Kristi W. Dean

Kristi W. Dean, Managing Partner, is a skilled trial lawyer who represents business clients in business disputes. She focuses on complex litigation matters and litigates cases in both State and Federal Court.
Ms. Dean was named a 2013 Trusted Advisor by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. She has also been consistently named a "Southern California Super Lawyer" and recognized as "one of the top" lawyers in Southern California by her peers in Los Angeles Magazine, Law & Politics Media, Inc., and Super Lawyer publications. She celebrated her twenty-seventh year of practicing law in December, 2011.
Ms. Dean represents corporations and business organizations in various litigation disputes, ranging from breach of contract claims to allegations involving partner and shareholder disputes, unfair business competition, trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, wage-and-hour, shareholder derivative actions, and breach of fiduciary duty claims. She also acts as outside corporate counsel for businesses who seek to avoid litigation through effective risk management techniques.
Ms. Dean has a unique understanding of the operations, procedures, responsibilities and concerns of the insurance industry, including those of retail agencies and brokerages, surplus line brokers and underwriters in MGA and GA capacities. Her experience spans a broad and exhaustive spectrum of insurance issues, including errors and omissions claims, drafting and negotiating agent and broker agreements, producer agreements, insurance policy construction and interpretation, drafting of manuscript endorsements, insurance coverage analysis, declaratory relief and insurance bad faith litigation, third party defense litigation, and both corporate and regulatory matters specific to the insurance industry. She represents insurance professionals and businesses which are ancillary to the insurance industry such as loss adjusters, auditing agencies, premium finance companies, property and risk inspectors, and software providers. Utilizing her knowledge of the inner-workings of the insurance industry, Ms. Dean helps her clients navigate through regulatory and litigation environments. She gives counsel in employee disputes, Title VII claims, wrongful termination and sexual harassment claims, and fashions pathways to minimize e&o claims and employer risk management.
Ms. Dean has served as a speaker and panelist throughout the United States and U.K on issues affecting the insurance industry for groups such as the insurance committee of the California legislature on insurance related matters; insurance trade groups including the California Insurance Wholesalers' Association, Los Angeles Insurance Woman's Association, West Valley Claims Association, San Gabriel Valley Claims Association, California Insurance Wholesalers Association; and several Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers Associations. She also is qualified as a continuing education provider for the California Department of Insurance and provides CE courses to her clients.