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Laura R.Ramos
Of Counsel
Phone:
310.689.7096 Fax:
310.473.2525
Laura Ramos is Of Counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles office and is a member of the firm’s Insurance practice group. Laura represents insurance carriers in litigation and coverage disputes arising out of complex commercial litigation, including class actions, unfair business practices, antitrust, business torts, construction, product liability, racial discrimination, employment matters, habitability claims, trademark issues, media claims and appellate matters. Laura also assists clients with reimbursement of fees and indemnity payments through subrogation and recovery actions. Laura’s clients include commercial insurance carriers covering aviation, general liability, errors and omissions and media liability.
Laura's extensive experience in Insurance Coverage provides her a unique ability to evaluate complex insurance coverage matters for her clients. She works closely with General Counsel and claim representatives to guide them through the unique and complex aspects of nationwide coverage issues.
Representative Matters
Litigation
- A favorable settlement of a class action was reached prior to class certification for alleged violations of Business & Professional Code §17200 against an international money wire transfer company, related to allegations of deceptive currency exchange rate advertisements.
- A multi-million dollar verdict in an insurance policy rescission action was obtained in United States District Court on behalf of insurance carrier, based on misrepresentation in insurance application by holding company with multiple corporate subsidiaries. Appeal to Ninth Circuit was successfully defended.
- A multi-million dollar jury verdict was obtained in a case regarding insurance indemnity obligations for out-of-state toxic tort remedial clean-up.
- A favorable ruling was obtained in a bench trial involving issues of trigger of coverage and method of exhaustion for primary and excess policies spanning over 40 years of coverage which were responsive to toxic tort claims.
- A favorable settlement was reached in a business tort action for unfair competition and breach of fiduciary duty regarding title insurance brokers.
Published Cases
Litigation
- Unionamerica Ins. Co., Ltd. v. Fort Miller Group, Inc.
The firm prevailed on behalf of its client, a Lloyd's syndicate, in a rescission and reimbursement action heard before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The policy holder was a New York corporation with several subsidiaries. The client issued a specialized "gap" commercial policy which named all the subsidiaries as insureds. However, the insurance application failed to adequately disclose the ultra-hazardous operations of one of the insured subsidiaries, which then became involved in a multi-million dollar loss in San Francisco regarding construction on the Oakland Bay Bridge. The insurer client defended the insured in the claim under a reservation of rights and then settled the suit over the insureds' objections. The firm then brought a rescission and reimbursement claim on behalf of the client insurer against the insured. The insured counter-claimed for bad faith. After a six-day trial, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of client insurer, ordered that the policy was rescinded, ordered the insured to reimburse the client $1.9 million in defense and indemnity costs, and also dismissed the bad faith counter-claim. The insured appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the trial court's decision in the client's favor.
News
Ms. Ramos works with County Board of Elections to monitor polling stations during local, state and national elections.