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G. David Godwin

G. David Godwin

Partner

San Francisco

415.989.5900

Expertise

Insurance Coverage and Mass Tort Experience

• Mr. Godwin represents carriers and policyholders in numerous insurance coverage actions and claims nationwide. Types of policies at issue include liability, environmental impairment, builder’s risk, surety and life.

Environmental Matters

• He has litigated coverage actions involving contamination caused by the release of hydrocarbons, PCBs, solvents, sewage, lead, arsenic and other toxic metals.

Mass Tort Matters

• Mr. Godwin has represented insurers in actions concerning bodily injuries allegedly resulting from exposure to asbestos, lead, tobacco, EMF, pesticides and other toxic chemicals/products.

Bankruptcy Matters

• He has litigated and tried coverage-related issues in asbestos bankruptcies.

Environmental Experience

• Represents developers, contractors, water districts and trusts in actions involving contamination from landfills, underground storage tanks, tannery operations, manufactured gas plants, semiconductor facilities and water treatment plants.

Product Liability Experience

• Mr. Godwin has coordinated (with partner Justs Karlsons) products liability claims nationally for a major auto manufacturer.
• He represented manufacturers in a variety of product liability actions such as steel pipe used for transportation of petroleum products, a bird control device, automobile restraint systems, and a steel traffic pole.

Construction and Contractor Litigation Experience

• Mr. Godwin provides advice and representation to contractors for a wide variety of matters including contract formation, scheduling, bid protest, delay claims, change order, cardinal change, differing site condition and construction defect issues. His projects include numerous residential and commercial developments, the Eurotunnel project, and the Titan IV Missile base in California.

Recent Publications

• Limits Don’t Grow on Trees: Why Limits of Multi-Year Policies Cannot Be Annualized, published in the ABA Midyear Meeting Materials, Tucson, Arizona (March 2006).
• No Settlement and No Judgment Means No Coverage, published in Coverage, Vol. 9, No. 4 (July/August 1999).
• Co-authored Scientific Expert Testimony: Who is Watching the Gate in California? published in California Litigation, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Spring 1995).

Recent Presentations

• "How Much Coverage Do We have? Pushing the Limits of Multi-Year Policities," presented at the ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Meeting, Tucson, Arizona (March 2006).
• "Privileged Communications and the Claims Adjusting Process," presented at the ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Meeting, Tucson, Arizona (March 2004).
• "Fundamentals of Insurance Coverage Litigation," presented in San Francisco (CEB, April 27, 2001).
• "Corporate Acquisitions: Environmental Liability Coverage for Successor Entities," presented at Mealey's Emerging Insurance Coverage Issues Seminar, Boston, Massachusetts (April 2000).
• "No Settlement and No Judgment Means No Coverage," presented at ABA Midyear Meeting, Tucson, Arizona (March 1999).