We Created the Law of Insurance Bad Faith


909.621.4935 | 800.458.3386


Our Attorneys

William M. Shernoff 
Senior and Managing Partner
Claremont, California


phone   (909) 621-4935
(800) 458-3386
fax (909) 625-6915
email Mr. Shernoff

EVER SINCE HIS FIRST insurance bad faith verdict in 1971, William M. Shernoff, senior and managing partner of the firm, has devoted his career to fighting insurance company abuse.

Mr. Shernoff's career has been distinguished by multi-million dollar verdicts and precedent-setting case law. He is credited with pioneering bad faith insurance law with his 1979 victory, Egan v. Mutual of Omaha.

William M. Shernoff, Attorney
William M. Shernoff
Senior and Managing Partner

His numerous landmark cases include a settlement on behalf of the MGM Grand Hotel over insurance claims arising from a devastating fire at the hotel and a jury verdict amounting to over $100 million for the American Samoa Government for claims stemming from a hurricane.

Flexing his international reputation for remaining undaunted against the world's mightiest insurers, Mr. Shernoff recently took on Holocaust-era life insurance litigation against Europe's major insurance companies. With precedent-setting victories on behalf of dozens of victims, he and co-counsel Lisa Stern comprised the first legal team ever to successfully handle such claims. For their efforts, they were bestowed 2002 Trial Lawyers of the Year by the California Consumer Attorneys Association.

A tireless consumer advocate, Mr. Shernoff has authored three books for the general public: Payment Refused, How to Make Insurance Companies Pay Your Claims and Fight Back and Win - How to Get Your HMO and Health Insurance to Pay Up. He is also co-author, with Harvey Levine, of the legal textbook Insurance Bad Faith Litigation, the definitive treatise in the field.

Mr. Shernoff has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since its first edition in 1983 and was recently named a Super Lawyer of 2004 by Law & Politics Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall St. Journal, and Time Magazine and has appeared on the television program "60 Minutes."

Mr. Shernoff co-founded the National Insurance Consumer Organization (NICO) and established a consumer law program (one of the first of its kind in the country) at the University of Wisconsin.

A native of Wisconsin, Mr. Shernoff received his B.B.A. from the University of Miami in 1959 and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1962.

Areas of Practice:

  • Bad Faith Insurance Law

Bar Admissions:

  • Wisconsin, 1962
  • California, 1966

Education:

  • University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 1962; J.D.
  • University of Miami, 1959; B.B.A.

Published Works:

  • Payment Refused
  • How to Make Insurance Companies Pay Your Claims
  • Fight Back and Win - How to Get your HMO and Health Insurance to Pay UpBR />
  • Insurance Bad Faith Litigation (Co-Author with Harvey Levine)
  • The Television Program "60 Minutes," New York Times
  • The Television Program "60 Minutes," Wall St. Journal
  • The Television Program "60 Minutes," Time Magazine

Representative Cases:

Honors and Awards:

  • The Best Lawyers in America
  • Trial Lawyers of the Year, California Consumer Attorneys Association, 2002
  • Super Lawyer, Law & Politics Magazine, 2004
  • Super Lawyer, Los Angeles Magazine, 2004

Professional Associations and Memberships:

  • National Insurance Consumer Organization
Landmark Cases Our Clients Office Locations