San Francisco Office > Members >Kenneth H. Sumner

Kenneth H. Sumner 555 Montgomery, Suite 720 San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 352-6210 Fax: (415) 352-6224 Email:KSumner@spcclaw.com

Attorney Biography

Kenneth H. Sumner practices in the San Francisco office, primarily in complex coverage litigation involving environmental and toxic tort claims.  He has also represented insurers in resolving constructive defect claims.  Mr. Sumner has directly defended a number of professionals against claims of negligence in their capacity as insurance brokers, attorneys and financial advisors.  In pursuit of an efficient and low cost resolution to these matters, he has negotiated a number of high value settlements between his insurer clients and their institutional policyholders.  These claims most typically involve multi-million dollar liabilities.  Where settlement has not been possible, Mr. Sumner has successfully represented insurers in bench trials and, were necessary, in California and Colorado appellate courts.  As part of the firm's attempt to help its clients maintain transactional cost control, Mr. Sumner also provides claim counseling for high profile matters in an effort to resolve disputes without formal litigation.

Representative insurance coverage cases at the trial court level include: Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation v. London Market Insurers, et al. (insurance coverage for asbestos liability); Louisiana Pacific Corporation v. Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (multi-site environmental coverage action involving wood processing and manufacturing); Truck Insurance Exchange v. Unocal (multi-site environmental coverage action involving oil and gas extraction and processing); Aetna Cas. & Surety Co. v. First Nationwide Bank (coverage action involving construction defect and toxic tort claims for large scale residential development); and Employers Mutual of Wausau v. J.H. Baxter & Company (related lawsuits in Washington, Oregon and California relating to wood treatment operations).

Mr. Sumner graduated in 1990 from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a degree in Geology.  He received its Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1995.  He is admitted in all the courts for the State of California, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of California and the District of Colorado.  Mr. Sumner is also admitted to practice before the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal.