Moris DavidovitzShareholder
moris.davidovitz@cooperscully.com
415.510.5815
423 Washington Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, California 94111
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Morey’s forty year practice includes experience in many aspects of casualty and insurance matters, including transportation, construction defect, municipal liability, professional liability, products liability, environmental, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, and psychological injuries. He has represented litigants in the California state courts up to the California Supreme Court and the federal courts up to the United States Supreme Court, and has handled construction defect, property damage and insurance matters in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Minnesota and Puerto Rico.
Morey is an arbitrator, pro tem settlement judge, and mediator for various courts, and has acted as an expert witness for insurance claims procedures. He is rated Judicial Edition AV by Martindale-Hubbell and was recognized in the Northern California Super Lawyers® list by Thomson Reuters in 2008, 2019-present. Morey’s recent trials include an environmental damage case of national significance for a public entity, a case of substantial physical injuries for a claimant, a construction defect case for a contractor, and a construction subrogation action for an insurer.
Morey obtained his bachelor’s degree (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and obtained his law degree (with Honors) from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was staff member of the Ecology Law Quarterly.
Morey is a student and instructor in close quarter combat and self-defense, and holds a black belt in Atemi Jujutsu awarded by Ben Mangels (former Close Quarter Battle Chief Instructor for the South African special forces, and Close Quarter Battle Instructor for the British SAS). His other interests include foreign travel, photography, and creative writing (with published poetry).
Admitted
California, 1976
District of Columbia
United States Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
Education
J.D., with honors, University of California, Berkeley, 1976
B.A., summa cum laude, University of California, Los Angeles, 1973
Martindale-Hubbell rated Judicial Edition AV Preeminent and Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers, 2008
Northern California Super Lawyers® list, Thomson Reuters Legal (2008, 2019-present)
American Jurisprudence Award, Crimes, 1974
Panel of Arbitrators, San Francisco Superior Court
Pro Tem Settlement Judge, San Francisco Superior Court
Sacramento Superior Court panel of mediators
Sonoma Superior Court panel of mediators
Expert Witness (insurance claims, wind turbine insurance, trucking insurance)
Co-Author, "Defense Against the "Reptile Theory" in Litigation," Cooper & Scully Newsletter, June 2021
“Judgments Set Up to Sting Insurers,” 25th Annual Insurance Seminar, sponsored by Cooper & Scully, P.C., April 2018
“The Right to Independent Counsel in Texas and California,” 24th Annual Insurance Seminar, sponsored by Cooper & Scully, P.C., April 2017
“Protecting the Construction Manager: Insurance” - CMAA Conference 2016
“Problems and Solutions in Resolving the Complex, Multi-layered Construction Defect Case” - West Coast Casualty Conference, 2016
“Adjusting Fire Loss Claims, The Binder, Vol. 40, No. 3 (2015)
“Trends and Developments in Class Actions, Mass Tort and Multidistrict Litigation” - CLM, 2013
“Motor Carrier Insurance Policies: What Every Lawyer Should Know”, San Francisco Daily Journal, October 6, 2010
"Aviation Deaths on the Seas: The Flight Into Maritime Law," Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, Fall 1986 [cited in In Re Air Crash Disaster Near Honolulu, Hawaii, on Feb. 24, 1989, 783 F.Supp. 1261 (N.D. Ca. 1992)]
"Immunity: Cooperation With Investigation," OFA Newsletter, March 1991
"A New Immunity For Airports: Federal Preemption," Airport Services, November/December 1990
"New Theory of Airport Immunity Emerges From Bethman Decision," The Binder, July 1990
"Pending Aviation Bills 100th Congress," OFA Newsletter, January 1989
Aviation Source Directory, 2nd Edition (1989)
"Analysis - Royal Globe, May It Rest In Peace," Claims, September, 1988
"Architect Liability for Design Defects," Sun/Coast Architect/Builder, July, 1988
"Protecting The Independent Adjuster's File From Disclosure in Litigation," Claims, October 1988 [reprinted in Adjuster's Guide and in OFA Newsletter, July 1988]
"Court Delay - Reduction Act To Impact Claims," Claims, May 1988
"Contributing Editor to Claims and Claims Intelligence Report"
"Contributor to training curriculum of American Institute for Property & Liability Underwriters"
Presentations/Publications
FORTY-TWO YEARS CD CLAIMS AND TRIAL LITIGATION EXPERIENCE
Morey has been litigating construction defect loss claims in California for over forty-two years. He tried one of the initial multi-unit CD cases in California, which was in jury trial for some seven months. In a multi-unit luxury condo case, after a month of jury trial, the party who sued Morey’s client agreed to settle for an amount previously offered and continued the trial against other parties. In another CD jury trial, after Morey’s opening statement the party who sued Morey’s client agreed to a settlement. Morey tried a multi-month environmental action defending the design, construction, and operation of a municipal sewer system.
WESTERN REGION COVERAGE COUNSEL, NATIONAL INSURER CD PROGRAM
Morey was the western region coverage counsel for a national insurer’s CD program, and acted as the insurer’s representative in resolving large loss and problem CD actions in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Arizona. Every action was resolved without trial, and without any claim against the insurer for alleged “bad faith”.
NO. CALIFORNIA DEFENSE COUNSEL, NATIONAL INSURER CD PROGRAM
Morey has been the defense counsel in northen California for a national insurer’s CD program. Some one hundred fifty cases were defended, from the central valley to the Oregon border, representing general contractors and subcontractors in various types of construction projects. Almost all were resolved by settlement, often early in the litigation process. The actions which did not settle were resolved by awards of either no recovery against the insured or recovery in the area of the pre-arbitration evaluation.
EXPERIENCE WITH TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING ISSUES
General Counsel to architectural firm specializing in building envelope waterproofing
General Counsel to HVAC contractor, involved in design-build projects
General Counsel to international aerospace parts manufacturer
General Counsel to sewer contractor
Representation of architects and engineers
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Defense Against the “Reptile Theory” in Litigation |
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Shareholder, Moris Davidovitz, Named to Northern California Super Lawyers List |
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Federal Ninth Circuit Creates New Obligation for Arbitrator Disclosing Potential Bias |
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California Anti-SLAPP Statute Does Not Protect All Litigation Conduct of Insurer-Retained Defense Attorney |
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Cooper & Scully Attorneys Selected to Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists |
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California Continuing Governmental Immunities |
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California Court Decides Method of Stacking Excess Policies at Different Levels in Multi-Year Environmental Claim |
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California Court Finds Ambiguous "Ongoing Operations" Limitation in Contractor's Additional Insured Endorsement |
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Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Split on Applying Qualified Immunity Defense to Excessive Police Force Actions |
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Proposed Change in California Law to Remove Certain Mediation Confidentiality Protections |