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Founding Partner, Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
Summary of experience
Paul K. Schrieffer is the founding partner of the firm. He is an active trial lawyer in courts throughout California and has litigated cases in states throughout the U.S., including Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Kentucky and Hawaii. Mr. Schrieffer acts as national monitoring counsel for Underwriters at Lloyds and London companies in multi-district federal court litigation, as well as in state courts. Mr. Schrieffer has tried complex, high exposure cases for many clients during his 20-year career, ranging from insurance bad faith and broker E&O to wrongful termination and catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and construction. He has also represented event cancellation and contingency insurers nationally and internationally, including legal matters arising from such tours as Madonna, Christina Aquilera, The Beastie Boys, YES LLC, Live Earth Concerts and Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour in London. Mr. Schrieffer regularly represents NBC and Universal Studios in litigated matters, among others, in the entertainment industry.
Notable Verdicts and Cases
- Bustamante v. Universal Studios, et al. – Two week wrongful death trial in Burbank arising from death of patron at Citywalk. The family demanded $8,000,000 in closing arguments and a defense award was achieved for Universal Studios on all causes of action in January of 2012.
- Doe Hotel v. Doe Insurance Brokerage – Resolved $1.8 million broker malpractice case after one week in trial in Santa Monica, California following cross examination of plaintiff’s President on the witness stand. Hotel argued that 20 EEOC complaints and a sexual harassment lawsuit were not timely tendered to the hotel’s EPLI insurer by the broker. Case resolved for less than 15% of claimed damages. The case continues as to the law firm
- Carpenter v. NBC Universal – 3 week jury trial arising from catastrophic personal injuries to a grip on a television set, resulting in a defense verdict. Potential exposure exceeded $1.5 million. The jury found that although the plaintiff was injured by a defectively designed 2 ton ‘elephant’ door on a back lot sound stage, he was not entitled to recovery because the special employer/borrowed servant rule and application of a multi-factor control test, barred his recovery. The verdict was upheld on appeal the Second District Court of Appeal in California in an unpublished opinion and by the California Supreme Court.
- Knaak v. Knaak – $19 million lawsuit filed against an insurance broker by client who suffered an uncovered judgment. Motion for summary judgment granted in Orange County Superior Court in favor of an insurance broker, which was affirmed on appeal. This case was featured in - All Business - Champions of Small Business August 15, 2009.
- Girls Gone Wild – Daytona Beach and Miami, Florida – represented Certain Underwriters at Lloyds regarding claims for coverage for invasion of privacy and child pornography arising from use of underage girls in Spring Break reality videos.
- Kilpatrick v. Universal Studios / City of Burbank – Represented Universal Studios at trial of a Metrolink train derailment case – phase 1 – arising from first victim paraplegic plaintiff. Demand of $65 million; verdict $11.9 million.
- Doe Artist v. Doe Insurance Brokerage – Resolved a case after weeks in trial on the eve of closing arguments in a broker malpractice case arising from $3.5 million in claimed uncovered fine arts losses. The case settled for less than 3% of claimed damages after cross-examination of plaintiff's standard of care expert.
- Heidari v. ESI/FME Inc. – Trial of a wrongful termination whistleblower case in Orange County Superior Court wherein Plaintiff sought recovery for allegedly reporting the fraud and illegal payments. After a week in trial, the jury deliberated for half a day prior to returning the 12-0 defense verdict. This case was featured in DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar's December 2, 2009 issue of The Voice.
- Vanderhyde v. Pacific Specialty Insurance Company – 6 week jury trial in San Diego Superior Court in downtown San Diego defending an insurance broker accused of fraud, negligent misrepresentation and professional negligence. Potential exposure exceeded $2 million. The jury returned a defense verdict in favor of the firm’s client on all causes of action. This case was featured in DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar's June 4, 2008 issue of The Voice.
