Scott R. Sveslosky

Scott Sveslosky is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Areas of Practice

Scott’s practice over the past 23 years has taken him around the globe. He is one of the few attorneys, if not the only attorney, to have stopped a deposition to evade capture and incarceration at the hands of corrupt government officials in a third world country. 

Scott’s practice focuses on insurance-related litigation, where he represents insurers in high exposure bad faith cases and complex coverage litigation. He routinely provides commercial and personal lines insurers with coverage advice and represents health plans and health insurers in a variety of general commercial disputes. Scott is a contributing editor to the Rutter Group’s Insurance Litigation California Practice Guide, which is California’s leading treatise on insurance law. 

Scott also represents clients in complex commercial litigation cases and, as just one example, successfully represented the City of Ontario in the high-profile case involving the continued control of the Ontario International Airport. He has handled several jury trials and represented clients before the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Scott is actively involved in pro bono work and serves on the board of directors of the Global Hunger Foundation. He is also an adjunct professor at Woodbury University where he teaches a graduate level course in Conflict Resolution and an undergraduate course in Personnel Development and Organizational Culture. In his spare time, Scott has also served as a technical legal advisor for TV films.

Experience

Selective Representations

• Secured the return of the Ontario International Airport from the City of Los Angeles back to the City of Ontario
• Obtained summary judgment for London based insurance companies on a $25 million claim involving arson, theft, murder, corruption, and bribery.
• Obtained dismissal of health plan and health insurer in a case alleging failure to provide benefits and bad faith claim handling.
• Assisted industry-leading electric vehicle company with the rollout of its insurance program. 
• Secured dismissal of client in case alleging damage to priceless artwork.
• Obtained summary judgment on three separate occasions for insurer in cases alleging implied disparagement of goods and services. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed each ruling. 
• Secured dismissal of client in case alleging failure to pay a claim involving the theft of over $1 million in jewelry.
• Assisted client with claim involving theft of $2 million in fine gold.
• Obtained summary judgment for insurer in case alleging false patent marking. Affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Oversaw litigation and trial between two general partners and negotiated leveraged buyout to end the case.
• Recovered millions of dollars in premiums for one of nation’s largest insurance companies and secured multiple dismissals of workers’ compensation claims mishandling allegations.
• Secured dismissal of client in case alleging over $1 million in damage to industrial property.
• Obtained jury verdict in favor of one of the World’s largest consumer product manufacturers against a national discount retail chain.
• Secured dismissal of insurance client in case seeking over $20 million in damages for breach of contract and “bad faith” – dismissal affirmed by Court of Appeal.
• Obtained numerous dismissals by summary judgment or motion to dismiss for several of the nation’s largest insurance companies in cases alleging breach of contract and tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
• Pursued several premium fraud cases for California’s largest workers’ compensation insurer and recovered millions of dollars.
• Represented an international pharmaceutical manufacturer in antitrust cases filed in state and federal courts in more than half the states across the US.
• Represented client in eminent domain case brought by LAUSD.
• Obtained favorable result for client against former employees for misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Obtained dismissal of client in toxic tort case involving alleged exposure to hazardous chemicals.
• Obtained dismissal of international consumer product manufacturer and distributor in case involving personal injuries from alleged defective batteries.
• Obtained dismissal for international phone service provider in case involving damage to state-of-the-art communications hardware.
• Provides ongoing advice and counsel to several insurers on various coverage issues for almost all lines of insurance.

Historical Experience

• United States Attorney's Office, Central District. 2001

• Los Angeles Elected Charter Reform Commission. 1998

• Warner Bros., corp. legal dept. 1997

Articles