Biography

Susan Koehler Sullivan's practice includes investigating and litigating fidelity bond claims and directors and officers liability insurance claims, including complex securities fraud, bank fraud and class actions.  She has extensive experience representing insurers in breach of contract and bad faith litigation, including under CGL, personal lines and professional liability policies.

Affiliations, Activities and Accomplishments

Ms. Sullivan is a member of the American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, and Labor and Employment Section.  She is also active in the Los Angeles County Bar Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Bar Foundation.  Ms. Sullivan received the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney Achievement Award (1997), and the Barristers President's Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association (2001).

Ms. Sullivan was named a "Southern California SuperLawyer-Rising Star" in 2004, 2005 and again, in 2006, by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine and The Journal for Law & Politics.  Only 2.5 percent of Southern California lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange counties were bestowed with this honor.

While attending law school, she also served as managing editor of the Pacific Basin Law Journal.

Presentations & Publications

• Speaker, “A Practical Guide to E-Discovery,” presented to State Fund Insurance Company, May 2010.
• Speaker: "Role of Insurance Agent in Coverage Issues," ABA/TIPS Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Midyear Meeting, February 2010.
• Author, "Insurer Has No Duty to Defend Assault and Battery Claims Against its Insured – California Supreme Court," Sedgwick’s Insurance Law Update, August 2009.
• Speaker, "Bad Faith and the Genuine Dispute Doctrine," Sedgwick Insurance Coverage Seminar Issues and Trends in Extracontractual Coverage and Liability, Chicago, IL, June 2008.
• Author, “Termination and Cancellation,” Financial Institution Bonds, ABA 3d Ed., 2008.
• Contributing editor, update of “Construction Liability,” Insurance Litigation, Rutter Group, 2008.
• Co-Author, “Recent Developments in Insurance Coverage Litigation,” ABA TIPS Law Journal, Spring 2008.
• Co-Editor of Sedgwick’s Insurance Law Update, ongoing since Fall 2007.
• Author, "The Genuine Dispute Doctrine," IADC Committee Newsletter: Fidelity and Surety, October 2007.
• Author, "Recurring Issues in Rescission Cases," ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Fall 2006.
• Speaker, "The Question of Causation in Loan Loss Cases," Fidelity Law Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, October 2005.
• Author, "The Question of Causation in Loan Loss Cases," Fidelity Law Journal, Fall 2005.
• Author, "Rescission Based on an Insured's Failure to Disclose Potential Claims or Litigation," ABA Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section Mid-Winter Meeting, February 2005.  
• Panelist, "Application Misrepresentations and Rescission," ABA Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section Mid-Winter Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, February 2005.  
• Co-author, "Subrogation and Mitigation," Handling Fidelity Bond Claims, ABA 2005. 
• Contributor, "Termination or Cancellation," Annotated Financial Institution Bond, 2d Edition ABA 2004.
• Author, "Two for the Price of One: The Impact of the Karen Kane Decision," The Fidelity Law Journal, October 2000.