Experience
A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Michael J. Brady has been with the firm of Ropers, Majeski, Kohn and Bentley for 40 years.
Mr. Brady is the author of "Summary of California Appellate Decisions," an ongoing publication for insurance companies which updates, three times a year, all appellate and Supreme Court decisional law affecting insurance companies and the defense practice.
He is Past-President of the Northern California Association of Defense Counsel, an organization of more than 1500 defense insurance attorneys throughout Northern California. He served as Chairman of the Education Committee and the Amicus Curiae Committee for that organization, filing briefs on behalf of the insurance industry and its insureds. He was a member of the Governor's Commission on Mandatory Legal Malpractice Insurance for California Attorneys, and also was appointed by the Governor to the Commission on the Future of the State Bar and the Legal Profession in California.
Mr. Brady has for many years been the annual lecturer on California case law for the Northern California Association of Defense Counsel and its counterpart in Southern California at their annual conventions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. Mr. Brady is also a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. As an active member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), Mr. Brady served as Vice-Chairman of the Casualty Insurance Committee, Chairman of the Reinsurance Committee, member of the International Committee and is past Vice-Chairman of the Amicus Curiae Committee. Mr. Brady has also served as Chairman of the Extra-contractual Liability Section of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) and is currently Chairman of the Insurance Coverage Section has served as a member of the faculty board of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel Litigation Management College. He also served as Amicus Curiae Chairman for the Defense Research Institute (DRI).
Effective January, 2009, Mr. Brady has joined ADR Services, Inc., a leading California mediation and arbitration firm and will be doing work in both Northern and Southern California. He will be specializing in insurance litigation and insurance coverage (disputes between the policyholder and the insurer and disputes among insurers); bad faith and extra-contractual liability disputes; employment disputes; and appellate matters of all kinds (cases on appeal which have settlement possibilities). Mediations and arbitrations can be arranged in both Northern and Southern California by calling ADR at 415-442-4850.
For the last thirty years he has been in charge of the annual seminars for the firm's clients in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, Connecticut and New York City. These seminars concern annual developments in all areas of casualty litigation, insurance coverage, and bad faith.
Mr. Brady has published numerous articles on matters of interest to the defense industry and the defense bar including:
"Welcome News from California: Lessening the Conflict Between Insurer and Insured" (For The Defense, December 1987) o "The California Supreme Court Restricts Bad Faith Liability" (For The Defense, November 1988) o "Emotional Distress: Minor Issue Muddies The Duty To Defend" (Defense Counsel Journal, April 1990)o "Insurance Coverage for Sexual Molestation of a Minor" (Defense Counsel Journal, April 1990) o "The Revolution in California Tort Law" (For The Defense, March 1991) o "Ethics in Insurance Defense Context: Isn't Cumis Counsel Unnecessary?" (Defense Counsel Journal, April 1991) o "Insurance Coverage Concerns in California Continuous Property Loss Cases After Prudential--LMI" (31 Santa Clara Law Review No. 4, Vol. 31 1991) o "Insurer's Right to Reimbursement: Neglected but Valuable Remedy", (Defense Counsel Journal, October 1992) o "Demise of the Stipulated Judgment as Basis for Bad Faith Actions" (Defense Counsel Journal, January 1993) o "Insurance Coverage for Discrimination Claims" (submitted for publication to FICC. Journal)o"The Judicial Arbitration System: Its Promise and its Shortcomings", (For The Defense, August 1993)o"Death of the Handshake" (Claims Magazine, September 1994; Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 61, No.4, October 1994) o "Trigger of Coverage in Environmental Cases" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 1, Fall 1994) o "Insurance Coverage Issues Arising from Workplace Tort Claims" (Defense Research Journal, July 1995) o "Liability and Obligation of an Owner of Contaminated Land" (For the Defense, August 1995) o "New Perspectives on Damages for Breach of the Duty to Defend" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 4, Summer, 1995) o "An Improved Tool for Environmental Subrogation" (Claims, December 1995) o "The Legacy of the Lucas Court: A Return to Judicial Self-Restraint and an Appreciation for the Costs of Expansive Litigation" (Underwriters' Report, February 1996, For the Defense, May 1996, Lloyd's List Insurance Day, May 1996) o"Lost or Damaged Computer Data: 'Property Damage' or Intangible Information Under a Commercial Liability Policy?" