Stephen P. Soskin
Stephen P. Soskin, a partner in the Firm, is a commercial litigator, professional liability defense lawyer, employment litigation defense lawyer, and insurance coverage attorney. He has extensive experience in litigating insurance coverage disputes in the environmental, asbestos, employment, construction defect, automobile, and professional liability areas. He also advises insurance companies in “run-off” on claim handling and settlement strategies.
Born in Cook County, Illinois, Mr. Soskin received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, with high honors, from the University of Illinois in 1978, and his Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Illinois School of Law in 1981, where he served as an Editor of the Law Review. Mr. Soskin was also a Harno Fellow and was awarded the Rickert Scholarship for Excellence in Academic Achievement. He is a member of the State Bar of California, and is admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court for all California Districts, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, and the U.S. Claims Court.
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Jeffrey A. Charlston
Jeffrey A. Charlston, an equity partner in the Firm, is a business litigator who heads up the Firm’s professional liability defense practice and the Firm’s insurance coverage practice for subject matters other than asbestos, environmental and mass tort claims. Mr. Charlston has extensive experience in the handling of all phases of civil litigation, from the commencement of litigation through trial and appeal. He specializes in the defense of professional liability claims involving a variety of professions including lawyers, insurance agents and brokers, and real estate agents and brokers, as well as general business and commercial litigation, and in the representation of insurers in connection with coverage advice, declaratory relief actions, and bad faith defense, in subject matters involving professional liability, director and officer liability, public entity liability, general liability, and personal lines (automobile liability and homeowner liability).
Born in Los Angeles, California, Mr. Charlston received his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Pomona College in 1971, and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, in 1975, where he was the recipient of the American College of Trial Lawyers Medal for Excellence in Advocacy, and was a member of the Moot Court Executive Board. Mr. Charlston is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts, the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Charlston has also litigated cases in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Mr. Charlston is a member of the Professional Liability and Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, and the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM).
Mr. Charlston is the author of “Defending Legal Malpractice Claims,” Prosecuting and Defending Insurance Claims (Wiley Law Publications, 1989).
Read MoreJury Trial Victory Defeats Claim Linking Autism with Pesticide
The Firm recently won a landmark jury trial involving pesticides and autism. The plaintiff, a 13 year old boy, through his mother as guardian ad litem, claimed “brain damage” from his mother’s alleged inhalation exposure to an organophosphate pesticide (Dursban) while pregnant. Plaintiff asked the jury to award $20 million in damages. Over two years before the pregnancy, our client, Andy’s Termite & Pest Control, had applied the Dursban in the family’s basement soil to control subterranean termites. The trial lasted 3-months, but the jury took only 4 days to render a defense verdict in favor of our client on all 14 theories of liability.
Five years earlier, the Firm got the same case dismissed without a trial, when another judge ruled that plaintiff’s expert testimony based on rat experiments was inadmissible “junk science” that could not possibly show a causal link between autism and the alleged exposure. However, the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the jury, not a judge, should decide what weight to give to animal studies. See Roberti v. Andy’s Termite & Pest Control (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 893. That appellate decision, and this jury trial, have been closely watched by the legal community, as pesticides and autism remain subjects of great public interest.
Read MoreJury Trial Victory In Rescission/Bad Faith Suit
Jeffrey Charlston secured a significant victory for firm clients United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (“USF&G”) and American Specialty Insurance & Risk Services (“American Specialty”) after a month long jury trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
In United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company v. Lee Investments, LLC, the firm prosecuted a declaratory relief action for rescission of an insurance policy issued by USF&G to a Fresno water park, and defended bad faith and related claims brought by the entity owning the water park, and its broker, Aon. The jury entered unanimous verdicts in favor of USF&G on all of its affirmative claims, and unanimous verdicts against the water park and Aon on all of their claims against USF&G and American Specialty.
Based on the jury findings, the trial court has ordered restitution in favor of USF&G in excess of $1,000,000. The Judgment was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011 and a petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court.
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company v. Lee Investments, LLC, 641 F.3d 1126 ( 9th Cir ), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 577 (2011).
Read MoreTrial Victory in Equitable Contribution Claim Among Insurers
Please click here to download the opinion (PDF).
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