Katherine Nichols practices in the area of civil litigation and business reorganization and financial restructuring. She has represented plaintiffs and defendants in actions involving issues of contract, administrative law and public contracts, business torts and consumer class actions.

Ms. Nichols devotes part of her practice to litigation and counseling services for the insurance industry and is a member of the California State Bar’s Insurance Law Committee. She has handled matters involving commercial general liability, excess liability, professional liability, reinsurance, life, health and disability insurance and ERISA. She also has extensive experience representing insurers in complex bankruptcy cases. In addition to work for insurer clients, she has also defended insurance agents/brokers in cases involving claims of professional negligence and misrepresentation.

Ms. Nichols is a 2003 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, where she was managing editor of the UCLA Law Review and of the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, and a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University.

Representative Matters

• Assisted in obtaining summary judgment on behalf of insurers that required their insured to reimburse a $2.25 million settlement payment that the insurers had advanced to settle an underlying age-discrimination claim. American Casualty Co. of Reading, Pa. et al. v. International Creative Management, Inc. et al. (U.S. District Court for the Central District of Calif., Sept. 10, 2010).
• Assisted in obtaining a writ of mandate on behalf of an insurer in the California Court of Appeal vacating a trial court's order staying the insurer's action for declaratory relief. Great American Insurance Co. v. Los Angeles Superior Court, 178 Cal. App. 4th 221 (2009).
• Assisted in obtaining a writ of mandate on behalf of unsuccessful bidder that overturned a prior award of contract by the City of Los Angeles. The Wackenhut Corporation v. City of Los Angeles, et al., (Los Angeles Superior Court, Sept. 4, 2008).
• Represented insurance industry clients in asbestos bankruptcy actions, including In re Pittsburgh Corning, In re Federal-Mogul Global, In re ASARCO and In re Thorpe Insulation.
• Served as second-chair counsel for insurance industry clients in several arbitration hearings.
• Prepared motion for summary judgment in ERISA litigation involving a multimillion-dollar dispute regarding a 501(c) plan that led to prompt settlement.

Admissions

• California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education

• University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, J.D., 2003
  Managing Editor, UCLA Law Review
  Managing Editor, Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs
• Duke University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1999

Other Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Associate, 2006-present
• Barger & Wolen LLP
  - Associate, 2003-2005

Publications

• Co-author, "U.S. Financial Reform: Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 Institutes First Federal Regulation of Debit Card Interchange Fees," Duane Morris Alert, August 24, 2010
• Co-Author, "Insurance Coverage for Employee Claims," Advising California Employers, CEB 2005
• Co-Author, "Business General Liability Policies," California Insurance Law, Matthew Bender, 2005