Mary Craig Calkins

Prominent insurance coverage litigator Mary Craig Calkins has more than 30 years of experience handling and litigating all aspects of insurance recovery for policyholders in complex, high value matters.

Through litigation, arbitration, and mediation, she has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for companies and individuals under directors and officers liability, management liability, and professional errors and omissions policies, and facilitated settlement of some of the most complicated directors and officers liability issues in the country.

She has served as an arbitrator and frequently lectures and publishes on a wide variety of topics relating to directors and officers liability coverage and other litigation topics. Ms. Calkins also advises in-house counsel, senior executives, and company management on how to maximize insurance protection and recovery under primary and excess policies.

Ms. Calkins has substantial experience in other areas of insurance recovery, including entertainment and intellectual property claims, securities, cyber liabilities, e-commerce and technology claims, labor and employment claims, construction defects, first party property and business interruption losses, Fintech, and broker liability claims.

Ms. Calkins is a Past President of the American College of Coverage Counsel, an honorary organization of the country’s top insurance coverage lawyers, where she also serves on the Executive Committee.

She also is a leader in the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, where she is former national co-chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee. She currently serves as Managing Director of the Section of Litigation and holds leadership positions in the ABA.

Experience:

• Lead coverage counsel for international media and communications company, recovering over $150 million in insurance coverage used to settle multiple shareholder class actions and derivative suits.
• Negotiated insurer-funding of multi-million dollar shareholder class action lawsuit against U.S. oil and natural gas exploration company.
• Lead coverage counsel for international car part manufacturer/distributor, recovering coverage for multiple lawsuits arising out of the bankruptcy of a subsidiary.
• Successfully represented manufacturer on products liability and recall issues in connection with allegedly defective plumbing parts incorporated into homes in housing tracts in Arizona and around the country.
• Pursued coverage for flood-related losses and mitigation efforts affecting large data aggregator/technology company forced to relocate to avoid additional loss.
• Litigated property damage and business interruption losses suffered at Honolulu hotel complex, and participated in mediation of underlying construction defect case.
  Successfully represented former officers and directors of a large communications group and negotiated insurer-funded settlement of securities class action, derivative suit and tag-along ERISA claims alleging misrepresentations on financial statements.
• Negotiated $20 million payment against defense costs on behalf of international hotel client sued by a competitor for unfair business practices and misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Obtained significant insurer contributions to settlement in several cases alleging stock options backdating class action and related defense advancement claims.
• Successfully obtained coverage for former officers and directors of a wireless technology company used to settle underlying shareholder class action claims.
• Recovered $16 million in insurance coverage from multiple insurers to settle shareholder derivative suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of going private transaction.
• Negotiated significant insurer settlement of coverage issues arising out of internal investigation and defense of SEC inquiries into executive compensation practices.
• Obtained $6.2 million jury verdict including bad faith damages for failure to defend and indemnify insured for case alleging software piracy.
• Obtained coverage for production company recovering on multi-million dollar claim arising out of disruption of taping of major TV game show.
• Successfully represented producers of longest-running singing competition and other reality television series on multiple insurance coverage issues including claims alleging copyright violations, idea submission, and other coverage disputes.
• Negotiated coverage for claims alleging vicarious copyright infringement through use of peer-to-peer computer sharing of protected materials.
• Represented owners of local television stations pursuing insurance for defense and settlement of defamation claims brought by amusement park owner related to wrongful death action.
• Obtained jury verdicts and managed 64-site groundwater contamination environmental coverage litigation relating to damage caused by the manufacture of agricultural chemicals.
• Advised manufacturer on multiple insurance coverage issues and defense of claims arising out of allegedly defective cochlear implants used to enhance hearing in the deaf.
• Negotiated insurer settlement for recall and mitigation efforts by the National Institutes of Health for loss of research caused by the use of defective products used to grow cancer lines.
• Litigated coverage for multiple food-born products cases, including allegedly defective and contaminated products incorporated by end users causing alleged bodily injury and property damage.
• Negotiated $40 million in insurer funding for retrofit and code upgrades of luxury apartment towers damaged by earthquake.
• Represented major television networks regarding certain television production-related issues including coverage for lost production due to floods affecting the production schedule for upcoming television shows and a fire.
• Assisted DVD distribution center in connection with property damage and business interruption losses resulting from a tornado in Ohio.

Education:

• Loyola Law School Los Angeles, J.D. (1981)cum laude
• Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, Production Editor
• University of California at Los Angeles, B.A.

Admissions:

• California (1981)

Court Admissions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California