Kirk A. Pasich is the leader of Dickstein Shapiro’s Insurance Coverage Practice and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. According to Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, “All-star lawyer” Mr. Pasich “is an unmistakable feature of California’s insurance landscape” and one of the nation’s top 12 policyholder lawyers, while Lawdragon has said, “When it comes to representing policyholders, there’s no bigger name on the West Coast.” Chambers USA also says: “Kirk Pasich is the leading name at this national practice, whose skill at ‘always putting the right people on a matter’ ensures that it remains a go-to firm for complex insurance matters.”

Mr. Pasich conducts an active trial and appellate practice. He has negotiated large insurance recoveries for his clients, including recoveries of more than several hundred million dollars, and has served as lead trial counsel in many jury trials. In his most recent trial (October 2008), Mr. Pasich served as lead trial counsel for Sempra Energy in a suit against an insurance broker, obtaining a $48.5 million jury verdict. He has helped clients obtain more than $2 billion in insurance recoveries since January 1, 2007.

Additionally, Mr. Pasich has handled substantial commercial litigation matters, including breach of contract, fiduciary duty and fraud claims, construction disputes, idea submission and copyright infringement claims, professional malpractice claims, real estate disputes, and tax issues. He also has served as an arbitrator and as an expert witness on insurance and ethical issues. He has been named by The Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Top 10 Litigators in Los Angeles.

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION

Mr. Pasich has handled matters regarding insurance coverage for asbestos liabilities; advertising liabilities; business interruption and extra expense claims; class action settlements; copyright, patent, and trademark infringement; crime and fidelity losses; directors’ and officers’ liabilities; earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disaster losses; employment, discrimination, and harassment claims; entertainment industry liabilities and production losses; environmental and pollution losses; errors and omissions claims; Internet, domain, and computer virus losses; political risk; mortgage insurance; products liability; retrospective premium and self-insured retention disputes; and warranty and representation claims. He represents many institutions and individuals in the entertainment and sports industries in a wide range of insurance coverage matters, including handling claims and litigation under production and cast insurance policies, errors and omissions and multimedia policies, event cancelation policies, liability policies, and property policies. He also represents clients in claims against insurance brokers, as well as in a wide range of non-insurance matters.

According to Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, “the ‘energetic’ Kirk Pasich . . . is known for his trial and appellate practice.” Indeed, Chambers USA reports that he “does a masterful job in his trial and appellate work.” Mr. Pasich has been lead counsel in matters throughout California and in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont, as well as in London, England. He has obtained several verdicts for his clients that have been ranked among the largest jury verdicts of the year in California, including the eighth largest verdict of 2008. Chambers USA notes that “Pasich is applauded for the depth of his knowledge and dedication to exploring every avenue to achieve a winning result for his clients,” and also writes that he “is esteemed by rivals as a ‘passionate’ and ‘highly effective’ trial lawyer” as well as a “formidable opponent.” According to the guide, clients call Mr. Pasich “absolutely excellent.” Mr. Pasich also has been involved in more than 50 appellate matters and has argued many times before California and federal appellate courts. He has obtained key appellate decisions on insurance, the attorney-client privilege, procedural issues, and various other subjects.

HONORS AND RECOGNITIONS

• Named as a California “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation (2009);
• Named as one of Los Angeles’ Top 10 Litigators by the Los Angeles Business Journal in its “Who’s Who in L.A. Law” (2009);
• Named as “the market leader for policyholder representation in California” and “the policyholder attorney most likely to come up with a new argument or perspective concerning policy language” by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business; awarded “Band 1” (highest) rating for insurance in California (2003- ) and named as one of 12 policyholder lawyers to be awarded the “Band 1” national rating (2007- );
• Named in The Legal 500 United States (2009) in insurance as an “all-star lawyer” and “an unmistakable feature of California’s insurance landscape”;
• Named in Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers (2008- );
• Named in The International Who’s Who of Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers (2007-2010 ) (360 attorneys named worldwide);
• Named in Who’s Who Legal: California (2007- ) (one of 36 recognized in “Insurance and Reinsurance”);
• Named in “Best in Class” in Best in the U.S. (2006- );
• Named in The Best Lawyers in America (2006-2011 editions) in the area of Insurance Law;
• Named by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2005- ), and one of the “500 Leading Litigators in America”, and called “the West Coast punch of the nation’s leading insurance-coverage practice”;
• Named in Southern California Super Lawyers and as one of the Top 100 Southern California lawyers (2004- );
• Listed in Who’s Who in America (1998 through present);
• Profiled in The Alliance for Children’s Rights Annual Report for volunteer work on behalf of foster children (1997);
• Named to Law & Accounting “Who’s Who” as one of the top litigation attorneys in the country, Los Angeles Business Journal (1996);
• Named one of the nation’s top 45 lawyers under the age of 45, American Lawyer (1995);
• Named annually as one of California’s top “rainmakers,” California Law Business and Daily Journal (commencing in 1994);
• Named one of California’s top 25 lawyers under the age of 40, California Law Business (1993);
• Named a member of the “Legal Dream Team” as one of California’s Top 25 litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal (1992);
• Profiled in The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (1990);
• Named a national “up and coming” lawyer, American Lawyer (1990); and
• Profiled in The National Law Journal (1988).

