Dawn N. Valentine

Dawn Valentine is a partner in Barger & Wolen’s San Francisco office. Ms. Valentine practices in the area of commercial litigation in a variety of contexts and specializes in devising assertive litigation strategies and the utilization of efficient and effective motion practice in order to effect early dispute resolution.

Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes
Ms. Valentine has litigated and negotiated a broad range of insurance disputes. She has extensive experience both in providing coverage advice and developing litigation strategy in complex coverage actions involving primary, excess, errors and omissions and directors and officers policies.  Examples of Ms. Valentine’s litigation and non-litigation activities include representing an excess insurer in major asbestos coverage litigation, analysis of fraud in the secondary market, large property and business interruption loss claims, and liability coverage representation for mass tort losses that involved primary and excess, aggregate limits and contribution issues.

Ms. Valentine has also advised both reinsurers and cedents on a wide variety of issues, including the enforceability of cut-through endorsements under the law of multiple jurisdictions to be drafted into a reinsurance and a retrocession agreements; reinsurer’s rights under a quota share reinsurance agreement; advised on proper insurer billing and allocations under multiple reinsurance treaties responsive to massive tort settlements; successfully represented ceding insurer seeking reinsurance proceeds for ongoing claims and charges; and drafted key provisions of retrocession and reinsurance agreements.

Ms. Valentine’s experience extends to the drafting of policy provisions for inclusion in insurance, reinsurance and retrocession agreements. 

Intellectual Property and Privacy Issues
Ms. Valentine has advised individual and corporate interests on California’s emerging privacy laws, including requirements in the event of a breach and the State’s newly enacted Reader Privacy Law. Ms. Valentine experience extends to advising clients on trademark disputes. Ms. Valentine is an active member of Barger & Wolen’s Intellectual Property and Privacy Advisor Group. 

Fraud, False Claims Act and Unfair Business Practices
Ms. Valentine has extensive experience both pursing and defending against fraud claims. She litigated a fraud claim against an agent that resulted in a directed verdict. She has most recently defended several health clinics against allegations of violations of the False Claims Act, successfully convincing the U.S. Attorney not to intervene in the action.

Ms. Valentine also has a history of successfully defending against allegations of unfair business practices, successfully achieving full dismissal of her clients on motion practice. Ms. Valentine has successfully defended against a number of class actions alleging unfair business practices, in each case achieving an early resolution after targeted and effective motion practice. 

Contractual Disputes
Ms. Valentine has successfully represented both major corporate interests as well as individual clients in a broad array of contract disputes, in each case effecting dismissal for a waiver of costs by plaintiff after early and targeted motion practice.