Principal, Attorney
Specializing in all types of civil litigation and representation of clients in trials, arbitrations, mediations and appeals, particularly all forms of insurance matters, personal and commercial (property and casualty, employment coverage, director’s and officer’s coverage, professional liability coverage, general commercial coverage as well as life, health and disability insurance; insurance “bad faith”; serious personal injury, professional liability, real estate, employment matters, and fraud claims involving employee welfare benefit plans, wrongful death and actions claiming punitive damages.
Previous Firms San Francisco: Kornblum, Cochran, Erikson & Harbison LLP (2014-2020); Guy Kornblum & Associates (2000-2013); Bailey & Kornblum, LLP (1996-2000); The Kornblum Law Offices, and predecessors (1979-1996); Partner, Pettit & Martin in San Francisco (1972-1979); Assistant Dean and Professor at Hastings College of the Law (1970-1972); Associate Attorney, Bledsoe, Smith, Cathcart, Johnson & Rogers (1967-1970); Indianapolis, Indiana: Associate Attorney, Ice, Miller, Donadio & Ryan (1966-1967).
Professional Certifications
Certified in Civil Trial Law and Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy, the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
Bar Admissions
Admitted to California State Bar (1966) and Indiana State Bar (1966); 1971, U.S. Supreme Court (1971); U.S. District Court, Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; Southern District of Indiana; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (all 1966).
Military Service
1st Lt. U.S. Army – Intelligence
Active duty, January 1962 to November 1963; reserves until 1968.
Education
Hastings College of the Law
University of California (J.D. 1966)
San Francisco, CA
Editorial Board, Hastings Law Journal
Member, Order of the Coif
Member, Thurston Honor Society
Phi Delta Phi Graduate of the Year, 1966 (Hastings Chapter)
Indiana University (A.B. 1961)
Bloomington, IN
Member: Alpha Tau Omega, Phi Eta Sigma, Blue Key, various honoraries and organizations including the Indiana University Student Foundation and Inter-Fraternity Council.
Post J.D. Study: Attended New York University Law Center as a Ford Foundation Fellow in the summer of 1971.
Honors & Awards
35 Years Continuous “a.v.” rated by Martindale-Hubbell (highest rating available).
Named “The Best Lawyers in America,” 2016-2020.
Peter Perlman Award for Community Service, Litigation Counsel of America, 2019.
Listed in 23d Edition of “The Best Lawyers in America” (Insurance Law, Litigation-Insurance, Personal Injury Litigation-Plaintiffs.)
Lifetime Member, Best Attorneys in America.
Distinguished Justice Advocates, Charter Member, 2017-2020.
Named “Top Attorneys of North America,” 2016-2020.
Named, “Lawyer of Distinction”, Civil Litigation, 2017.
Named, “America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.”
Listed in Global Who’s Who Best Lawyer, 2019.
Named, National Trial Lawyers, “Top 100 Trial Lawyers,” 2019.
Excellence in Law column, Time Magazine, Person of the Year Issue, December 23, 2013.
Fellow, American College of Board Certified Attorneys.
Charter Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America Trial Lawyer Honorary.
Northern California Super Lawyer, annually since 2006; recognized for over 10 years continuous listing.
Life Member, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
Named as a “Top 100 Attorney,” Personal Injury, National Academy of Jurisprudence.
Named “Best Lawyer in the Bay Area,” in a poll conducted by the Nob Hill Gazette, a prominent San Francisco Magazine, 2010.
Listed in Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers , Martindale-Hubbell, 19th Ed. (Personal Injury and Insurance Law).
Top rating, currently 5.0 out of 5.0, by Martindale-Hubbell, the preeminent lawyer rating service (a.v. received in first year of eligibility, 1971.)
Rating of “10” (“Superb”) by AVVO.
25 Years of Continuous Listing in Marquis Who’s Who.
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Featured Law Firm, 2004.
Law Firm of the Year, AIDS Legal Referral Panel (pro bono), 2004.
Nominated for California State Bar Pro-Bono Service Award, 2004.
Recipient, Award of Excellence, Senior Lawyers Division, American Bar Association, 1996.
Named “An Outstanding Insurance Trial Lawyer,” National Law Journal, 1991.
Professional Associations
Member, American Bar Association
Member, California and Indiana State Bar Associations
Member, American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
Member, Consumer Attorneys of California
Member, San Francisco Bar Association
Member, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
Teaching
Instructor, Santa Clara University Law School, Spring 2007, “Strategy, Tactics and Diplomacy in Dispute Resolution,” Seminar for Third-Year Law Students.
Assistant Dean, Hastings College of the Law, University of California, 1970-1972; adjunct faculty, 1972-1978, 1990. Founding member of Hastings College of Advocacy, the first post-trial practice program for lawyers sponsored by a law school from 1971-2001.
Co-founder and Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Hastings Center for Trial and Appellate Advocacy, 1970-1982.
Instructor, San Francisco Law School, “Insurance Law – A Consumer’s Perspective,” Spring 2001; “Remedies – The Law Gets Down to Business,” 2002-2003.
Books
Negotiating and Settling Tort Cases: Reaching the Settlement, 5th Edition, 2021-22, AAJ Press and Thomson Reuters Publishing Co.
Co-author, Litigating Insurance Claims (Wiley & Sons 1993) with supplements (with W. A. Cerillo.)
Co-author, California Practice Guide: Bad Faith (The Rutter Group 1986), and supplement (now part of California Practice Guide: Insurance Litigation (The Rutter Group 1995) (with Justice M. Kaufman; H. Levine).
Contributing Author, California Continuing Education of the Bar, Effective Mediation and Settlement Technique in California, 2005.
