Walter J. Lipsman

    Partner
    Los Angeles
    Direct: 213.417.5134
    Main: 213.891.9100

    Practice Focus:

    Mr. Lipsman’s practice focuses on environmental litigation and regulation and insurance coverage counseling and litigation. He has been national counsel to the environmental group of a major commercial insurer and outside litigation counsel to a national architectural and engineering firm. In his environmental practice he has represented clients in cases involving toxic torts, soil and groundwater contamination and other environmental matters dealing with state and federal Superfund liability and Proposition 65 issues. He has counseled clients in regulatory proceedings before the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards.

    Mr. Lipsman’s insurance practice has included litigation and coverage advice dealing with some of the largest Superfund sites nationwide. He has litigated dozens of these cases. They have included a case involving 63 contaminated sites, as well as cases dealing with oil refinery, manufacturing facilities and service stations. He has been retained by clients on hundreds of occasions to provide advice concerning claims handling practices for environmental matters and opinions about coverage.

    He has lectured to clients, industry groups and national trade organizations on environmental and insurance matters. For a number of years, Mr. Lipsman acted as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

    Education

    • Loyola Law School, 1977, cum laude
    • University of California, Los Angeles, 1974, cum laude

    Court Admissions

    • United States Supreme Court
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    • United States District Court for the Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California

    Bar Admissions

    • California, 1977

    Professional Memberships and Activities

    • American Bar Association (Section of Environment, Energy and Resources)
    • Los Angeles County Bar Association (Environmental Law Section)
    • Defense Research Institute

    Distinctions

    • 2010 Southern California Super Lawyer
    • 2009 Southern California Super Lawyer
    • 2008 Southern California Super Lawyer
    • 2007 Southern California Super Lawyer
    • 2005 Southern California Super Lawyer
    • 2004 Southern California Super Lawyer

    Speeches and Publications

    • Speaker - "Climate Change Litigation in the US: Theories of Liability and Insurance Issues" (Lloyd's of London, April 2008)
    • Mealey’s Pollution Liability Report, "Carson Harbor – Beneath Its Plain Meaning" (November 2000)
    • Speaker – Mealey’s California Emerging Toxic Torts Conference
    • Speaker – Environmental Risk Resources Association, Inc. – Environmental Insurance Forum (Illinois and New Jersey)
    • Speaker – CNA Insurance Companies; Mold & Insurance Overview
    • Speaker – Los Angeles County Bar Association (Environmental Law Section) Prior Owner Liability under CERCLA
    • Speaker – Los Angeles County Bar Association – Avoiding and Resolving Construction Claims
    • Speaker – CNA Insurance Companies – Duty to Defend in California