About Larry J. Caldwell

Biography

Larry J. Caldwell is Of Counsel in the Newport Beach office of McKennon Law Group PC. He is a George Washington University Law School educated lawyer, who focuses his practice on ERISA, insurance coverage, and insurance bad faith litigation regarding disability, life, accidental death, pension and health insurance claims.

Mr. Caldwell has a wealth of experience. He has spent most of his 40-year law practice litigating insurance disputes under a wide variety of insurance policies. For the past 22 years, he has represented only policyholder and beneficiaries in insurance disputes. Before that, he spent 16 years mainly representing the insurance carrier side of insurance disputes, giving him insight on how to communicate with insurance claims handlers and what they are looking for in evaluating claims and negotiating resolution of insurance disputes.

Mr. Caldwell describes himself as “respected, relentless, and reliable.” He has collected over $70 million dollars in insurance benefits for his clients. He prides himself on effective communications with his clients, effective communications with opposing counsel and judges, and on crafting creative legal strategies to help clients achieve their goals.

Mr. Caldwell has represented clients ranging from individuals and sole proprietorships to Fortune 100 corporations in insurance-related disputes. He has managed complex insurance litigation, including leading a team of five attorneys and staff in a $40 million lawsuit involving 200,000 documents against insurance carriers represented by three of the largest insurance defense firms in the world.

Mr. Caldwell has litigated disputes regarding a wide variety of insurance policies, including commercial general liability, employment practices liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, bankers’ professional liability, other professional liability, fiduciary liability, credit insurance, title insurance, as well as most types of personal insurance policies, including life, health, disability, homeowners, and auto policies.

Mr. Caldwell also has experience litigating corporate, real estate, entertainment industry, RICO claims, and professional liability claims against lawyers and other professionals.

Mr. Caldwell has taught over 40 California State Bar-approved continuing legal education courses on insurance law to other lawyers over the years.

Mr. Caldwell is admitted to practice law in all state and federal trial and appellate courts in California. He has handled numerous court and jury trials in the California Superior Court, in counties throughout California, and in United States District Courts. And he has handled appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and in the First, Second and Third Districts of the California Court of Appeal. Mr. Caldwell has also handled many summary judgments in both state and federal trials courts and has taken or defended hundreds of depositions.
Mr. Caldwell has handled successful settlement negotiations in private mediations and settlement conferences, as well as binding arbitrations of insurance disputes and other types of disputes.

EDUCATION

• George Washington University Law School
  • J.D. 1979
• Wichita State University
  • B.A., Political Science. 1976
  • Magna Cum Laude
  • Minor in Music (also attended Berklee College of Music, in Boston)

BAR ADMISSIONS

• State Bar of California
• United States District Court, Central District, Southern District, Eastern District, and Northern District of California
• United States Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit
• Pro Hoc Vice in United States District Courts in other states.

PUBLISHED WORKS

• High Court Clarifies Life Insurance Grace Period Law, Los Angeles Daily Journal (September 8, 2021)

PAST POSITIONS

• Caldwell Law Firm
  • Los Angeles, CA and Sacramento, CA
  • 1998-2021
  • Position: Principal/Lead attorney

Representing policyholders only in insurance disputes and litigation against insurance carriers on a wide variety of insurance policies, including commercial general liability, employment practices liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, bankers’ professional liability, other professional liability, fiduciary liability, credit insurance, title insurance. Have also represented policyholders on most types of personal insurance policies.

• Hardy Erich Brown & Wilson
  • Sacramento, CA
  • (formerly part of Weintraub Genshlea Chediak, now part of Weintraub Tobin)
  • Position: Shareholder

Litigated a wide variety of insurance coverage related litigation matters, including commercial general liability policies, professional liability policies, homeowner’s insurance policies, duty to defend disputes, and environmental litigation coverage disputes and insurance bad faith claims, for policyholders and insurers.

• Bottum & Feliton
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • (now part of Lewis Brisbois, et al.)
  • Positions: Associate, then, Of Counsel

Developed expertise in insurance coverage litigation, including directors’ and officers’ liability policies and financial institution bonds. Defended legal malpractice and other professional liability litigation.

• Loeb and Loeb
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • 1979-1982
  • Position: Associate (and Summer Associate in 1978)

Litigation and Entertainment Transactional Departments
Litigation included intellectual property, banking, and real estate matters.
Entertainment transactions, mainly involving music. Represented artists and producers in negotiating agreements with record companies. Represented independent film producers, including Robert Stigwood Organization and many others, in obtaining music rights and clearances for movies and television from recording artists and record companies, including mechanical licenses, soundtrack deals, and movie scores. Negotiated personal managements and talent agent agreements on both sides. Negotiated merchandising agreements for recording artists, and many other music-related agreements.

• Arent Fox
  • Washington, DC
  • 1977-1979
  • Position: Law Clerk, Antitrust Litigation Department

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• State Bar of California, 1979 to present.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Martin J. Walsh, Secretary of the United States Department of Labor v.
  Riverstone Capital, LLC., Case no. 19-CV-778-MWF (MAAx) in the Central District of California (currently being litigated)
• Mr. Caldwell is one of the attorneys representing the court-appointed temporary independent fiduciary in a receivership lawsuit regarding a large, multiple-employer-welfare-arrangement health insurance program.
• Opus Bank v. Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc., 621 F. App’x 405 (9th Cir. 2015)
• Mr. Caldwell successfully represented the policyholder on a summary judgment in the United States District Court finding potential coverage and a duty to defend under an employment practices liability policy; and then successfully represented Opus Bank in protecting the summary judgment order against an appeal by Liberty Insurance in the 9th Circuit.
• Smeaton v. Fidelity National Title, 72 Cal. App. 4th 1000 (1999).
• Mr. Caldwell successfully represented the policyholder in an appeal overturning a summary judgment regarding coverage under a title insurance policy.