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Randolph P. Sinnott
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Randolph P. Sinnott550 S. Hope Street, Suite 2350
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Telephone: (213) 996-4203
Fax: (213) 892-8322
Email: RSinnott@spcclaw.com
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Attorney Biography
Randolph Sinnott is a founding partner of the law firm and practices in the Los Angeles office. He is a nationally recognized practitioner in insurance coverage and complex commercial litigation, and has litigated numerous multi-party cases in which substantial sums of money and important legal issues and precedents were at stake. He has represented many of the world's largest insurers in asbestos, environmental and construction defects matters in which multi-million dollar and equitable liabilities were at issue. In addition, he has extensive experience in appellate cases in California and other jurisdictions in which important legal precedents on complex legal issues were determined.
Mr. Sinnott's first major insurance coverage litigation was In Re Coordinated Asbestos Proceedings, California Judicial Council Proceeding #1072, San Francisco Superior Court, on which he began working in 1983. That case involved claims by four of the world's largest asbestos manufacturers for insurance coverage for hundreds of millions of dollars of liabilities arising out of bodily injury claims alleging exposure to asbestos. The litigation led to one of the leading appellate decisions on insurance coverage for asbestos liabilities, . After working on this and several other asbestos insurance coverage lawsuits, Mr. Sinnott began representing insurers in environmental insurance coverage lawsuits and non-litigated claims. In these cases, he opposed many of the country's largest manufacturing, chemical, defense and technology companies that were headquartered across the country. Mr. Sinnott has frequently been asked to serve as Liaison Counsel and Coordinating Counsel in these cases. Mr. Sinnott's practice then expanded into construction defects insurance coverage, representing insurers with respect to claims for coverage for construction defects brought by homeowners and others against developers, general contractors and subcontractors.
In addition to litigated insurance coverage matters, Mr. Sinnott's practice includes analyzing and negotiating a large number of non-litigated claims for insurance coverage. These span the substantive areas of construction defects, advertising injury liability, personal injury liability, professional liability, products claims and others. Mr. Sinnott has also litigated general commercial lawsuits involving breach of contract, wrongful termination, personal injury and adversary proceedings in Bankruptcy Court.
Mr. Sinnott's work in trial courts has been complemented by an active appellate practice. Many of the major appellate precedents in California on insurance coverage matters have been the result of Mr. Sinnott's appellate advocacy. In addition to representing the parties involved in an appeal, Mr. Sinnott has frequently represented an amicus curiae where important matters of legal precedent have been involved. He has been appellate counsel in such seminal decisions as
Powerine Oil Company v. Superior Court, 37 Cal. 4th 377(2005);
MacKinnon v. Truck Insurance Exchange, 31 Cal. 4th 635 (2003);
Buss v. Superior Court, 16 Cal. 4th 35 (1997);
AIU Insurance Company v. Superior Court, 51 Cal. 3d 807 (1990);
Hameid v. National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, 31 Cal. 4th 16 (2003);
Sharon Steel Corporation v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, 931 P. 2d 127 (Utah 1997);
ACL Technologies, Inc. v. Northbrook Property & Casualty Insurance Company, 17 Cal. App. 4th 1773 (1993);
Haskel, Inc. v. Superior Court, 33 Cal. App. 4th 963 (1995); and
Lockheed Corporation v. Continental Insurance Co., 134 Cal. App. 4th 187 (2005).
An example of Mr. Sinnott's combination of trial and appellate work is found in the Titan Corporation v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Corporation litigation. In that case, a large multi-national corporation sued its insurance companies for coverage for a significant environmental liability arising out of an industrial site owned by the Titan Corporation. Over a dozen insurance companies were originally named as defendants. By the time trial commenced, all but two defendants had settled. After the first phase of trial, one of the two remaining defendants settled, and Aetna Casualty & Surety Company changed its counsel and retained Mr. Sinnott to try the remainder of the case. After the trial court judgment, the case went on to appeal, where it was fully briefed and argued. The result was the reported decision of
Titan Corporation v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Company, 22 Cal. App. 4th 457 (1994), which ruled for the first time in favor of the insurance industry on a number of significant legal issues, including the interpretation of the absolute pollution exclusion and coverage for environmental liabilities under the personal injury liability coverage found in many comprehensive general liability policies.
Mr. Sinnott graduated in 1976 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with an A.B. in Classical Studies (Latin). He graduated in 1982 from the University of Southern California Law Center. He began his career with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, one of the largest law firms headquartered in California, and then moved to Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger. At that firm, he served as the Partner-In-Charge of the Insurance Practice Group and was the Vice-Chairman of the Litigation Department.
Mr. Sinnott is a member of the California, Nevada and Arizona state bars. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Courts of the Central District of California, Southern District of California, Northern District of California, Eastern District of California, District of Nevada and District of Arizona.
Mr. Sinnott served for 30 years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and retired at the rank of Colonel. He served in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Mr. Sinnott has served on the National Board of Directors of the Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association and the Marine Corps Reserve Association. He has held the positions of First Vice-President, National President, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Advisor to the Board of Directors. He also served as a Trustee of the Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association Foundation. Mr. Sinnott is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Reserve Officers Association.
Mr. Sinnott serves on the Board of Directors of the Sealed With A Wish Foundation. SWAW is dedicated to serving the interests of United States military personnel serving overseas by providing them with comfort and care items they would not ordinarily receive. Randy has served on the Board of Directors since 2007, when the Foundation was formed. Mr. Sinnott also serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Magical Arts, the association of magicians housed at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, California.
Areas of Practice