John R. Brydon

John R. Brydon, the firm’s managing partner of the San Francisco office, is an AV-Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell.

He has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates for nearly 30 years, where he holds the rank of Diplomate and has been a Certified Specialist in Civil Trial Law and Diplomat of the National Board of Trial Advocacy for over 25 years. He is Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and the American Bar Foundation. He has been rated and included by his peers in such organizations as Super Lawyer, America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators, Top Attorneys of North America Who’s Who and Lawyers of Distinction.

With over 40 years of trial experience, Mr. Brydon has successfully defended and tried to verdict scores of high-exposure complex personal injury, product liability, insurance coverage and bad faith trials throughout California and around the country, including cases involving issues of punitive damage exposure for major corporate and insurer defendants. He has been included on the national trial teams of several corporate clients and has been admitted pro hac vice as trial counsel in multiple jurisdictions. He has also handled a variety of professional liability cases, including insurance broker E&O, medical, dental and legal malpractice cases. He has represented attorneys through the years, including a legal malpractice defense verdict at trial that included recovery of the client’s disputed fees, and has served as an expert witness in legal malpractice matters. Also, he has also consulted with a leading risk management consulting firm to assist in providing placement services for troubled law firms.

Mr. Brydon has successfully argued cases before the California Courts of Appeal, State Supreme Court, and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. He was lead trial and appellate counsel in Buss v. Superior Court (1997) 16 Cal. 4th 35, a nationally recognized decision that extends to insurance companies a right to seek reimbursement for defense costs expended to defend non-covered claims asserted against policyholders. In the California Supreme Court decision of PPG Industries, Inc. v. Transamerica Ins. Co. (1999) 20 Cal. 4th 310, he successfully argued for limits on the types of damages recoverable against insurance companies in bad faith cases based on alleged failure to settle within policy limits. An active member of the DRI and Association of Defense Counsel, Mr. Brydon has lectured on topics of defense in bad faith lawsuits, insurance coverage disputes, defense of products liability claims, and trial practice. He has been appointed to the Executive Board of the Defense Institute of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms where he served as Chairman 2015-2016.

EDUCATION

• B.A. from the University of the Pacific in 1972
• M.A., Communication Studies, California State University, Sacramento in 1975
• J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1978; on the editorial board of the Pacific Law Journal (now McGeorge Law Review) and a national finalist in the American College of Trial Lawyers’ mock trial competition.
• Law Clerk to Hon. James H. Thompson, 2nd Judicial District, State of Nevada, 1981-1982.

Bar Information

• 1978, California
• 1982, Nevada;
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit;
• U.S. District Courts: Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of California;
• U.S. District Court, District of Nevada;
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

BAR ASSOCIATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS

• Bar Association of San Francisco
• American Board of Trial Advocates (1991-Present; Current Rank of Diplomate)
• National Board of Trial Advocacy (1993 – Present) (Certified in Civil Trial Advocacy and Civil Pretrial Practice)
• Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Association of Northern California Defense Counsel (ADC)
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Member Executive Board, Primerus Defense Institute, International Society of Primerus Law Firms (Chairman 2015-1016)
• Selected to Super Lawyers (2006-2014)
• Selected to Lawyers of Distinction
• Named Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators (Northern California)
• Included in Top Attorneys of North America (Who’s Who)

PUBLISHED DECISIONS

• PPG Industries, Inc. v. Transamerica Ins. Co. (1999) 20 Cal.4th 310
• Buss v. Superior Court (1997) 16 Cal.4th 35
• Burns v. 20th Century Ins. Co. (1992) 9 Cal.App.4th 1666
• Weiss v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. (1988) 204 Cal.App.3d 1094
• Skyway Aviation, Inc. v. Troyer (1983) 147 Cal.App.3d 604

