Robert G. Levy

Robert Levy's practice encompasses complex insurance coverage and defense litigation on behalf of major commercial general liability and professional liability insurers throughout the United States. Mr. Levy works closely with his clients to implement their goals, advising and assisting them creatively and strategically.

Mr. Levy became of counsel to Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in October 2014 as a result of the merger of Hinshaw and the Los Angeles-based firm of Barger & Wolen LLP.

• The State Bar of California

• Recognized on the Super Lawyers list by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine, 2011 – 2013, 2015 – 2016

A selection of Mr. Levy's representative matters includes:

• Obtained the first judgment in California, on behalf of an employment practices liability insurer, that California public policy precluded insurability of class action claims for earned but unpaid overtime wages.
• Served as attorneys' fee liaison counsel for all defending insurers in the largest dry cleaner environmental cleanup dispute in the United States. Achieved a settlement favorable for the insurers, including modification of the environmental remediation judgment and consent decree.
• Pursued coverage litigation on behalf of related CGL primary and excess insurers having the largest coverage segment of the Southern and Northern California clergy molestation claims.
• Counseled related primary and excess insurers as to appellate and settlement strategy regarding coverage litigation arising out of national MDL class claims for defective home siding. The represented insurers' exposure exceeded half a billion dollars.
• Obtained the first judgment in California, on behalf of an attorneys' professional liability insurer, that insurance could not indemnify an attorneys' fee award under Federal Rule 11.
• Defended numerous professional liability actions including claims against lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, and insurance agents.
• Drafted a policy exclusion for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims for a major insurance group.
• Brought and defended numerous co-insurer contribution actions.
• Non-insurance experience includes partnership dissolution disputes and commercial contract litigation, including claims based on promissory estoppel.

Mr. Levy's publications include:

• "Esquenazi decision interprets the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," co-author, InsideCounsel, July 15, 2014
• "How to effectively manage litigation of FCPA claims," co-author, InsideCounsel, June 04, 2014
• "Managing the law of unintended consequences with lessons from BP and Gulliver,"co-author, InsideCounsel, May 02, 2014
• "Insurance Practices and Coverage in Liability Defense, Second Edition," (formerly "Defending the Insured"), co-author, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, December 2013
• "Fall From Coverage," Los Angeles Daily Journal, November 28, 2006
• "Defending the Insured," co-author, Aspen Publishers, Inc. ed., April 2005
• "A Practical Approach To Implementing Recovery Under Buss," Underwriter's Report, September 1997
• "How To Use A Legal Audit Report – Volume 2," Legal Audit Review, May 1994