Insurance Litigation and Real Estate practice groups receive recognition; Partners Peter H. Klee, John T. Brooks and Louis A. Mezzullo individually honored as leading attorneys
SAN DIEGO (June 13, 2011) – Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP has received top honors in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA for its Insurance Litigation and Real Estate practice groups. Chambers USA also recognized Partners Peter H. Klee, John T. Brooks and Louis A. Mezzullo individually.
Luce Forward, as well as Partners Klee and Brooks were recognized in the Insurance: Insurer Firms category in California. Chambers USA found Luce Forward’s Insurance Litigation group to be “fearless trial lawyers who are equally effective in front of judges and juries.”
This year, Chambers USA also recognized Luce Forward’s Real Estate practice group in California for the first time. One source is quoted as saying “I have been uniformly impressed with the quality of its lawyers” in the Firm’s Real Estate practice group. Partner Nancy T. Scull was listed as a “key individual” for the group.
For the fifth consecutive year, Mezzullo was ranked nationally in the Wealth Management category, placing in the highest band. He was recognized for being “a terrific lawyer who has unflagging energy and is right on top of the cutting-edge issues in the federal tax world.” He works with high net worth individuals and family owned and closely held businesses, primarily in the areas of tax, estate, business succession planning and employee benefits.
Luce Forward’s Insurance Litigation practice group defends the nation’s largest insurance carriers and related entities against class actions, unfair competition suits and lawsuits alleging bad faith or other tort theories arising out of first-party and third-party insurance claims. The group has obtained defense judgments before trial in more than 600 cases, but it also has extensive jury trial experience in both the state and federal courts with a near perfect track record in trial. The insurance litigation group also serves as a national counsel for major insurers on institutional issues and other matters involving significant financial risk.
Klee ‘s focus is defending insurance companies and their affiliates that are sued in individual actions and class actions for bad faith, fraud, unfair competition and other torts. He founded Luce Forward’s Insurance Litigation group in 1987 and has handled more than 1,000 cases during the past two decades. Klee has been responsible for dozens of published decisions that have impacted insurance law, established precedents and created and expanded defenses favorable to the insurance industry.
Brooks’ practice focuses on representation of insurers in class actions, duty to defend and other coverage disputes, and bad faith litigation at the trial and appellate level. He has obtained significant published opinions for insurance clients at the California Supreme Court, California Court of Appeal, and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Brooks also has significant class action and appellate experience in other fields including unfair competition, antitrust, privacy rights, annuity sales and other consumer class action matters.
Luce Forward’s real estate practice group has wide reaching experience in developing, structuring, negotiating and documenting acquisition and disposition strategies for every type of real estate, including commercial, residential, retail, office, industrial, master-planned communities, multifamily, mixed-use, health-care, senior housing, hotel, hospitality, municipal, golf course projects, and raw land. The firm represents publicly traded home builders, local and regional developers, institutional owners of real estate asset portfolios and many others involved in the business of real estate.
Chambers USA is a yearly publication that covers major practice areas at the national level, as well as the key specializations within each state. Chambers USA selects their top firms and attorneys by speaking to sources including attorneys and their clients. Sources are selected on the basis of submissions put forward by legal practices, interviews during the course of research and the publication’s database resources. For the current Chambers USA directory, more than 14,000 interviews were conducted. Rankings are based on technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, commitment, and other qualities valued by a client.
Founded in 1873, Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP is a full-service California law firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel Valley/Del Mar, Orange County, and Rancho Santa Fe. For more information, visit www.luce.com.
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