Samuel Bruchey

Samuel Bruchey practices insurance bad faith, business litigation and personal injury in the firm’s Beverly Hills office. He joined Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP in 2007, and has worked closely with founding partner William Shernoff ever since.

Mr. Bruchey specializes in cases involving senior annuities fraud, as well as life, health, disability income, property and long-term care insurance. He has served as lead counsel at trial and has successfully litigated matters involving wrongful delay, bad faith claim denial, unfair coverage caps and limitations, rescission, and agent liability. Mr. Bruchey is the Chair of the Insurance Committee of the Beverly Hills Bar Association.

Mr. Bruchey litigates cases against income disability insurers when they second-guess the medical opinions of doctors or unreasonably interpret policy language to deny claims. He represents clients in life insurance disputes involving policies that have unfairly lapsed or have been rescinded. He has a successful track record of holding life insurance companies responsible for illegal lapses. He also handles health insurance cases involving bad faith denials of coverage.

Recently, Mr. Bruchey was an integral part of the team that helped a senior citizen living in California recover her retirement savings after she was taken advantage of by a senior annuities scam. In Lois Brown v. Elco, a 92-year-old woman was a victim of a scam that took all her IRA savings from her and was converted into an insurance annuity by Elco Life and Annuity Company of Illinois. In addition to helping Ms. Brown regain her savings, Elco stopped selling annuities in California as a result of the lawsuit.

Mr. Bruchey has successfully litigated matters against Elco Mutual & Annuity, Blue Shield, Blue Cross, Health Net, Cigna, ING, Chartis, Northwestern Mutual Life, New York Life, Massachusetts Mutual, Stonebridge, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, ReliaStar, Aviva, UNUM, Guardian, Western Reserve Life, MetLife, Lincoln National, Progressive, Security Life of Denver, Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SHIP), Conseco, Sirius International, Genworth, Continental Casualty Company (CNA) and many other insurance companies.

Before practicing law, Mr. Bruchey worked as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles and New York City. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Stony Brook University, a Master’s Degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a law degree from Loyola Law School. He is married and has three children.

Mr. Bruchey was named a 2016 Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine.

Areas of Practice

Insurance Bad Faith
Senior Annuities Fraud
Bar Admissions:

California State Bar
U.S. District Court, Central District
U.S. District Court, Eastern District
U.S. District Court, Northern District
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
Professional Associations and Memberships:

Consumer Attorneys of California
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire
Beverly Hills Bar Association, Chair of the Insurance Committee
Pasadena Bar Association
REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Nickerson v. Stonebridge, won $19 million jury verdict for paraplegic Marine whose insurance company overruled his treating doctor on the medical necessity of his hospital stay.
SEMINARS TAUGHT

2012 Rutter Group Insurance Bad Faith Seminar, Los Angeles
CLIENT FEEDBACK

I have been wanting to share some good news with you all, and thank your team so very much on behalf of myself and my kids. You have lived up to your wonderful reputation and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for going to bat for us in this difficult case. (To read the full account, click here)
I want to thank you for your competence and success in handling my case. But I also want to thank you for your kindness and graciousness throughout the process. Absent the precipitating events, it was an enjoyable experience.
Please take the time to embrace our gratitude for the work you’ve done. In business & in life, I do my best to surround myself around a quality team of advisors. And as a result of your faith in our story, we’ve been able to prevail & vindicate our family. Continue to Persevere my friends. You’re a great team!
Just want to thank you again for your superb support. I always knew you were excellent, but now that I have had the frustrating occasion of having to work with more lawyers, I appreciate your genuine scruples all the more.