Andrea Gauthier joined
the firm in 1994, became a partner in 2001, and then
became of counsel to the firm in 2007. She
is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist
and is admitted to practice in California state
courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit,
and
the U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Gauthier was a Litigation
Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson, and earlier
held a judicial clerkship with the Hon. A. Wallace Tashima,
U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
Ms. Gauthier has handled numerous appeals in a wide
variety of practice areas, including insurance bad faith
and products liability. In addition to the many cases
she has briefed in the intermediate appellate courts,
she has argued before the California Supreme Court.
She has filed briefs in the Supreme Court leading to
opinions confirming federal preemption of state tort
theories (Carrillo v. ACF Industries, Inc. (1999)
20 Cal.4th 1158); overturning a $28 million punitive
verdict against a surety (Cates Construction, Inc.
v. Talbot Partners (1999) 21 Cal.4th 28); limiting
landowner liability for third party intentional torts
(Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400 (2001) 25 Cal.4th
763); and reaffirming the validity of liability policy
exclusions for criminal acts while rejecting as ambiguous
an exclusion for illegal acts (Safeco Ins. Co. v.
Robert S. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 758).
Ms. Gauthier received her A.B. from Harvard College
and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
