Drew E. Pomerance

Drew E. Pomerance has dedicated his practice to representing the business community in all aspects of insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, employment and privacy issues, and trial and appellate argument. A business trial and appellate lawyer since 1982, Mr. Pomerance specializes in the areas of insurance coverage, insurance bad faith and employment litigation.

He represents businesses of every size and type in a variety of matters, typically involving insurance coverage or bad faith issues, as well as labor and employment counseling. He also litigates trade secret issues for businesses, including insurance coverage matters for misappropriation lawsuits.

Mr. Pomerance is one of the most experienced class action attorneys in the country, having represented a number of different classes of employers against a variety of property and casualty insurance carriers for bad faith practices impacting hundreds of millions of dollars in premiums.

He has also represented different classes of consumers against their automobile carriers for violations of law in the manner of assessing premiums. He is one of a select group of lawyers to handle a class action lawsuit through its beginning stages, to trial, and ultimately on appeal.

Honors and Affiliations:

Named "Workers' Comp Executive's Most Influential People in California Workers' Compensation" chosen for his contributions and influence on legislation and policy, leadership and representation.

A member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national organization recognizing only the most experienced trial lawyers.

Named one of the "Top 25 Lawyers in the San Fernando Valley" by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

Received a "5 out of 5" AV® Preeminent™ overall peer rating by Martindale Hubbell, one of the most prestigious lawyer information services organizations in the world. The Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ are an objective indicator of a lawyer's high ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada.

Lectures at trade group and association seminars on various topics including preventing or defending wrongful termination and harassment lawsuits.

Authored the chapter “Settlement Negotiations” in Mark Dombroff’s 1987 treatise Personal Injury Defense Techniques, and the article “Trade Secret Insurance” which was published in the November 1999 issue of the California Lawyer magazine.

Recognized for his expertise in employers’ rights issues, assisted in drafting employee handbooks and manuals for a variety of companies.

President of one of City of Hope’s fund-raising chapters for two years. Currently sits on the Board of Trustee for the Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Transactions or Matters:

Landmark wage and hour class action resulting in a $90 million verdict against a major national security company.

Landmark insurance bad faith decision resulting in a $20 million jury verdict against California’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier.

Successful defense of a major misappropriation of trade secrets case against a Fortune 500 defense contractor.

Multi-million dollar malicious prosecution verdict against a former CIA proprietary company.

Obtained eight reported appellate court decisions, including a landmark decision from the California Supreme Court which upheld the rights of employers to sue their workers’ compensation insurance carrier for bad faith conduct resulting in unjustifiable premium increases.

Won a binding $4 million arbitration award on behalf of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles against its insurer, a decision that is expected to impact how the industry handles multi-year policies for professional liability insurance. Pomerance's performance in this case was touted as "masterful" by the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Childrens Hospital, who described Mr. Pomerance as one of the "best trial attorneys" he has ever encountered.

Obtained a $1.1 million dollar verdict against State Fund on behalf of an occupational medical clinic due to wrongful exclusion from the provider network. Then won a reported appellate decision upholding the jury verdict, and obtained a further award of $425,000 in attorney's fees.

Obtained a $500,000 settlement from a major international insurance company after the carrier refused to defend a non-profit charitable organization in a lawsuit.