William M. Shernoff
Senior and Managing Partnerr
William M. Shernoff
Senior and Managing Partner
Claremont, California
| phone | (909) 621-4935 (800) 458-3386 |
| fax | (909) 625-6915 |
| Mr. Shernoff | |
William M. Shernoff is the senior partner of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria a law firm specializing in insurance bad faith litigation. A longtime consumer advocate, Mr. Shernoff has made a career of representing insurance consumers in their cases against insurance companies, and, in 1974, persuaded the California Supreme Court to establish a new case law that permits plaintiffs to sue insurance companies for bad faith when they intentionally take advantage of policyholders (Egan v. Mutual of Omaha, 1979.)
Often called the "pioneer" of bad faith law, Mr. Shernoff is a nationally recognized expert in the field with more than 35 years of experience representing insurance consumers. A frequent lecturer and author, Mr. Shernoff co-authored the legal textbook, "Insurance bad Faith Litigation," which has become the field's definitive treatise, as well as "How to Make Insurance Companies Pay Your Claims . . . . And What To Do If They Don't," "Payment Refused" and "Fight Back and Win – And How To Make Your HMO Pay Up." Mr. Shernoff has also been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and on "60 Minutes."
Mr. Shernoff, who maintains offices in Beverly Hills and Claremont California, has authored over 50 articles on insurance issues and is featured in the Rutter Group Seminar entitled "The Shernoff Insurance Bad Faith Seminar."
Verdicts and Settlements
- 1974: $5 Million punitive damages verdict for a roofer whose disability payments had been cut off (the seminal case that established the bad faith tort against insurers).
- 1976: $4.5 Million punitive damages verdict against an insurer who refused to pay a $48 claim for medicine and a hearing test.
- 1981: $50 Million insurance settlement for Southern California Physicians group over malpractice insurance program for overcharging on premiums.
- 1985: $86 Million settlement for MGM Grand on insurance case involving hotel fire in Las Vegas hotel.
- 1987: $23 Million insurance bad faith verdict (including $13 Million punitive damages) for the owners of a hotel over the failure of its insurer to settle a personal injury case.
- 1991: $1.4 Million insurance settlement over denial of coverage for bone marrow transplants for breast cancer victims.
- 1991: $4.45 Million insurance settlement on behalf of contractor over collapse on a construction site, which carriers refused to cover.
- 1993: $25 Million punitive damages award in insurance fraud case against a carrier that allegedly misrepresented the scope of a health insurance policy and denied benefits to a cancer victim.
- 1995: $86.7 Million insurance bad faith verdict (including $57 Million for punitive damages) on behalf of the American-Samoan government against Affiliated FM Insurance Co. involving hurricane damage.
- 1995: $65.75 Million insurance settlement for entertainment industry companies in lawsuit over earthquake damage.
- 1997: $5 Million insurance bad faith verdict on behalf of Northridge earthquake victims.
- 2008: $9 Million punitive award to hairdresser who had health policy rescinded.
- 2009: $5 Billion settlement of Holocaust Insurance claims.
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2011: $19 million verdict for paraplegic Marine whose insurance company overruled his treating doctor on the medical necessity of his 109-day hospital stay.
Honors and Awards
- American Trial Lawyers Association – Top 100 Lawyers
- Trial Lawyer of the Year – Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association
- Trial Lawyers of the Year - California Consumer Attorneys
- The Best Lawyers in America
- Super Lawyer - Law & Politics Magazine
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles – Hall of Fame
- Consumer Watchdog – Lifetime Achievement Award
Professional Associations and Memberships
- American Bar Association
- American Association for Justice
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- Beverly Hills Bar Association (Order of Distinguished Attorneys)
- Consumer Attorneys of California - Inland Empire
- Consumer Attorneys of California (Former President)
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
- Eastern Bar of Los Angeles
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
Areas of Practice
- Bad Faith Insurance Law
Bar Admissions
- United States District Court, Central Dist. of California
- United States District Court, Southern Dist. of California
- United States Court of Appeals
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Supreme Court of the State of California
Education
- University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, J.D.
- University of Miami, B.B.A.