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 1, Fall 1995)o"Liability of an Insurer When Settlement or Claims-Handling Practices Adversely Affect Financial Interests of the Insured" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 2, Winter 1996) o "The Impaired Property Exclusion: Finding a Path Through the Morass" (Defense Counsel Journal, Vol. 63, No. 3, July, 1996) o "New Perspectives on Damages for Breach of the Duty to Defend"(For the Defense, November, 1996) o "The Insurer's Right to Reimbursement: The Forgotten Remedy Rediscovered", (For The Defense, December, 1997) o "Defense Counsel's Liability to Insurer for Excess Liability", (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Vol. 49, No. 1, Fall 1998) o "The Y2K Bug: Will Insurance Carriers be Stung by a Swarm of Claims?", (Defense Counsel Journal, Volume 66, No. 1, January 1999) o "Reserves and Communications Between Reinsurer and Reinsured: A Danger Zone", (Defense Counsel Journal, Volume 67, No. 3, July 2000) o "Avoiding or Mitigating Punitive Damage Exposure in Nursing Home Litigation" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 1, Fall, 2001) o "New Strategies for Dealing with First Party Claims for Bad Faith", (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 2, Winter, 2001) o "Loss of Consortium Claims and Liability Policy Limits", (For the Defense, May 2001) o "Binding Arbitration of Coverage and Bad Faith Disputes: A Way Out of the Thicket for the American Insurance Industry", (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Vol. 51, No. 4, Summer, 2001o "Stop Blaming Everyone Else", (Silicon Valley biz ink, April 11, 2003) o "The Arbitration That Cannot be Stopped", (Metropolitan Corporate Counsel Journal; Vol. 11, No. 6, June 2003) o "A New Predictability in Punitive Damages?", (For the Defense, Vol. 45, No. 6, June 2003)o "The Amazing New World of punitive Damages." (Federation Flyer, November 2003) o"Do State OSHA Regulations Apply to Homeowners?" (Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel, Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 2, Winter, 2004) o State of the Law After Campbell v. State Farm: How Goes It In California and the Nation Concerning Punitive Damages? (ADC Defense Comment, Vol. 20., No. 1, Spring 2005)
Memberships & Associations
· Defense Research Institute (DRI)
· Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC)
· International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
· Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (ADC)
Publications
· Summary of California Appellate Decisions- March 2012 March 21, 2012
Michael J. Brady
Now available in electronic format, find in the linked file, the latest case summaries from the California Supreme Court, the California Courts of Appeal, the U.
· Summary of California Appellate Decisions- September 2011 September 1, 2011
Michael J. Brady
Find in the link below, the latest case summaries from the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, the California Courts of Appeal, the US District Court (applying California law), and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (also applying California law).
· Do State OSHA Regulations Apply to Homeowners
Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel - April 5, 2004
Michael J. Brady
· People Power System of Initiative, Referendum, Recall Retains Its Potency
Daily Journal - August 28, 2003
Michael J. Brady
California is preparing for its historic Oct. 7 recall election. The recall is provided for in the state Constitution, in the section adopted in 1911, the same year that the initiative and the referendum provisions were enacted.
· The Arbitration Train That Cannot Be Stopped
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel - June 6, 2003
Michael J. Brady
· Stop Blaming Everyone Else
Silicon Valley Biz Ink - April 11, 2003
Michael J. Brady
· Defense Lawyer First And Good Citizen Second? February 1, 2003
Michael J. Brady
In 1950, when I was a young lad of 9 years old, and in the fourth grade in West Texas, the entire fourth, fifth and sixth grades were trooped into the assembly hall and shown a graphic film about what cigarette smoking leads to.
