Steven represents clients in trials, arbitrations, and appeals with respect to complex business, class action, insurance coverage, health care, intellectual property, product liability, and real estate matters, among others.
Steve is a trial and class action attorney who has represented clients in trials, arbitrations, and appeals in a number of industries. Steve has handled the defense of significant nationwide consumer class actions for clients in the financial services, insurance, telecommunications/technology, retail, consumer products, and entertainment industries. In these class actions, Steve has successfully defended claims of unfair competition, false advertising, violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, violation of numerous state consumer protection statutes, and product liability.
Steve also has deep experience in insurance coverage and bad faith matters. He has represented insurers in matters asserting coverage and bad faith for mass tort, environmental, professional liability, and construction defect claims seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance coverage. Additionally, Steve has brought affirmative claims on behalf of insurers to determine proper allocation and contribution for long-tail exposures.
His insurance experience also includes representation of health care insurers, plans, and administrators. Steve has defended contract, bad faith, other state law and ERISA claims against those defendants, and has successfully asserted an array of preemption-based defenses to those claims. Steve's advocacy in this area has included multiple jury trials and the handling of successful appeals.
Steve's practice further includes intellectual property and technology litigation relating to trademark, copyright, trade dress, trade secret, and right of publicity claims, as well as licensing disputes. He has handled these claims for clients in the entertainment, new media, publishing, technology, and retail/consumer products industries.
Finally, Steve has handled a wide variety of complex business disputes. In this area, he has particular experience in handling claims related to real estate development and leasing.
Class Actions
Insurance Coverage Litigation
Health Care Litigation
ABC Services Group, Inc. v. Health Net of California, Inc., et. al., 8:19-cv-00243-DOC (C.D. Cal. June 13, 2022) – Obtained dismissal with prejudice of litigation against Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company, Anthem, Inc., Beacon Health Options, Inc., Beacon Health Strategies, LLC, ValueOptions Federal Services, Inc., and ValueOptions of California, Inc. The plaintiff sought to recover claims on behalf of a closed substance abuse treatment facility. The litigation was initially filed as individual lawsuits in state and federal court against 36 defendants, asserting state law and ERISA claims. The litigation was consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, which granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiff's first amended complaint. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the state law claims and remanded the ERISA claims to the district court, which dismissed the remaining ERISA claims for lack of standing and failure to cite specific plans and plan terms.
Business Litigation
Intellectual Property/Technology Litigation
Representative matters may include engagements before joining Troutman Pepper.
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