Dawn Valentine

Special Counsel | San Francisco , United States
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Education

  • University of California at Berkeley, JD, 1999
  • Boston University, BA, 1994

Dawn Valentine is special counsel in the San Francisco office with over 25 years of experience representing a broad range of clients in commercial and bad faith litigation. She regularly handles clients in complex commercial disputes involving breach of contract, false advertising, fraud, ERISA class actions, False Claims Act violations, copyright and trademark violations, and unfair business practices. 

Dawn provides insurance companies with coverage advice and represents insurers in bad faith litigation, with extensive knowledge of occurrence-based commercial general liability, claims-made errors and omissions, employment practices, and directors and officers professional liability policies.

An experienced litigator, Dawn has a proven record of achieving practical and early resolutions to disputes through targeted discovery, motion practice and informed negotiation. She takes pride in finding creative solutions to challenging disputes. Her deeply collaborative approach to litigation has made her a valued advocate for a wide range of commercial clients from insurers and universities to multinational corporations, nonprofits and small businesses.

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Qualifications and admissions

  • California
  • US District Court for the Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of California
  • US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Market recognition

  • Recent summary judgment motion granted on behalf of insurer client in the Central District in a case involving novel interpretations of California’s Insurance Code.
  • History of negotiating dismissals of client for little or no contribution from client without motion practice.
  • Established history of achieving summary judgment in favor of insured clients defending against bad faith and breach of contract claims in both federal and state court.
  • Advised and guided client on D&O and CGL coverage available to them both as an insured and an additional insured in connection with nationwide products liability cases alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
  • Successfully opposed motions to compel reserve and reinsurance information in California State Court.
  • Advised and guided client in settlement negotiations and mediation of clergy sex-abuse allegations.
  • Negotiated $17 million settlement on behalf of major University on a breach of contract action against a major oil and gas supplier.
  • Settled and secured hard fought good faith settlement that extricated film studio client from protracted litigation.
  • Secured summary judgment and Rule 11 sanctions against plaintiff on behalf of client.
  • Effectively opposed numerous interlocutory appeals—and achieved sanctions—on behalf of the healthcare services client.

Report decisions

  • Mbadike-Obiora v. Cent. E. Bay Ipa Med. Group, 2025 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 4000 (June 26, 2025)
  • Weyerhaeuser Co. v. AIG Prop. Cas., Inc., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 236683 (C.D. December 28, 2023)
  • Weyerhaeuser Co. v. AIG Prop. Cas., Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184403 (C.D. August 1, 2022)
  • Am. Bankers Ins. Co. v. Nat'l Fire Ins. Co., 517 F. Supp. 3d 1025 (N.D. Cal. 2021)
  • In re Am. Bankers Ins. Co. of Fla., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148093 (N.D. Cal. August 17, 2020)
  • Am. Bankers Ins. Co. v. Nat'l Fire Ins. Co., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 252526 (N.D. Cal. July 13, 2020)
  • Pushpay IP, Ltd. v. Doe, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49680 (N.D. Cal. March 25, 2019)
  • St Andrews Links Ltd. v. Gilfin Int'l Ltd., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151645 (N.D. Cal. September 5, 2019)
  • Superior Consulting Servs. v. Steeves-Kiss, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80261 (N.D. Cal. May 11, 2018)
  • Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 645 Fed. Appx. 569 (9th Cir. March 15, 2016)
  • Upadhyay v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5982 (N.D. Cal. January 16, 2014)
  • Frias v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149648 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 21, 2014)
  • ABM Indus. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67884 (N.D. Cal. September 11, 2006)

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