Angela Martin is a senior counsel at Walsworth who focuses her practice on general liability matters, including complex insurance bad faith claims and investigation of fraud claims. Angela is a skilled litigator with extensive civil litigation experience defending insurance carriers and their insureds in a variety of matters, and she is experienced in all phases of pretrial litigation, including case management, discovery, law and motion, and trial preparation.
Before joining Walsworth, Angela had a diverse practice consisting of insurance coverage litigation, business litigation, and personal injury matters. She managed multiple complex cases in federal and state courts, frequently took witness and expert depositions, mediated favorable settlements on behalf of her clients, and participated in jury trials.
- Secured judgment as a matter of law in federal court for an insurance carrier following a three-day jury trial, defeating the plaintiff’s claims by establishing a complete failure of proof on damages.
- Defense Verdict after Jury Trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court for breach of insurance contract. Plaintiff-insured claimed consignment company stole or failed to return personal property. When carrier denied insured’s “theft” claim, plaintiff-insured alleged denial was improper. Jury found that there was no covered loss.
- Successful Motion for Terminating Sanctions in Los Angeles County Superior Court for auto insurance policy. During investigation of an auto collision claim, insurance carrier identified material misrepresentations in the plaintiff-insured’s application. The Carrier denied the claim and rescinded the policy. Plaintiff was uncooperative during discovery and failed to actively participate in trial preparation. The Court granted motion for terminating sanctions due to plaintiff’s failure to timely exchange exhibits pre-trial or participate in the filings of joint pre-trial documents.
- Defense Verdict after Jury Trial in United States District Court, Central District of California (Santa Ana) for breach of insurance contract. Plaintiff-insured claimed that denial of luxury watch theft claim based on misrepresentation and failure to cooperate was improper. Jury found that although Plaintiff suffered a covered loss, he failed to fulfil his duty to cooperate with the investigation. Thus, denial was proper.
- Defense Verdict after Bench Trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court arising from first party auto collision claim. Permissive driver claimed that after swerving to avoid a hazard, he flipped the Plaintiff-Insured’s luxury vehicle. Carrier investigation revealed inconsistencies in the description of the loss and sought a judicial determination of coverage. After a three-week bench trial involving auto reconstruction expert testimony, Court found there was no coverage for the loss due to material misrepresentations and a lack of cooperation by the insured and permissive driver.
- Obtained judgment as a matter of law for a national insurance carrier in a federal court trial involving a homeowner’s burglary claim exceeding $450,000. The plaintiff alleged breach of contract, bad faith, fraud, and other related causes of action. After securing partial summary judgment dismissing all extra-contractual claims, the case proceeded to trial on the sole remaining breach of contract claim. Following a three-day jury trial, the Court granted the carrier’s Rule 50(a) motion, finding that the plaintiff failed to present admissible evidence of damages.