Ryan H. Opgenorth

Ryan H. Opgenorth

Ryan H. Opgenorth, Partner

Phone: (415) 433-8000
Fax: (415) 433-4816

Mr. Opgenorth is an insurance coverage and bad faith litigator. He represents policyholders and corporations to ensure that they receive maximum compensation for their insurance claims. He has obtained favorable judgments in both state and federal court and has recovered over $100 million for his clients. Mr. Opgenorth has been selected by his peers in the legal community as a Super Lawyer “Rising Star” from 2013 to 2021, and was recently selected as a Super Lawyer in 2022.

Areas of Practice

  • Insurance Bad Faith
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Commercial General Liability Insurance
  • Property Insurance
  • Directors & Officers Insurance
  • Business Interruption Coverage
  • Disability / Long-Term Care Insurance

Education

  • B.A. University of California, Los Angeles, 2003
    • Graduated magna cum Claude
  • J.D. University of Southern California Gould School of Law, 2007
    • Interdisciplinary Law Journal

Representative Matters

Achieved 8-figure and 7-figure recoveries for clients against insurers who wrongfully refused to defend their insureds in lawsuits that were potentially covered under commercial general liability insurance policies.

Recovered $35,000,000 for a client who was severely injured while working and the insurer refused to defend the action.

Recovered $5,000,000 for a hotel owner that was forced to delay opening due to a continuing and progressive water loss during construction.

Recovered $1,500,000 for a client whose home was severely damaged in the Napa County wildfires.

Secured a defense for a client under a Directors & Officers policy following the insurance company’s refusal recognize coverage.

Secured lifetime long-term care benefits for a client by barring her insurance carrier from rescinding the policy based on responses to impermissible application questions.

Secured long-term disability benefits for clients who suffer from debilitating physical and mental conditions.

Published Cases

  • Tucker v. The Travelers Indemnity Co. of Conn., et al. (N.D. Cal.) 2017 WL 10456186
  • Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Chang (N.D. Cal.) 2016 WL 6778664
  • Sequeira v. Lincoln National Life Ins. Co. (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 1438
  • Evans v. Poms & Associates Ins. Brokers, Inc. (C.D. Cal.) 2015 WL 857464
  • Cadenasso v. Unum Group, et al. (N.D. Cal.) 2014 WL 12703565
  • Rader v. Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada (N.D. Cal. 2013) 941 F.Supp.2d 1191
  • Ruiz Food Products, Inc. v. Catlin Underwriting U.S., Inc. (E.D. Cal.) 2012 WL 4050001

Admissions

  • United States District Court, Northern District of California
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court, Central District of California
  • United States District Court, Southern District of California
  • All California State Courts

Professional Affiliations

  • Board Member of San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • Consumer Attorneys of California
  • Asian American Bar Association

Articles & Presentations

  • The impact of Crawford v. Weather Shield MFG., Inc. on contractual indemnity provisions – McCormick Barstow LLP, 2009
  • Summary of workers’ compensation bad faith cases – “The Domino Effect” Seminar, September 2014
  • Insurance coverage issues in personal injury cases – San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, September 2015
  • Deposing insurance company personnel: lessons learned – Advocate Magazine, September 2018
  • Managing COVID-19 business interruption claims – Camps Seminar, April 2020
  • Surviving COVID-19: best practices for your business interruption claim – SFTLA Magazine, May 2020
  • Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith During COVID-19 – San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, August 2020