Insurance
Stacy L. La Scala, Esq. has extensive experience handling insurance-related disputes as a full-time neutral and previously as coverage counsel. He has mediated a wide range of matters, including coverage disputes among carriers, bad faith, subrogation, contribution, and allocation actions—among others.
Mr. La Scala previously served as a regional director and national litigation director for a large property casualty carrier. In private practice, he represented individuals, policyholders, and businesses in insurance matters. His litigation experience provides him with an in-depth working knowledge of the insurance industry and its nuances and complexities. He is well versed in the issues important to all sides of a dispute, having served as plaintiffs’, defense, and in-house counsel.
Mr. La Scala also authors the insurance tort sections for Thompson Reuters California Civil Practice.
Representative Matters
- Bad faith action for denial of duty to defend and duty to indemnify based upon unsatisfied self-insured retention. Action arose out of construction defect dispute that included Brandt fee and punitive damage claims.
- Bad faith claim against non-admitted carrier on modified insuring agreement language and duty to defend
- Bad faith claims against insurer for failure to defend based upon ongoing operations versus completed operations endorsement
- Contribution, subrogation, and declaratory relief action involving defense fee and indemnity claims among numerous commercial general liability (CGL) primary and additional insured carriers
- First-party bad faith claim by insured involving denial of coverage arising from property fire loss and improper valuation
- California Insurance Code §11580 action by assignee to insured’s claims arising from breach of duty to defend and stipulated judgment
- Intervention action by carrier against subcontractors for subrogation and indemnity in and arising from underlying 202 single-family home tract construction defect action
- Subrogation action involving multi-million-dollar indemnity claims among primary and excess carriers, including evidence and timing of exhaustion of policies
- Subrogation, contribution, and Buss action by national insurance carrier against its insured, co-carriers, and subcontractors for re-allocation of defense fees and costs
