Jennifer C. Kalvestran

Jennifer Kalvestran’s practice is focused on insurance coverage analysis, bad faith claims, and coverage dispute litigation in various jurisdictions in the Western United States.

Jennifer represents insurers on a broad range of coverage issues falling under primary and excess policies, with a focus on long-tail liabilities and other general liability, pollution liability, and professional liability coverage matters.  Jennifer also handles first- and third-party coverage issues under business operations policies, automobile policies, and other specialty coverages.  In this role, Jennifer also counsels insurers as to bad faith issues that might arise from these coverage disputes,  providing a commonsense, measured approach intended to avoid such claims.

When coverage litigation is unavoidable, Jennifer represents insurers in all aspects of litigation, including trial practice, mediations, and depositions, bringing a practical perspective to planning and executing these dispute resolution and litigation strategies in various state and federal courts in the Western United States.  Jennifer has also successfully represented clients in numerous matters on appeal before the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Finally, Jennifer has counseled insurers and otherwise participated in drafting policy language in a manner that is reasonable and legally enforceable.

Jennifer is a frequent speaker at national conferences and other educational events, where she provides educational services to other attorneys and those in the insurance industry.

Jennifer is AV® Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, representing the highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards.  She has also been named to the 2023 and 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers list.

Education

• William Mitchell College of Law (now known as Mitchell Hamline School of Law), J.D., 2000
• University of Minnesota, B.A. (English and French), 1997

Admissions & Associations

Bar Admissions

• Minnesota (2000)
• California (2006)
• Nevada (2017)
• Arizona (2019)
• Colorado (2021)
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California
• U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
• U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
• U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

Professional Associations

• The Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
  • Regional Chair, Region 10 (2022-present)
  • President, Los Angeles Chapter (2019-2021)
  • Co-Chair of Education Committee, Los Angeles Chapter (2016-2019)
• American Bar Association
  • Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section
• Association of Southern California Defense Counsel
• PLRB (Property & Liability Resource Bureau)

Speaking & Publications

• Panelist, “Effective Use of Experts in ADR,” PLRB Claims Conference (2024)
• Panelist, “Policy Limit Demands:  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” ABA Litigation Section, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar (2024)
• Panelist, “Slip & Slide: Who Caused the Ice Rink?” PLRB Large Loss Conference (2023)
• Panelist, “Life in the Fast Lane:  Construction Claims and Litigation Trends and Their Impact on Construction Claims Risk Management, Insurance Management and Insurance Coverage,” West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (2023).
• Panelist, “Adjusting Large Construction Defect Claims,” PLRB Claims Conference (2023)
• Panelist, “Watch for the Turnout!  Steering the Train when Double Tracking Additional Insured and Indemnity Agreement Issues,” ABA Litigation Section, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar (2023)
• Presenter, “Design and Manufacturer Liability Cases,” The Seminar Group WRAP Insurance Webinar (2023)
• Panelist, “Owner-Builder Blames Trade Contractor for Injury,” PLRB (2022)
• Panelist, “Construction Trends of the Future: Their Impact on Claims Risk Management and Insurance Coverage,” West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (2022)
• Panelist, “When Does a Premises Liability Claim Become a Construction Claim?,” PLRB (2022)
• Panelist, “From Hammers to Holograms: New Trends in Construction,” Claims and Litigation Management Alliance Annual Conference (2022)
• Panelist, “Bankruptcy and its Impact on Construction Defect Litigation,” West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (2021)
• Presenter, “Design and Manufacturer Liability Cases,” The Seminar Group WRAP Insurance Webinar (2021)
• Panelist, “Handling the Unique Challenges of Wrap/OCIP Policies,” Association of Southern California Defense Counsel Construction Defect Seminar (2019)
• Panelist, “Hiding the Ball: Litigating Fraud Issues,” West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (2019)
• Panelist, “Responding to, Managing and Resolving Habitability Claims,” Association of Southern California Defense Counsel Construction Defect Seminar (2018)
• Panelist, “Developing Issues in Policy Exhaustion: How SIRs, Anti-Stacking and Montrose Exclusions Impact Settlement when Multiple Policies are Implicated,” West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (2016)

Experience

• Cosgrove v. Nat’l Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 770 F. App’x 793 (9th Cir. 2019)
• Ins. Co. of State of PA v. Nat’l Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 592 F. App’x 630 (9th Cir. 2015)
• Chung v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 587 F. App’x 428 (9th Cir. 2014)
• Mike Rovner Construction, Inc. v. Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp., 2014 WL 3752106 (Cal. App. 2014)
• Sirius Int’l Ins. Corp., et al. v. Sup. Ct. (Larry Shaw), 2013 WL 4662872 (Cal. App. 2013)
• Giovanni Cosmetics, Inc. v. Arch Ins. Co., et al., No. 10-55418 (9th Cir. 2011)
• Chung v. City of Los Angeles, et al., 406 F. App’x 207 (9th Cir. 2010)
• Minnesota Office Plaza, LLC v. Target Stores, Inc., 2007 WL 2363875 (Minn. Ct. App. 2007)