hen Cooper, White & Cooper said it wasn't interested in
using its insurance practice to lure more high-tech clients, three
partners and an of counsel hit the road -- Interstate 680 to be
exact.
Earlier this month, the four Walnut Creek-based lawyers took a
book of business they estimate at $3 million and joined forces with
San Ramon's Smith, Lally & Peffer. There, they hope to stake a
claim in what they see as an emerging practice area, advising and
representing insurers - as well as companies -- in high-tech
coverage disputes.
Former Cooper, White rainmaker James Greenan, who defected along
with partners Robert Sallander Jr., David Ostrander and of counsel
John Makin, says they have found a potentially lucrative niche in
insurance, a specialty that has suffered as insurance companies have
reined in billing rates on defense work. Also, more attorneys are
competing for lower-end insurance coverage work.
In the words of Greenan, the move into tech coverage will allow
them "a back door into technology" clients.
"You have to learn the products and the [technology] issues,"
Greenan said. "It is an excellent way to build a practice."
With high-tech coverage, insurance companies offer policies
designed to deal with technology-related matters, such as Web sites
or intellectual property. And lawyers who represent insurance
companies say it could potentially be a more lucrative practice than
much traditional insurance coverage work.
"In a sense, this is a growing area," said Michael Donovan, the
partner who heads Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft's technology group.
"Many insurers have developed groups to deal with these types of
risks."
Even companies that don't have a high-tech bent now need
insurance that traditionally was used by media and intellectual
property companies because they have content posted on an Internet
site, he explained.
"They have new types of risk of exposure that they didn't have
before," Donovan said.
When Donovan, an experienced litigator and insurance specialist,
began working on high-tech insurance policies two years ago, he said
"I got blank stares from people."
Now, conventions are devoted to the subject, said Donovan. There
was a convention in Wayne, Pa., in early February, and a Defense
Research Institute convention is scheduled for March that will cover
similar topics, he said.
Not everyone, of course, is jumping on the bandwagon. Cooper,
White's top partners, for example, said the firm is willing to let
the trend pass -- especially given the volatility of the technology
economy.
"We are interested in maintaining a balance, not following a
trend that may go up or down," said managing partner Mark Schreiber.
Schreiber also downplayed the defection of the attorneys, saying
the decision to depart was mutual. Greenan's interest in advising
insurance companies in high-tech matters created conflicts of
interest with the firm's home building and telecommunication
practice. Cooper, White would have been representing the insurance
companies in some matters and the policyholders in others, Schreiber
said.
Schreiber noted that 58-attorney Cooper, White does have a hold
in the technology market through its representation of
telecommunication companies such as GTE California and media firms
such as KTVU.
He also tried to put to rest reports that with the departures,
Cooper, White would shut down its Walnut Creek office, which
currently is staffed by 13 attorneys.
"We are still in business," he said, "and we are not closing our
East Bay presence for some time."
For his part, Greenan said he had nothing negative to say about
his former employer. However, he said he was unsure what the firm's
corporate direction is.
"I don't know what they are doing," said Greenan, who worked at
Cooper, White for 28 years.
The new firm they created, Greenan, Peffer, Sallander &
Lally, tacked Greenan and Sallander's names to its letterhead and
added high-tech insurance coverage litigation to its list of
services.
Smith, Lally focused on business and transactional law, including
securities, mergers, acquisitions and franchising law.
The departing attorneys say they took with them lucrative
clientele, including St. Paul Insurance and the Beasley Syndicate of
Lloyds of London. By setting up in San Ramon, the new 10-attorney
firm hopes to wield home-court advantage when it seeks clients among
the Silicon Valley businesses that have overflowed into the 580-680
corridor.
The attorneys also said the work is more challenging for them.
Sallander termed it "cutting edge," and San Francisco recruiter
Avis Caravello said technology offers a lucrative, high-end
alternative to "cookie cutter insurance coverage" such as real property
coverage. Greenan is a Caravello client.
And by offering services to old-economy companies as well as
technology start-ups, the lawyers may be able to weather the tech
sector's financial turbulence.
"It's not just a dot-com issue," Donovan said. "It's much bigger
than that."
