Ms. Martin practices in Sonnenschein's Litigation Practice. She serves as managing partner of the San Francisco office. Ms. Martin has litigated numerous consumer class actions involving insurance disputes and claims under California Business and Professions Code Section 17200, et seq. Ms. Martin also specializes in bad faith and insurance coverage litigation.
Ms. Martin has tried cases in both state and federal court. In addition, she has successfully handled several matters before the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has obtained published decisions in many cases of first impression.
In 2009, Ms. Martin was recognized as one of the “Top 20 Under 40” lawyers in California by the Daily Journal and as a “future star” in California by the Institutional Investor's 2010 Benchmark Litigation Survey.
Representative Experience
- This year, Ms. Martin defeated class certification and obtained partial summary judgment on behalf of Allstate in a putative multi-state class action challenging its mold claim handling practices, in Stalnaker v. Allstate, Colorado District Court, County of El Paso.
- Ms. Martin prevailed before the on behalf of Allstate’s coverage attorney in his appeal of an anti-SLAPP motion, in Seltzer v. Barnes, 2010 WL 468051 (Cal. Ct. App., February 11, 2010).
- This year, Ms. Martin prevailed on a motion to dismiss the class allegations in a putative California class action challenging mold claim handling practices, in Breton v. Allstate.
- Last year, Ms. Martin obtained dismissal of a putative California class action challenging Allstate’s procedures for calculating depreciation on personal property losses, in Enger v. Allstate, -- F. Supp. 2d --, 2009 WL 5761961 (E.D.Cal. 2009).
- In 2008 and 2009, Ms. Martin obtained back-to-back trial victories for Allstate Insurance Company in three cases pending in the U.S. District Court: Schaber v. Allstate, Cecena v. Allstate and Fanucci v. Allstate.
- In 2008, Ms. Martin obtained an appellate victory in the 9th Circuit for Universal Underwriters Insurance Company in Duarte v. Universal Underwriters, which concerned a first-party property coverage dispute.
- In 2008, Ms. Martin prevailed in an NASD arbitration on behalf of Allstate Life Insurance Company in Howe v. Bancwest, which involved the allegedly negligent sale of annuities.
- In 2007, Ms. Martin prevailed at arbitration on behalf of Bristol West Insurance Company in an alleged “whistleblower” suit.
Committees
- National Associate Hiring Committee, Chair
- National Associate Relationship Committee, Member
- Firmwide Diversity Executive Committee, Member