the quality of the practice of insurance law.

 

The College focuses on the creative, ethical and efficient adjudication of disputes between policyholders and insurers over insurance coverage and extracontractual damages, which are a form of punitive damages awarded against an insurer in claims alleging bad faith or unfair claims-handling practices. Its members represent the interests of both insurers and policyholders.

 

The College’s mission includes educating all sectors involved in insurance disputes — including the judiciary, legal and insurance professionals, and businesses — on critical topics such as best practices in policy formation and claims handling, developing trends in insurance law, and bad faith. Another important component is the drive to increase civility and professionalism in the field, thereby improving relations between insurer and policyholder counsel and resulting in better representation for all clients. The College will engage in a wide variety of activities, including seminars and the sharing of scholarship, to promote these goals.

 

McCutcheon chairs Farella Braun + Martel’s Construction and Insurance Department. She represents corporations, public entities and individuals in a wide variety of insurance coverage disputes including matters such as securities  litigation and investigations, intellectual property disputes, cyber liability and other technology-related risks, employment-related claims,  mass casualty personal injuries, aviation and other forms of products liability and civil rights violations. She is particularly known for advising companies and individual directors regarding issues involved in the placement of directors' and officers' liability insurance and related indemnification issues, as well as handling claims that arise under those policies.

 

In addition to the College, McCutcheon co-chairs the Directors and Officers Subcommittee of the American Bar Association's Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee. She frequently speaks on insurance topics at industry conferences, such as those sponsored by the Risk and Insurance Management Society, Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the American Bar Association and the Association of General Counsel, and is routinely recognized among the leading insurance attorneys in California by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America and  Northern California Super Lawyers. McCutcheon earned her J.D. from Yale Law School (1981) and her A.B., with distinction, from Stanford University (1977).

 

For more information, please visit americancollegecec.org. 

 

Farella Braun + Martel represents clients throughout the United States and abroad in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation. Founded in 1962, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry. Farella Braun + Martel lawyers are known for their imaginative legal solutions, dynamism and intellectual creativity. With an unwavering service ethic and interdisciplinary team approach, the firm is committed to advancing clients' objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner. Farella Braun + Martel is a green business.  www.fbm.com

 

Contact:

Cheryl Loof

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

415 954-4433 / [email protected]