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  1. Home
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  3. David B. Goodwin
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David B. Goodwin

Partner
David Goodwin
San Francisco +1 415 591 7074 dgoodwin@cov.com Download V-card
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David Goodwin is one of the nation’s leading insurance coverage practitioners, ranked in the highest tier by Chambers USA both nationally and in California. The leading legal directory described him as “one of the strongest players around in contentious insurance cases,” “a brilliant tactician,” and “a world-class litigator and an expert in insurance disputes.” He has also been recognized by Law360 as one of the country’s top three “most valuable players” in the insurance practice area.

With more than 35 years of experience representing corporate policyholders in insurance coverage disputes and litigation, his practice runs the gamut of insurance issues, including major property damage and business interruption losses, errors and omissions, cyber, representation and warranty, fidelity, and director and officer claims, onshore and offshore construction insurance disputes, and products liability, environmental and marine insurance matters. Mr. Goodwin has served as a party arbitrator or counsel for a party in insurance arbitrations in the U.S., the UK, Bermuda, and Singapore. He also is a highly experienced appellate advocate who has argued more than 50 appeals.

Mr. Goodwin served as an adjunct professor at University of California at Berkeley Law School, where he taught courses on insurance law.

  • Represented Noranda Aluminum in a jury trial in which the client obtained business interruption insurance coverage for two significant accidents at an aluminum smelter.
  • Counsel for UnitedHealth Group in two successful jury trials concerning professional liability coverage for consumer class action claims.
  • Represented a paint manufacturing company in a successful jury trial and two dozen successful summary adjudication motions resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of coverage for the client’s asbestos liabilities.
  • Represented BP America in insurance issues arising from the sinking and explosion of the Deepwater Horizon.
  • Represented a financial institution in a trial, affirmed on appeal, in which the client obtained errors and omissions insurance coverage for consumer class actions.
  • Represented a chemical manufacturer in a successful arbitration to obtain insurance coverage for business interruption losses following an explosion at an olefins plant. The client publicly reported total insurance recoveries in excess of $440 million.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of a hospitality industry client on a nine figure builders’ risk insurance claim arising out of a construction accident.
  • Represented an investment fund in a representations and warranties insurance arbitration in which the client obtained insurance for losses arising from errors in the financial statements of a company that the fund had acquired.
  • Represented LyondellBasell Industries in a significant business interruption insurance claim that resulted in a multi-hundred million dollar recovery for the insured.
  • Represented PG&E in a successful trial involving insurance coverage for environmental liabilities.
  • Obtained summary judgment for Hewlett-Packard in a significant business interruption claim arising out of employee sabotage.
  • Represented a major financial institution in a successful arbitration concerning insurance coverage for mortgage-backed securities claims.
  • Represented BP plc in litigation concerning builders’ risk insurance for numerous offshore construction projects.
  • Represented a petrochemical company in recovering hundreds of millions of dollars in contingent business interruption coverage resulting from a pipeline explosion.
  • Represented clients in dozens of first-party property damage, business interruption or builders’ risk insurance claims arising at locations around the world, including Guam, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and 23 states in the United States.
  • Handled a huge variety of third party liability insurance matters, including products, asbestos, and environmental liabilities, director and officer, errors and omissions claims, employment disputes, and nuclear liabilities.
  • Appointed as an arbitrator in eight insurance arbitrations.
  • Served as an expert witness on insurance and civil procedure issues in courts in England, Australia, and the United States.
  • Argued insurance coverage appeals before the California Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, and numerous state appellate courts.
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Memberships and Affiliations

  • American Law Institute
  • American College of Coverage Counsel
  • Former President, Insurance Coverage Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco
  • San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute, former Chair of the Board of Trustees
  • State Bar of California Insurance Law Section, former Member, Board of Directors
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  • Law360 - MVP, Insurance
  • The Daily Journal, Top 100 Lawyers in California
  • Best Lawyers in America - Lawyer of the Year, Insurance Law
  • Chambers USA - Highest tier of policyholder lawyers both nationally and in California; listed as one of only two “star individuals” in California   
  • Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers
  • The Practical Law Company (PLC) - Insurance and Reinsurance, The Law and Leading Lawyers Worldwide
  • Super Lawyers of Northern California
  • Benchmark Litigation, Local Star - California
  • Who’s Who Legal: Insurance and Reinsurance
  • Woodward/White Inc.’s “Best Lawyers in America”
  • Legal 500 US - Recommended as an Insurance, Healthcare, and Energy: Litigation Lawyer
  • Best of the Best USA - Insurance and Reinsurance

Practices

Stanford Law School, J.D., 1982

  • Stanford Law Review, Articles Editor

University of Oxford, M.A., 1981

University of Oxford, B.A., 1976

University of California, Santa Cruz, A.B., 1974

  • Hon. Joseph T. Sneed, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • California