Sandra Smith Thayer is a partner in the Insurance Coverage Practice. She also is the national co-leader of the Firm’s Insurance Coverage Initiatives and chairs its insurance broker E&O and political risk initiatives and is a member of the entertainment and sports insurance initiative. She conducts an active trial and arbitration practice, representing insureds in complex insurance coverage matters and in disputes and litigation with insurance brokers. Ms. Thayer served as one of two trial counsel for Sempra Energy in a two-week jury trial in October 2008 against Marsh USA, obtaining a $48.5 million jury verdict. Ms. Thayer conducted half of the witness examinations and managed the case from its filing through trial, handling nearly all of the depositions.

In addition to representing insureds in obtaining coverage for a wide range of general liability and errors and omissions claims, Ms. Thayer represents motion picture studios and others in the entertainment industry in coverage matters, including business interruption losses, cast insurance claims, and intellectual property/multimedia claims. Indeed, she second-chaired an arbitration in which one motion picture studio recovered more than $50 million.

Ms. Thayer has handled matters regarding insurance coverage for benzene liabilities; business interruption and extra expense claims; earthquakes, fires, and other natural disaster losses; employment, discrimination, and harassment claims; entertainment industry liabilities and production losses; environmental and pollution losses; errors and omissions and professional liabilities; political risk; and products liability. She also has represented clients in a wide range of non-insurance matters.

Bar Admissions

California, 1999
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education

University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1994
Tulane Law School, J.D., 1998, cum laude