Profile

Recognized by San Francisco Business TImes as one of its 40 Under 40 for 2013, Ms. Swick specializes in litigating class action, complex business and insurance coverage matters. Her experience includes state and federal trial courts, appellate work in the California Court of Appeal, as well as arbitration in the international arena. Being trained as a mediator, Ms. Swick also regularly resolves cases via mediation.

Ms. Swick has represented insurers, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing companies and other businesses against claims of unfair competition law violations under Section 17200 of the Business and Professions Code, and litigating breach of contract and business torts. She has litigated specific issues relating to false advertising and Insurance Code violations.

Ms. Swick’s practice also includes advising U.S. and international clients on compliance with the legal and regulatory landscape on data protection and privacy. This includes dealing with regulatory investigations, audits, and litigation as well as avoiding security breaches. Ms Swick stays current on the complex and ever-changing laws and regulations affecting privacy, data protection, cross-border data transfers and sectors that collect sensitive personal information, such as finance and health.

Ms. Swick has also litigated and resolved cases for her insurer clients involving coverage disputes relating to general liability, errors and omissions, product liability, and environmental matters.

Ms. Swick has also represented corporate and entertainment industry clients involving government contracts, product liability, environmental and energy matters, copyright and trademark infringement and executive compensation.

Ms. Swick speaks and publishes regularly on current and emerging issues affecting her clients. She is also chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee.

Class Action Defense

Ms. Swick is active in the litigation of class actions including false advertising, defective products, products liability and other matters. She defends both individual and class action claims brought under a wide variety of consumer protection laws.

Ms. Swick takes an aggressive but creative approach to litigating class actions, moving early in the case to dismiss individual claims and strike class allegations thereby helping her clients avoid costly and burdensome discovery and other litigation costs attendant to class actions.

She also has broad experience working with expert witnesses and litigation consultants on scientific, medical, and technical issues.

Complex Commercial Litigation

As part of her general business litigation practice, Ms. Swick has expertise in intellectual property, products liability, executive compensation, government contracts, business torts, unfair competition, energy matters and environmental regulation for corporate and entertainment industry clients.

Representative cases include:

• Successfully negotiating a favorable settlement of product liability claims against a manufacturer of heavy machinery
• Obtaining a stipulated judgment in the amount of $81 million for the South Coast Air Quality Management District for air emission violations at a Southern California oil refinery.
• Obtaining dismissal of claims and award of attorneys’ fees under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute based on erroneous allegations or tortious interference with contract.
• Successfully resolving a coverage dispute in international arbitration relating to underlying claims for MTBE contamination of ground water.
• Obtaining summary judgment for client prevailing on copyright and intellectual property claims related to website and related photographs.
• Favorably resolving a claim for coverage under an errors and omissions policy related to upcoming release of a motion picture.
• Obtaining a favorable, published court of appeal decision overturning the lower court on a breach of contract and tortious interference claim, Woods v. Fox Broadcasting, 129 Cal. App. 4th 344 (2005).

Insurance Coverage

Ms. Swick’s insurance coverage practice focuses on representing and counseling insurance companies in coverage disputes arising out of complex insurance programs. Ms. Swick has counseled clients and litigated coverage issues such as:

• Exposure to bad faith and punitive damages addressing allegations of institutional bad faith and bad faith during litigation.

• The interpretation of unique policy language and application of case law on issues such as allocation, attachment and exhaustion.

• The interplay between primary and excess coverage in the context of settlements, aggregate limits and number of occurrences. Jodi Swick (continued)

• Asserting favorable coverage positions on issues concerning choice of law, notice and number of occurrences.

• Combating written, oral and expert discovery targeted at reserves, reinsurance, prior company testimony, policy stipulations and company policies and procedures.

• Ms. Swick also advocates for her clients and successfully resolves cases in mediation and arbitration. In addition, Ms. Swick served as a pro-bono mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court and aided in settling over a dozen cases.

Presentations and Publications

Co-authored with Rodney L. Eshelman, How A Product Liability Case May Impact Your Insurance, published in Law360 (April 17, 2013). Read article

Co-authored with Rodney L. Eshelman, Five Tips to Avoid Bad Faith, published on Law360.com (February 7, 2013). Read article

Panelist on "Making Partner: The Climb Up The Firm Ladder" at the 2012 California Women Lawyers Annual Conference entitled "Practicing Law in the 21st Century: Enabling Women to Achieve Power Positions" in Palo Alto, California (April 20, 2012).

Presenter of presentation entitled “Avoiding the Bad Faith ‘Set Up ‘” that discussed case law nation-wide relating to ways a policyholder can set up an insurance company for bad faith. (September 2011, March 2012, September 2012)

Co-authored with Gretchen A. Ramos, California Court of Appeal Finds No Viable Cause of Action Against Insurer Due to Insurer's Payment of Less Than the Full Amount Billed to Cumis Counsel, published in "Cover Notes," the National Association of Insurance Women's Newsletter (San Francisco Chapter, August 2011).  Read article

Moderator of the "Going In-House: Career Lessons and Practical Skills from In-House Attorneys" Panel at the California Women Lawyers Annual Conference in Los Angeles (April 29, 2011).

A SLAPP AGAINST FEES; Courts are moving away from mandatory fee awards for anti-SLAPP motions, published in The Recorder, Litigation Supplement (November 17, 2008).  Read article

Co-authored with Rodney L. Eshelman, Who Is the Sole Survivor? A Corporate Successor's Right to Insurance Coverage, published in Commentary, Mealey's Litigation Report, Insurance Vol. 21, #1 (November 1, 2006).  Read article