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Blane
A. Smith - Senior Partner
Mr. Smith began the practice of law
in 1980 and has devoted his career to the specialty of insurance
law. His work includes consultation and litigation related to
the duties of insurers to their insureds and bad faith claims.
After eight years as a partner in the firm of Thompson Heller,
he became a partner in Farmer Murphy Smith & Alliston in
1996 and founded Farmer Smith & Lane, LLP along with Craig
Farmer and David Lane in 2007. |
Mr. Smith’s insurance practice includes high-profile
cases and legal matters with significant exposure for insurance issues
in these areas:
• Civil Rights
• Construction Site Injury
• Wrongful
Death
• Construction Defect
• Sexual Assault and Harassment
• Major
Automobile Injury
• Life Insurance and Disability
• General
Civil Litigation
• Bad Faith
Skilled Litigator
Mr. Smith has conducted litigation in State and Federal Courts throughout
California at the trial and appellate level and has served as counsel
of record in significant published appellate opinions concerning insurance
law issues. He is frequently retained in an advisory capacity concerning
insurance coverage and claims handling and has served as a consultant
and expert witness in these fields.
General Civil Litigation
Lawyers at Farmer Smith Law Group
LLP have experience from litigating a wide variety of liability, property
and contract disputes involving both commercial/business and individual/personal
circumstances of the firm’s clients. The firm provides guidance regarding
costs of litigation to assist our clients in planning and decision-making
to handle their legal disputes on a budgeted basis. Its principal attorneys
have counseled and represented clients in disputes involving construction
defect issues, real estate misrepresentation contentions, professional
and business commercial contracts as well as tort claims, bodily injury
and property damage involving motor vehicle use, homeowners and renters
activities, residential property management and ownership issues including
pollution, indoor air quality complaints and landlord-tenant disputes,
among others.
Educator
Mr. Smith has presented over thirty seminars since 1995 for attorneys and insurance
professionals and participated in training for major corporations, and he
has written extensively on these topics:
• Bad Faith
• Claims Handling
• Policy
Interpretation
• Uninsured Motorist Claims
• Insurance Coverage
Analysis
• Insurance Litigation
Mr. Smith has been a featured speaker for California’s
Continuing Education of the Bar program and a panelist on the Northern
California Association of Defense Counsel. He presently serves on the Continuing
Education of the Bar Advisory Panel for Real Estate Law. He has authored
periodic reviews of case developments in insurance law since 1984. While
attending law school, he was an associate comment editor for the Pacific
Law Journal. He is the author of “The California Legislature Steers
the Antitrust Cart Right Off the Illinois Brick Road”.
Associations, Training, Background
Mr. Smith has presented over thirty seminars since 1995 for attorneys and insurance
professionals and participated in training for major corporations.
Education
Mr. Smith received a Bachelor’s in History and a Bachelor’s in Speech
Education from Western Washington University in 1977. He received his Juris Doctor
from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1980.
Court Admissions
Admitted to the California & Federal Bars, 1980 Mr. Smith has been admitted
to practice before the United States District Courts of the Eastern, Northern
and Central Districts of California.
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