- Address:
633 West 5th Street
Forty-Seventh Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071-2043
USA
- Email:
mkarvelas@bargerwolen.com - Phone:
(213) 680-2800 - Download Vcard
Professional Notes & Events
Marina Karvelas
Marina Karvelas is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on insurance and business litigation including insurance industry regulation, insurance rate regulation, insurance bad faith, class actions, statutory unfair business practices, and appellate practice matters.
Ms. Karvelas has rendered numerous coverage opinions involving property and casualty insurance, including private passenger automobile policies, commercial automobile policies, comprehensive general liability policies, commercial trucking policies and MCS-90 endorsements. Her coverage expertise includes all levels of insurance coverage from primary, excess to umbrella. In connection with her transportation insurance coverage experience, Ms. Karvelas has rendered coverage opinions involving the law in various states including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Ms. Karvelas also has extensive experience in bad faith litigation including defending insurers against multimillion dollar stipulated judgments brought by third party plaintiffs as assignees of the insured’s rights under the policy. In these cases, Ms. Karvelas aggressively postures the case for negotiation and settlement favorable to the insurer. Recently, Ms. Karvelas has handled bad faith litigation involving construction defects in the State of Washington.
Ms. Karvelas handles a myriad of complex litigation matters in the California courts. She has extensive experience with California’s prior approval statutory scheme for private passenger automobile policies and has defended insurance companies in numerous cases alleging violations of the statutory scheme. Ms. Karvelas was integral in defeating claims that the statute provided a private right of action to sue insurance companies. See Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court, 137 Cal. App. 4th 842 (2006).
Education
- John Marshall Law School, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, 1991
- University of Chicago, B.A., with honors, 1986
Articles & Publications
- Issuance of Insurance Policies
California Insurance Law and Practice - Chapter 9 (Revised) (LexisNexis Matthew Bender, May 02, 2011) - Insurance Contract
California Insurance Law and Practice - Chapter 8 (Revised) (LexisNexis Matthew Bender, December 01, 2010) - Landmark Proposition 103 Decision Reached
California Court of Appeal issues landmark decision involving Prop.103 rate approval in MacKay v. Superior Court - Use of Credit-Scoring Factors in the Pricing of Homeowner’s Insurance
Ojo v. Farmers Group, Court of Appeals decides case involving use of credit-scoring factors in pricing of homeowner insurance (Barger & Wolen's Insurance Litigation & Regulatory Law Blog, April 14, 2010) - Overview of California Insurance Law
California Insurance Law and Practice - Chapter 1 (Revised) (LexisNexis Matthew Bender, April 01, 2010) - FCRA & State Regulation of Credit Scoring: Chartered & Unchartered Territory for Insurance Companies
As insurance companies re-tool their insurance scoring models they face newly defined obligations under FCRA. (Barger & Wolen's Insurance Litigation and Regulatory Law Blog, July 28, 2009) - Client Alert: Excess Insurance in Commercial Vehicle Leasing Situations
California Supreme Court Weighs in on Statutory Presumption of Excess Insurance in Commercial Vehicle Leasing Situations
Notable Decisions and Reported Opinions
- MacKay v. Superior Court, 188 Cal. App. 4th 1427 (2010)
- Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court, 137 Cal. App. 4th 842 (2006)
- Spanish Speaking Citizens’ Foundation v. Low, 85 Cal. App. 4th 1179 (2000)
- Proposition 103 Enforcement Project v. Quackenbush, 64 Cal. App. 4th 1473 (1998)
Professional Memberships
- The State Bar of California
- American Bar Association
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers
- DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar
- Transportation Lawyers Association
