Hogan Lovells' Northern California team named runners up in Litigator of the Week for Farmers Insurance win

The team, led by Silicon Valley-based Litigation, Arbitration, and Employment partner Vanessa Wells, represented Farmers Insurance as the company intervened in a case bringing a challenge under California civil rights statutes to the use of marital status as a rating factor in auto insurance prices. 

Class actions against Farmers and four other leading auto insurers seeking statutory damages for every policy and renewal where the factor was used going back to 2019 were stayed pending the outcome of plaintiffs’ writ petition against the state Insurance Commissioner challenging the underlying regulation. After a two-day hearing in December, Alameda County Superior Judge Evelio Grillo last week held “insurers are permitted to present evidence to the [insurance department] that marital status regulations are based on economic business or other factors and to argue that marital status has ‘a substantial relationship to the risk of loss.’” 

The Hogan Lovells team also included counsels Jordan Teti (Los Angeles), Victoria Brown, and associate Christine Wang (both Silicon Valley). 

About Hogan Lovells’ Silicon Valley Office:

The firm has a targeted focus in Silicon Valley on practice areas to serve the Northern California market, including technology M&A and IP litigation. Together with our colleagues in San Francisco, who represent clients in technology transactions, commercial litigation, and strategic IP counseling, we collectively serve the entire Northern California region, representing some of the world’s largest and most innovative companies. Our lawyers are recognized leaders in M&A, technology transactions, and IP litigation.