Herbert Peter Kunowski

Herb's multifaceted legal career garnered him extensive experience in federal, state, and administrative trial and appellate courts, with an emphasis on business, government, and general liability litigation; the defense of directors and officers, insurance and real estate agents and brokers, and legal and healthcare professionals; and insurer litigation for coverage and bad faith. Herb has tried high-exposure cases by both bench and jury, and has handled numerous arbitrations and mediations. He also served as a judicial arbitrator, mediator and judge pro tem for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Earlier in his career, Herb served in the Office of the City Attorney for Los Angeles.

Prior Admissions: Supreme Court of the United States; U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits; U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada; U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern and Central Districts of California

Prior Member: State Bar of California; Orange County Bar Association - Masters Division; The Federalist Society

Areas of Focus:

Business & Government Litigation

Herb has extensive experience in all aspects of business and government litigation, which included directors and officers; shareholder disputes; targets of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation/Office of Thrift Supervision, and State of California/Department of Insurance; and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy. He has successfully litigated many fraudulent transfer actions and enforced numerous judgments through all manner of post-judgment remedies. In addition, Herb has pursued numerous debtors in bankruptcy court, having debts declared non-dischargeable and proposed reorganizations involuntarily converted to liquidations.

General Liability

Herb has handled a wide variety of general liability matters dealing with bodily injury, property damage and related issues. Herb’s practice included defense representation for catastrophic injuries involving permanent disabilities, as well as wrongful death claims.

Insurer Litigation

Herb has extensive experience in all aspects of insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, and his practice included representative unfair business practices claims and other complex litigation. His clients have had a full range of insurance lines, but Herb’s specialties were directors and officers, professional errors and omissions, and employment practices claims.

Professional Liability

Herb has extensive experience in counseling and representing professionals, both before and after litigation has commenced. Herb’s practice included the defense of insurance and real estate agents and brokers, and legal and health care professionals.

Representative Matters:

Business & Government Litigation

With the State of California through its Department of Insurance demanding more than $600 million before trial in a qui tam “whistleblower” case brought under the California Insurance Frauds Protection Act by a former employee of one of the clients in which the State had intervened, and demanding more than $250 million in fines and penalties at trial, obtained a defense judgment on all counts, with the court additionally awarding the clients their attorneys’ fees and costs against the State and former employee totaling in excess of $1 million.

Obtained judgment of almost $1 million, including punitive damages, in fraudulent transfer action against attorney, her law firm and her family members, subsequent to obtaining judgment in bankruptcy court trial that attorney's debt to client was non-dischargeable.

General Liability

Obtained summary judgment for the contractor client on property damage claim against it based on statute of limitations defense, after persuading court that plaintiff was not entitled to belatedly amend its complaint to identify contractor as doe defendant and thus the claim against the contractor could not relate back to the time the complaint was filed.

Insurer Litigation

Obtained summary judgment on multimillion-dollar lawsuit asserting bad faith and breach of contract based on application of “prior notice of potential claim” exclusion and material representations in policy application.

Obtained summary judgment on multimillion-dollar lawsuit asserting bad faith and breach of contract based on application of “professional services” exclusion. Judgment affirmed on appeal.

Obtained summary judgment on multimillion-dollar lawsuit asserting bad faith and breach of contract based on application of “insured versus insured” exclusion. Settled on appeal.

Obtained summary judgment on multimillion-dollar lawsuit asserting bad faith and breach of contract based on application of “other capacity” exclusion. The plaintiff later dismissed its appeal for a waiver of costs.

Professional Liability

With plaintiff claiming $5.3 million in general, special and punitive damages upon the filing of her legal malpractice action against the attorney client, successfully compelled the dispute to arbitration, and subsequently obtained an arbitration award that dismissed plaintiff’s claims with prejudice and awarded her nothing, while awarding the client his attorneys’ fees and costs, with interest. Then, over plaintiff’s opposition, successfully petitioned the court to confirm such arbitration award as an enforceable judgment against plaintiff.

With plaintiff demanding $5 million for a catastrophic fire loss from the insurance broker client shortly before the extended jury trial began, after two months into its case in chief, plaintiff recognized the jury was adverse and agreed to dismiss the client for a waiver of costs.