North America

Professional Liability Law Firm of the Year

USA Firm Profile

Skane Wilcox LLP is a women-owned “AV”® rated law firm headed by Elizabeth Skane and Wendy Wilcox with offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Liz and Wendy have defended clients in a number of trials over the past several years

with great success. In the past two months, Wendy won an insurance coverage trial which the insured, a national roof tile company, claimed there was a duty to defend it in a certified class action in California. In addition, Wendy won a products liability trial where the plaintiff claimed she was severely injured when she fell off of our client’s motorcycle seat. Late last year, Liz obtained a dismissal for a waiver of costs after a 14 week construction defect jury trial in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the last couple of years, Skane Wilcox LLP has won Best New Firm of the Year, Employment/Labor Law Firm of the Year in California and Construction Law Firm of the Year in Nevada and Litigation Advisory Firm of the Year in Nevada.

Notable Legal Work

• An arbitrator in a Nevada arbitration found in favor of our client, an insurance agent, holding that our client as an agent was under no obligation or duty to specifically advise the plaintiffs that their homeowners’ policy did not provide coverage for all terrain vehicles (“ATV's”) which were primarily used off the premises. The arbitrator pointed out there was no discussion between the plaintiffs and our client that the ATV’s would be covered under the homeowners’ policy, and accordingly our client had no obligation to specifically advise the plaintiffs the policy did not provide complete coverage for the ATV’s which were primarily used away from the home.

• Recently, we obtained judgment in favor of our insurance clients on a motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff, a watch company, claimed damages of well over $1 million under claims of bad faith, violation of unfair business practices

and breach of contract against our clients stemming from an underlying federal trademark infringement case filed against it. The plaintiff claimed there was a potential for coverage under the “advertising injury” sections of our clients’ general liability policies. The judge ordered summary judgment in favor of our clients based on the policies’ exclusions, the “no voluntary payments” provision and the fact the damages alleged against the plaintiff fell outside the effective policy periods.

• We recently settled a high exposure personal injury case for our client, a pool contractor. The plaintiff, a young college student, allegedly suffered catastrophic injuries, rendering her a quadriplegic after she dove into the defendants- homeowners’ pool. The plaintiff sought over $20 million in damages. After extensive negotiating, we were able to settle our client out for a very small fraction of the $20 million demand.

Areas of Expertise

• Professional Liability –Lawyers, Architects/Engineers and Insurance Professionals

• Employment Practices/Litigation • Products Liability • Premises Liability • Construction Defect • Insurance Coverage/Litigation

In the last couple of years, Skane Wilcox LLP has won Best New Firm of the Year,

Employment/Labor Law Firm of the Year in California and Construction Law Firm

of the Year in Nevada and

Litigation Advisory Firm of the Year in Nevada.

Contact:

Wendy Wilcox Partner 1055 West 7th Street, Suite 2850 Los Angeles, California 90017

Tel: 213-452-1200

Email: skanewilcox.com Website: wwilcox@skanewilcox.com

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Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards 2012