Attorneys

Clifford Hirsch has more than thirty years of experience related to insurance litigation. He has provided coverage advice and litigation services to numerous insurers, claims professionals, brokers, and government agencies in complex coverage and catastrophic loss cases, including those arising from the Coalinga, Gilroy, Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes, the Oakland and Santa Barbara firestorms, the San Diego and San Bernardino wildfires, the Linda Levee Break and the Love Creek and La Honda mudslides.

He has been involved with first-party property insurance claims as diverse as destroyed powdered milk plants, celebrity’s automobile collections, and houses of worship. Mr. Hirsch has tried insurance bad-faith and other cases to successful verdicts. Recently, he represented a widow whose house was being foreclosed upon by a repair contractor. On the day of trial, instead of losing her house, the case settled for a $2 million payment to the firm’s client. Mr. Hirsch has also obtained other verdicts and settlements in excess of $ 1million for other homeowners.

Mr. Hirsch has also represented numerous construction and design professionals in litigation and disciplinary matters. Recently, Mr. Hirsch prevailed at trial on behalf of a fire alarm subcontractor against the general contractor, recovering not only the contract damages sought, but also a substantial attorneys fee award.

Mr. Hirsch has extensive experience counseling insurance carriers on all aspects of insurance policy interpretation and coverage evaluation under standard-ISO form and manuscript form contracts, including primary, excess and surplus lines insurers. He has also provided counsel to public agencies regarding their own self-insurance programs. In addition to defending complex insurance bad faith lawsuits, Mr. Hirsch also has experience in the investigation of suspected fraudulent claims including arson and theft. He represents carriers for Examinations Under Oath and policy appraisals.

Mr. Hirsch has appeared on the CBS network’s national news, spoken and published articles regarding insurance coverage and bad faith. He has conducted training seminars on claims handling, insurance coverage, and compliance with insurance regulations for both insurance trade organizations and the Consumer Attorneys of California. He has an AV® Rating with Martindale-Hubbell and is a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum ®.

Mr. Hirsch has been selected to the 2016 Northern California List of Super Lawyers for Insurance Coverage; and recently, he had a significant role in the Bikram Choudry litigation featured on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Education

University of California, San Diego, B.A., magna cum laude, 1976
Syracuse University, J.D., M.B.A., 1980

Admitted

State Bar of California, 1981
U.S. Districts Courts of California (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central)
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit)

Reported Cases

Paterno v. State of Calif. (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 998.
Sweatman v. Department of Veterans Affairs (2001) 25 Cal.4th 62 (Counsel for amicus).
Valenzuela v. GAB Business Services (1999) 71 Cal. App.4th 935 (depublished).
County of San Mateo v. Berney (1988) 199 Cal.App.3d 1489.
Lakeland Village v. Great American Ins. Group, 727 F. Supp. 2d 887 (E.D. Cal. 2010)

Member

Contra Costa County Bar Association

Mr. Closson graduated from Shippensburg State College in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Western State University College of Law in 1986. Following graduation, he initially served as a multi-lines claims representative with the Travelers Companies in San Diego before entering private practice in 1987.

Mr. Closson joined Clifford Hirsch, APLC in September 2008 as senior counsel.

He continues to concentrate his practice in insurance coverage litigation, “bad faith” litigation, coverage related matters, and appeals. His insurance practice has involved the property and casualty fields of commercial and personal lines policies with an emphasis on construction defect, intellectual property, business litigation and environmental claims. His clients have included insurers, contractor and trade associations, businesses, individuals and non-profit entities.

Mr. Closson is admitted to practice before the California state courts and the U.S. District courts for all of the Districts of California, the U.S. District court for the District of Colorado, and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has litigated and acted as amicus curiae counsel in numerous cases, including numerous published decisions, as attached hereto. He has lectured locally and nationally on insurance issues including presentations on behalf of the PLRB, MC Consultants, Lorman Business Center, and the West Coast Casualty Seminar. He is a co-author of California Liability Insurance Claims and Practice: Claims & Litigation (Continuing Education of the Bar, 1993-present), Chapter 9, Investigating the Claim; and First Party Coverage in Miller’s California Construction Defect Litigation – Residential and Commercial (2d Ed. 1993 Wiley Publications).

Mr. Closson is a member of the California State Bar, the San Diego County Bar Association and the San Diego Defense Lawyers Association. He has an AV® Rating with Martindale-Hubbell.

Education

Shippensburg State College, B.A., History, 1983
Western State University College of Law, J.D., 1986

Admitted

State Bar of California, 1986
U.S. District Courts of California (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Central)
U.S. District Court of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Reported Cases

Hensel Phelps Construction v. Superior Court [Smart Corner Owners Assn.], (4th DCA Cal. 2020) 2020 WL 370445 (Amicus)
McMillin Albany LLC v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.4th 241 (Amicus)
Employers Mutual Cas. Co. v. Philadelphia Ins. (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 340

Crawford v. Weather Shield Mfg. (2008) 44 Cal.4th 541 (amicus)
Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Superior Court (Century Surety) (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 874
Acosta et. al. v. Glenfed Development et. al. (2005) 128 Cal.App.4th 1278 (amicus)
Travelers Cas. & Surety Co. v Century Surety Co. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 1156
SDR v AISLIC (S.D.Cal. 2004) 320 F.Supp.2d 1043
Rosen v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co. (2003) 30 Cal.4th 107 (amicus)
Rice v. Safeco Property & Cas. Co. (9th Cir. 2003) 78 Fed.Appx. 641 (amicus)
Jimenez v. Superior Court (2002) 29 Cal.4th 473 (amicus)
Maryland Casualty Company v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1082
Alan O. Aas v. Superior Court (2000) 24 Cal.4th 627 (amicus)
Maryland Casualty Company v. Nationwide Insurance Company (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 21
Maryland Casualty Company v. National American Insurance Company of California (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1822
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company v. Aetna Casualty (1990) 223 Cal.App.3d 1621
National American Insurance Company v. Coburn (1989) 209 Cal.App.3d 914

Member

San Diego County Bar Association
San Diego Defense Lawyers Association

Jodi Lambert grew up in Los Angeles, but left the warm weather behind in order to experience four “real” seasons at the University of Pennsylvania. She returned to California where she attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She was admitted to the California State Bar in December 1993, and she has an AV® Rating with Martindale-Hubbell.

Jodi has defended a variety of general liability matters, including product liability, professional liability, and construction defect cases. She has extensive first chair experience in both bench and jury trials. Since the late 1990’s, she has defended carriers in insurance coverage and “bad faith” matters. Jodi has argued in the California Court of Appeal and was instrumental in the successful argument of a statutory interpretation case before the California Supreme Court.

Jodi’s most recent trial victories include a defense verdict in a premises liability case where the plaintiff (a prospective real estate purchaser) was seriously injured while conducting an unscheduled inspection of Jodi’s client’s garage, and a plaintiff’s verdict in excess of $200,000 in a subrogation action against a general contractor stemming from a destructive house fire caused by the contractor’s defective construction of a barbecue enclosure attached to the house.

Education

University of Pennsylvania, B.A., Communications, 1990
University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1993

Admitted

State Bar of California, 1993
U.S. District Courts of California (Northern, Southern and Central)

Reported Cases

Elsner v. Uveges (2004) 34 Cal.4th 915

Member

San Diego County Bar Association

Lawyers Club of San Diego