PRESENTATIONS

• AUGUST 1994 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Annual Bad Faith Seminar, Preventing Bad Faith Claims Handling, Monterey, California
• AUGUST 1996 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Annual Bad Faith Seminar, Allocation and Reimbursement of Defense Costs for Non-Covered Claims, Monterey, California
• JUNE 2000 Defense Research Institute (DRI), Annual Insurance Coverage & Practice Seminar, Role of Litigation Privilege in Defending Bad Faith Cases, San Francisco, California
• FEBRUARY 2001 National Business Institute (NBI) (Institute for Paralegal Education), Advanced Civil Discovery for the Litigation Paralegal in California, San Francisco, California
• JUNE 2001 National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Instructor, Western Regional Program Trial School, Berkeley, California
• OCTOBER 2001 National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Instructor, Western Deposition Program, San Francisco, California
• OCTOBER 2002 National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Instructor, Western Deposition Program, San Francisco, California
• DECEMBER 2002 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), 43rd Annual Meeting, Revisiting Cumis, San Francisco, California
• JANUARY 2003 National Business Institute (NBI), Litigating Your First Civil Case In California, San Francisco, California
• JUNE 2003 National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Instructor, Western Regional Program Trial School, Berkeley, California
• JUNE 2003 National Business Institute (NBI), Litigating Your First Civil Case In California, San Jose, California
• OCTOBER 2003 National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA), Instructor, Western Deposition Program, San Francisco, California
• FEBRUARY 2004 National Business Institute (NBI), Litigating Your First Civil Case In California, San Francisco, California
• JUNE 2006 American Conference Institute (ACI) Evolving Causation Theories for Low-Dose Exposure Claims, Las Vegas, Nevada (June 16, 2006)
• MAY 2007 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Trial Defense Strategy In Navy Exposure Cases, San Francisco, California (May 1, 2007)
• NOVEMBER 2007 National Business Institute (NBI), Panel Moderator – What Civil Judges Want You To Know California, San Francisco, California (November 9, 2007)
• APRIL 2009 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Mock Trial Asbestos Defense Closing Argument, San Francisco, California (May 19, 2009)
• SEPTEMBER 2009 National Business Institute (NBI), Panel Moderator – Civil Court Judicial Forum, San Francisco, California (September 25, 2009))
• APRIL 2010 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Avoiding Excess Verdicts: Strategies and Considerations for the Insurance Carrier and the Insured, Scottsdale, Arizona (April 23, 2010)
• MAY 2010 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Winning Defense Strategies; Defense Trial Themes, San Francisco, California (May 4, 2010)
• SEPTEMBER 2010 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Avoiding Bad Faith Liability, Chicago, Illinois (September 24, 2010)
• APRIL 2011 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Reducing Damages In Catastrophic Injury Cases – Use Of Experts, Naples, Florida (April 9, 2010)
• JULY 2011 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Warnings – Scope of and Exceptions to Duty to Warn; Webinar (July 21, 2011)
• APRIL 2012 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Jury Deselection Strategy & Science, San Diego, California (April 20, 2012)
• JUNE 2012 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Friction Defense – Selling State of The Art, San Francisco, California (June 12, 2012)
• DECEMBER 2012 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, “Whose Product Is It Anyway” Emerging Trends & Developments In Products Liability Law & Litigation Webinar (December 12, 2012)
• APRIL 2013 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Strategies. Techniques & Creative Approaches to Settlement of High Value and Complex Damages Cases, Baca Raton, Florida (April 26, 2013)
• SEPTEMBER 2013 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Presentation Chair, The Company On Trial – Defending Corporate Claims & Witnesses, Chicago, Illinois (September 20, 2013)
• APRIL 2014 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Program Chair, Defending The Company Client, Scottsdale, Arizona (April 25-26, 2014)
• OCTOBER 2014 Captive Resources Insurance Group, Mock Trial Presentation, Las Vegas, Nevada (October 16, 2014)
• OCTOBER 2015 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Legal Risk Management Seminar: A Comparative Analysis by World Region; A Global Comparative Approach to Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Panelist) (October 1, 2015)
• JANUARY 2016 Bar Association of San Francisco, Using Expert Witnesses in Insurance Bad Faith and Coverage Litigation: Overcoming Obstacles in Presenting Expert Opinion Testimony, San Francisco, California (January 13, 2016)
• APRIL 2016 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Identifying and Countering Plaintiff’s Reptile Strategies, Napa, California (April 22, 2016)
• MAY 2016 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Toxic Tort Program, Defending Plaintiff’s Reptile Theory Tactics, San Francisco, California (May 25, 2016)
• OCTOBER 2016 Thomson Reuters, Mediation and Negotiation Strategy How the Mediation Process Has Changed, and What You Can Do to Make It Work for Your Client (October 18, 2016)
• MAY 2017 Association of Defense Counsel (ADC), Toxic Tort Program, Debunking Junk Science and Measuring the Expertise in Expert Opinion (May 24, 2017)
• APRIL 2018 Litigation Counsel of America, Renaissance Symposium XIII, San Francisco, 20^th Century Lawyers and 21^st Century Jurors (April 20, 2018)
• NOVEMBER 2018 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, Program Chair for 2018 Primerus Defense Institute, Fall Seminar- Autonomous Vehicles: A Look in to the Coverage, Product Liability and Transportation Issues, Chicago, IL (November 9, 2017)
• APRIL 2019 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, AI and the Practice of Law, Boca Raton, FL (April 6, 2019)
• AUGUST 2020 International Society of Primerus Law Firms, All right Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up! What trial lawyers need to know to make the transition to online trials. (August 14, 2020)
• APRIL 2021 San Luis Obispo Bar Association, Zoom Jury Trials (April 4, 2021)
• JUNE 2021 San Francisco Bar Association, Virtual Technology and its Application to Civil Litigation – Post COVID-19 (June 3,2021)