Howard Garfield is a partner in the San Francisco office of Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP. Prior to joining the firm in April of 2011, he was a partner with Long & Levit LLP where he served as the firm’s managing partner from 1983 through 1991 and from 1995 through 2000.

Howard Garfield maintains an active litigation practice that emphasizes the defense of employers and businesses in employment litigation, commercial and securities litigation, employment counseling, the defense of professionals, including accountants, lawyers, officers and directors, securities and commodities brokers, investment advisers, and insurance brokers, the representation of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance carriers, insurance coverage, with particular emphasis on professional errors and omissions, employment practices liability insurance, liability insurance and inter-insurance company disputes, reinsurance and other commercial and business disputes.

He has acted as both mediator and arbitrator and is a member of the panel of Resolution Remedies, an ADR provider in Northern California, and the National Arbitration Forum. Howard has served as counsel, as a party-appointed arbitrator, and as an umpire in reinsurance and insurance arbitrations, and he has testified extensively as an expert at trial and in depositions on insurance and law practice management issues, and the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees in both state and federal courts. He also provides the annual training mandated by the California Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations.

Publications:

Howard Garfield’s most recent publications include:
Co-author: “The Uncertainty Continues: Allocation in Progressive Loss Cases,” Legal Ledger, Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall 1996
Co-author: “Current ‘Hot’ Topics in Advertising Liability Coverage,” Legal Ledger, Vol. 7, No. 3, Fall 1996.
“Non-Settling Insured’s Liability for Judgments Which Invade The Excess Layer – A Review of the Law and Recommendations to Reduce Exposure,” Declarations, Summer 1996
“When Does A Consent Judgment Bind an Insurer in California?,” California Insurance Reporter, March 1996
Co-Author: “Abracadabra – How A Reinsurer’s Equitable Defenses May Disappear In TheCedent’s Liquidation,” Legal Ledger, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1996
Co-Author: “Accountant Malpractice As A Breach Of Contract,” Legal Ledger, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1996
Co-Author of chapter: “Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance: Does It Cover Preferential and Fraudulent Transfers?” Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Director & Officer Insurance, 1995
“Impact of the Corporation’s Bankruptcy on the Defense of D & O Claims,” PLI, 1994
Click here for a more complete list of Howard’s publications.