Top Insurance Recovery Attorney Scott P. DeVries Strengthens Hunton Andrews Kurth’s California Coverage Practice

Scott P. DeVries, an insurance coverage trial lawyer with more than three decades of experience handling high value complex disputes for policyholders, has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as a special counsel in the firm’s insurance coverage practice.

Based in San Francisco, DeVries joins Hunton Andrews Kurth from Winston & Strawn LLP, where he served as chair of that firm’s insurance recovery practice and represented insured companies faced with major business litigation involving contracts, insurance rights and recovery, environmental claims, and toxic torts/class actions.

“Scott is a widely respected attorney who has tried some of the largest insurance, mass tort and class action cases in the country in addition to securing landmark insurance decisions in the California Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit,” said Walter Andrews, head of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s insurance coverage practice. “His experience and insight are a perfect complement to the firm’s robust insurance coverage practice and his addition enhances our presence on the West Coast and nationally.” 

“Scott is a recognized leader in the insurance coverage field, and we are thrilled to have him joining us,” said Shannon Broome, managing partner of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s San Francisco office. “He is a perfect fit for our full service team of cross-disciplinary lawyers in San Francisco, who already handle high profile environmental, crisis management, labor and employment, and energy matters that frequently raise important insurance coverage issues on which Scott can assist our clients. This is a classic win-win for our clients.”

DeVries’ nationwide trial and appellate practice runs the gamut of insurance issues, including coverage for major property damage and business interruption losses, advertising-related liabilities, errors and omissions claims, director and officer claims, product liability claims, employment liability, fiduciary liability such as ERISA, False Claims Act liabilities, theft and other criminal-related claims, environmental and mass tort matters, and personal injury claims such as right to privacy and false imprisonment.

Some of DeVries’ notable appellate representations include:

• Aerojet-General Corp v. Superior Court, 211 Cal App. 3^rd 216 (environmental cleanup costs are “damages” and recoverable under CGL policies)
• Aerojet-General Corp v. Transport et. al., 17 Cal 4^th 38 ((i) duty to defend includes RI/FS and other investigatory expense so long as a purpose of the expense was to further the defense, and (ii) where a loss triggers multiple policy periods, each insurer is severally and independently liable to provide a complete defense and may not seek contribution from a “self-insured”) 
• Tosoh SET v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 2007 Cal. App. Unpub. Lexis 3452) (advertising injury coverage includes direct as well as indirect forms of disparagement)
• Hyundai Motor America v. National Fire Ins. Co., 600 F. 3^rd 1062 (9th. Cir.) (advertising injury coverage includes allegations of patent infringement concerning website design)
• Nucor Corp. v. Employers of Ins. Co. of Wausau,  296 P. 3^rd 74 (settling Arizona law on numerous issues relative to the company’s insurance claims) 

His trial court practice includes multi-month jury trials involving insurance recovery. DeVries also frequently counsels companies on a wide range of insurance issues, from the placement of insurance through the submission of claims and securing of a defense. In addition, his mass tort/class action practice includes several of the only mass tort actions to be tried before a jury, as well as successful handling of a Daubert proceeding striking plaintiffs’ experts on the ground they would be testifying to “junk science.”

A graduate of The College of William & Mary and University of California, Hastings College of Law, DeVries is a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Counsel.

Hunton Andrews Kurth’s insurance coverage practice has decades of experience helping clients maximize insurance recoveries through insurance program reviews, claims presentation and negotiation, litigation, alternate dispute resolution, trials and appeals. With offices in Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, London and other key commercial centers, the team has advised policyholders with traditional and emerging insurance products in virtually every sector of the economy, including financial services, utilities, energy, natural resources, health care, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, telecommunications, technology, e-commerce, manufacturing and more.