- Johnson v. Universal Studios – 2 week jury trial in Glendale California arising from a severely fractured hip and resultant hip replacement to an 80 year old woman who claimed that a blowing fountain water created a dangerous condition. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for Universal Studios after 37 minutes of deliberations.
- Espinoza v. VMS, Inc. – Defense verdict at trial in Beverly Hills defending a Professional Employer Organization in a catastrophic personal injury case.
- Tabib v. Blank, CPA – 3 week accounting malpractice jury trial in downtown Los Angeles resulting in a unanimous defense verdict. CPA accused of failing to adequately advise and plan plaintiffs’ retirement plans, including a defined benefit plan.
- Graffam v. Amorelli & Roseman – 2 week broker negligence jury trial in Rancho Cucamonga, California resulting in a unanimous defense verdict. Plaintiffs alleged the defendant failed to adequately insure their business for its structure and contents as well as for business interruption and lost profits exposures.
- Mintz v. Universal Studios – 2 week severe injury case with stipulated liability and multiple level spinal fusion. The jury awarded less than the pretrial offer and less than 6 figures.
- Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London v. The Vreeken Family – Honolulu, Hawaii - motion for summary judgment granted in a favor of Underwriters at Lloyds arising from the total collapse of an island resident’s home and subsequent denial of coverage. On motion, the court found material misrepresentations in the application by the local residents, granting judgment in Underwriters’ favor.
- Represented Certain Underwriters at Lloyds against San Diego Padres Baseball Club in litigation venued in San Diego, California.
Admissions- Mr. Schrieffer is admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court, as well as the Central, Eastern and Southern California Federal District Courts, in addition to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal Circuit for Copyright and Trademark Disputes in Washington D.C. He has successfully argued before the California Court of Appeal, including the Second District in First Pacific Bank v. Underwriters at Lloyds and Carpenter v. NBC Universal.
Affiliations past and presentPublications and Symposia- August 2011 Spoke at seminar on recovery of attorneys’ fees as the prevailing party in broker litigation, Seattle Washington.
- August 2011 presented seminar on wrongful death and survival action litigation at Liberty Mutual in Ontario, California.
- July 2011 presented California Fair Claims Practices Act seminar and training for QBE Canada.
- June 2011 Atlanta, Georgia - presented California Fair Claims Practices Act seminar and training for Catlin, USA.
- May 2011 London, England – presented California Fair Claims Practices Act seminar and training for Liberty Syndicates.
- January 21, 2011 presented seminar at Liberty Mutual in Glendale, California on wage and hour and employee benefits litigation and defenses.
- December 2010 – presented seminar on current issues and trends in agents and brokers litigation and liability at Safeco in Seattle, Washington.
- August 2010 – California Fair Claims Practices Act – Underwriters at Lloyds, London, England.
- March 2010 – presentation on U.S. litigation to Underwriters at Lloyds, London and London Companies in London, England.
- October 2009 – presented the “Meat and Potatoes of Broker E&O Claims” in Irvine, California.
- February 2009 – presented a seminar at Safeco in Seattle on recent trends in California Agents and Broker E&O law.
- February 2009 – speaker at an Accident and Health seminar in London, England on trends in the A&H insurance market and claims.
- September 2008 – presented a seminar on cutting edge trends in professional errors and omissions for accountants in San Diego, California.
- September 2008 – presented seminars on the California Fair Claims Practices Act for companies and syndicates at Lloyds of London.
- March 2008 – California Fair Claims Practices Act - Underwriters at Lloyds, London, England.
- January 2008 – presented on recent trends in claims handling and coverage investigation, London, England.
Education- Bachelor’s of Arts Degree, University of California at Santa Barbara
- Juris Doctorate, Southwestern University School of Law
Aspiration Lord, let me be able in argument, accurate in analysis, correct in conclusion, candid with my clients, and honest with my adversaries. Stand beside me in Court so that I will not, in order to win a point, lose my soul. — Sir Thomas More
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