Richard DeNatale joined the firm in 1985 and practices complex commercial litigation. He is Co-Chair of the Insurance Recovery Practice Group and a member of the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Group.

Experience

Mr. DeNatale’s practice focuses on complex litigation and trial, in California and around the country. He has extensive insurance coverage experience, particularly focused on exposures related to products, privacy torts and advertising injury, and real estate and construction. He has pursued insurance and bad faith claims on behalf of manufacturers, retailers, developers, utilities, and others. His litigation experience in this area includes trials in both state and federal court, as well as appellate arguments in the California Court of Appeal, the California Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Outside the litigation context, Mr. DeNatale regularly advises clients on obtaining third-party and first-party insurance to cover their potential exposures. He has written and lectured on insurance issues, including real estate exposures, and has taught insurance law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California Hastings Law School.

In addition to insurance matters, Mr. DeNatale has substantial experience handling products liability, consumer class action, real estate, and construction cases. He has defended product manufacturers and real estate developers in numerous class actions and large-scale homeowner litigations.

Mr. DeNatale is an experienced trial lawyer who has acted as first chair in several complex and lengthy trials. In the last three years, he has won three major jury trials – most recently, representing Pacific Gas and Electric Company in an insurance coverage case against AIG/National Union.

Representative Engagements

Representative Trial Experience 

• Represented Pacific Gas and Electric Company in a 2-month jury trial in Sonoma County, California, in a $40 million insurance coverage dispute with AIG/National Union; won a verdict on behalf of the client. 
• Represented Alliant Capital, a syndicator of affordable housing tax credits, in a 2-week jury trial in federal court in San Francisco, in a lawsuit arising out of a partnership dispute; won a verdict on behalf of the client.
• Represented SI Corporation, a manufacturer of building products, in a 5-week jury trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court, in a lawsuit involving construction defect and product liability claims; won a defense verdict on behalf of the client.
• Represented a major luxury hotel operator in a 4-week arbitration trial before the American Arbitration Association, in a dispute over termination of a hotel management contract.  (Case settled on eve of closing argument.)
• Represented Granite Management, a real estate developer, in a 2-week jury trial in federal court in San Francisco, in a lawsuit involving insurance coverage and bad faith claims against Travelers; won a verdict on behalf of the client.
• Represented a real estate developer in a 1-week arbitration trial before the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS) pursuing claims for defense costs under CGL insurance policies; won a favorable arbitration award on behalf of the client.
• Represented Home Savings of America and Ahmanson Developments in a 5-month jury trial in Marin County, California, in a lawsuit involving claims by homeowners for construction defects and fraud; won a favorable verdict on behalf of the client. 

Publications

• Insurance Coverage for Construction Liability  11.20.2002
• “Bitten By The Love Bug? Soothe The Sting,”    Los Angeles Business Journal  07.31.2000
• "Insurance Coverage for Construction Liability,”    Policyholder Perspective, November-December, 2002 issue.