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Mr. Pasich is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals; U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California; U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the ABA Tort & Insurance Practice Section, the ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association and Trial Lawyers Section. He also is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).

Mr. Pasich has served as a volunteer attorney for The Alliance of Children’s Rights since 1997. He also has been involved in numerous other professional and community organizations, including: member, Board of Directors, Constitutional Rights Foundation (1999-2000); member, Board of Editors, Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin (2001-2009); member, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Task Force for Economic Recovery (1992-1993); member, Board of Directors, The National Academy of Jazz (1987-1988); member, the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame Committee (2010- ); and chair, Board of Directors, The Woody Herman Foundation (1988-1992).

PUBLICATIONS

Articles

Mr. Pasich is the author of more than 400 articles and columns. He writes insurance law columns for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal. His articles also have been featured in The ABA Journal, ACC Docket, Advocate, Business Insurance, California Lawyer, The Corporate Analyst, Coverage, The Deal, Environmental Claims Journal, The Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, The Legal Times, Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Lawyer, Mealey’s Litigation Reports, The National Law Journal, National Underwriter, The Ohio State Law Journal, Sacramento Digest, and Tort and Insurance Law Journal, among others. His articles have been cited and quoted by various courts, including the California and Arizona Supreme Courts.

Books

• Contributing author, co-editor, and editor-in-chief, The ABA Manual for Complex Insurance Coverage Litigation (1990– );
• Contributing author, The Attorney-Client Privilege in Civil Litigation (4th ed. ABA, 2008);
• Contributing author, California Insurance Law and Practice (Lexis Nexis, 2009);  
• Contributing editor, California Litigation Forms: Civil Procedure Before Trial (West, 2000);
• Author, Casualty and Liability Insurance (Matthew Bender, 2000, 2003);
• Co-author, Directors and Officers: Liabilities and Protections (LexisNexis, 2000, 2003);
• Contributing author, The Drafting History Debate (Mealey Publications, 1995);
• Contributing author, Los Angeles Disaster Assistance Manual (1992);
• Co-editor and co-author, The New Appleman’s Entertainment and Sports Insurance Law Practice Guide (Matthew Bender, 2010); and  
• Co-author, The Year 2000 and Beyond: Liabilities and Insurance for Computer Code Problems (CCH, 2000).

Media

Mr. Pasich has been interviewed on Fox Business Channel (Oct. 2007) regarding insurance coverage for the Southern California fires, Fox News “Weekend Live” (Sept. 2005) regarding insurance coverage for Katrina losses, the CBS Nightly News, and the ABC Nightly News. He appeared in the December 2000 CBS Special “Home for the Holidays” about foster children adoptions. He also has been quoted in most of the country’s major newspapers, in various industry publications, including Daily Variety and Business Insurance, and in publications and radio broadcasts in other countries.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND PUBLIC APPEARANCES

Mr. Pasich has spoken and made presentations on more than 75 occasions, including at programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, Executive Enterprises, Incremental Advantage, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Loyola Sports Law Institute, Mealey’s, the Practising Law Institute, RIMS, and the UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium. He also has taught legal education programs on a wide range of subjects, including eliminating bias in the legal profession, ethics, insurance, intellectual property, and lawyering skills.

EDUCATION

Mr. Pasich received his B.A., cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles (1977), and his J.D., cum laude, from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California (1980).