· "Punitive Demages in Nursing Home Litigation" December 1, 2001
Michael J. Brady
Avoiding or Mitigating the Risk of Punitive Damages in Nursing Home Litigation
INTRODUCTION
Punitive damages are the greatest exposure in nursing home tort litigation.
· Punitive Damage Exposure for the Nursing Home Industry: How To Avoid & How To Keep Down the Award December 1, 2001
Michael J. Brady
INTRODUCTION
This is your greatest exposure.
The nursing home industry (like railroads, the insurance industry, and the government) is a notoriously unsympathetic industry.
· "Loss of Consortium Claims and Liability Policy Limits" May 1, 2001
Jennifer E. Acheson, Michael J. Brady
Is a claim for loss of consortium limited to the "per person" liability limits of an automobile liability policy? Or, is a claim for loss of consortium compensable under the "per occurrence" limits? Assume that you have been retained, as coverage counsel for a national automobile insurer, to answer this question.
· Binding Arbitration of Coverage and Bad Faith Disputes: A Way Out Of the Thicket for the American Insurance Industry January 1, 2001
Terry Anastassiou, Michael J. Brady
I.
Introduction
This article sets forth a unique and intriguing idea: can an insurer insert a requirement in its policy that all disputes concerning coverage or bad faith be submitted to binding arbitration, and providing further that in the event the arbitrator awards punitive damages, they be capped at no more than three times the amount of the compensatory award?
In the past thirty years at least ten states have witnessed huge (and often unwarranted) jury verdicts against insurers for bad faith and punitive damages.
· Reinsurer and Reinsured: A Danger Zone July 1, 2000
Michael J. Brady
Reinsurer and Reinsured: A Danger Zone
by: Michael J. Brady
Published: 7/1/2000 IADC
members Michael J.
· The YK2 Bug: Will Insurance Carriers be Stung by a Swarm of Claims? January 1, 1999
Michael J. Brady
It's a safe bet that many insurance claims will be forthcoming after January 1, 2000, but will insureds be able to collect?
© International Association of Defense Counsel, Inc.
· The Insurer's Right To Reimbursement: The Forgotten Remedy Rediscovered December 1, 1996
Michael J. Brady
The Insurer's Right To Reimbursement: The Forgotten Remedy Rediscovered
By:
Michael J. Brady
Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley
1001 Marshall Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
Telephone: (650) 364-8200
In recent years, the insurance industry has been hammered with massive costs of defense in environmental and commercial litigation.
· New Perspectives on Damages for Breach of Duty to Defend November 1, 1996
Michael J. Brady
When dealing with insurance bad faith, few areas are more confusing than the scope of damages for various kinds of insurer conduct.
· The Legacy Of The Lucas Court February 1, 1996
Michael J. Brady
THE LEGACY OF THE LUCAS COURT:
A RETURN TO JUDICIAL SELF-RESTRAINT
AND AN APPRECIATION FOR THE COSTS OF
EXPANSIVE LITIGATION
Prepared by:
Michael J.
Speaking Engagements
· Insurance & Casualty Litigation 2011 - 2012: The Year in Review
May 1, 2012, Sacramento - Woodlake Hotel (formerly, The Radisson)
May 3, 2012, San Francisco - The Palace Hotel
May 9, 2012, Los Angeles - The Jonathan Club
May 10, 2012, Orange County - The Westin South Coast Plaza
May 22, 2012, Hartford - The Simsbury Inn
May 23, 2012, New York - The Harvard Club
Presenters: Jennifer E. Acheson, Lisa E. Aguiar, Lael D. Andara, Allan E. Anderson, Robert P. Andris, Michael J. Brady, Richard L. Charnley, Kevin P. Cody, Pamela E. Cogan, Stephen J. Erigero, Geoffrey W. Heineman, Andrew L. Margulis, Enrique Marinez, Frank J. Pagliaro, Dean A. Pappas, James C. Potepan, Todd A. Roberts, Saundra K. Wootton
Representative Clients
· California Casualty
· State Farm Insurance Co.
· Allstate
· St. Paul Insurance Co.
· AXA Insurance Co.
· AIG Companies