Jeremy A. Lawrence

He has substantial experience representing policyholders in coverage disputes and bad faith claims involving a wide variety of first- and third-party insurance policies, including general liability policies, D&O policies, professional liability/E&O policies, property and business interruption policies, commercial crime policies, and representation and warranty policies. He also has litigated and advised on industry-specific policies written for the construction, energy, finance, media and entertainment, legal, technology, telecommunications and transportation industries.

Representative engagements include:

• Representing a material supplier in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal to overturn an erroneous trial court decision and secure a duty to defend against a nine-figure claim involving alleged defects at an offshore energy-production facility.
• Representing a railroad operator in the California Court of Appeal to preserve a favorable trial judgment barring insurers from clawing back more than $100 million they had previously contributed to a personal injury settlement.
• Securing an eight-figure settlement under a builder’s risk policy for a utility whose facility was damaged during construction.
• Securing an eight-figure settlement under a commercial crime policy for a manufacturing company that was defrauded by managers of its overseas operations.
• Defeating breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by a bankruptcy trustee against former directors and officers of the company, and preserving that victory in the California Court of Appeal.

Mr. Lawrence has written and presented on numerous topics relating to insurance and indemnity law, including the duty to defend, bad faith, D&O insurance and various aspects of non-insurance contractual indemnification under California law.  He has been an associate editor of the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal since 2017, and he has been an adjunct professor of insurance law at UC Hastings College of the Law since 2022.

As part of his pro bono practice, Mr. Lawrence has co-authored amicus curiae briefs on behalf of public interest organizations in cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. He also recently represented an individual pro bono to help secure access to disputed life insurance benefits.

Before joining Munger Tolles, Mr. Lawrence served as a clerk to Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.