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Ryan Buschell

Partner

San Francisco +1 415 591 7015

  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    Ryan Buschell represents policyholders in high-stakes insurance coverage disputes, litigating in federal and state courts across the country as well as in domestic and international arbitrations.  His cases often involve legal questions on the cutting-edge of insurance law, securing precedent-making decisions and verdicts on many untested coverage issues.  As a member of Covington’s insurance practice group, Ryan exclusively represents policyholders, having successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for a wide variety of losses and liabilities, including products liability and mass tort litigation, antitrust claims, securities litigation, CERCLA liability, property losses, and cyber events.  He is an experienced advocate and trial lawyer, leading numerous cases to trial and serving as first chair trial counsel in multiple proceedings.

    Outside of the courtroom, Ryan serves on the Executive Committee for the Insurance Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco, on the Board of Editors of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, and as a member of Law360’s Insurance General Liability Editorial Board.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Representing Brooklyn Union Gas Company seeking coverage for hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental cleanup costs. Secured a trial victory in New York State Supreme Court in Phase I trial concerning coverage for Gowanus Canal cleanup and bordering industrial sites.
    • Representing several companies seeking coverage for alleged PFAS liability arising from multi-district litigation concerning the historic use of firefighting foam.
    • Representing policyholder seeking coverage for product liability claims settled in the largest multi-district litigation in the United States.
    • Secured a significant and novel coverage victory on summary judgment for Target in what the Insurance Coverage Law Center stated "may be the first finding that a general liability policy will cover some data breach losses.”
    • Represented sovereign wealth fund seeking tens of millions of dollars in coverage for losses from fire at a warehouse distribution facility. Secured early summary judgment ruling in favor of policyholder.
    • Represented international shipping company seeking millions of dollars under decades-old workers compensation policies. Secured early summary judgment ruling in favor of coverage prior to discovery.
    • Represented major healthcare organization seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance coverage under its professional liability policies for damages arising from defense costs and settlement of nationwide class action.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • Harvard Law School, J.D., 2010
    • University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 2007
    Bar Admissions
    • California
    Judicial Clerkship
    • Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
    Pro Bono
    • Represented Greater Birmingham Ministries and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Voting Rights Act challenge to Alabama’s Photo ID law. 
    • Represented condemned inmate in a civil rights action alleging excessive force, deliberate indifference, and racial discrimination against San Quentin custody and medical staff. 
    • Represented California city in challenge to U.S. Postal Service policy that excluded some low-income housing from centralized mail delivery. 
    • Filed amicus curiae brief advocating the constitutionality of California’s “may issue” concealed carry permitting system.
       

    Areas of Expertise

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