The intersection between insurance law and entertainment law is niche enough that another day at the office for Pasich could sometimes result in shaping the course of law.
Currently, he's wrangling with "The Cosby Effect," the idea that insurance companies will stifle or stop insuring entertainers and athletes because of the tremendous cost associated with providing insurance to the legally beleaguered Bill Cosby.
Pasich represents Cosby in three lawsuits brought across the country by Cosby's homeowner insurance provider, American International Group Inc., better known as AIG.
AIG has argued that Cosby's homeowner insurance, which provides coverage for lawsuits for things like defamation or libel, includes an "improper sexual conduct" clause that should disqualify Cosby from receiving coverage. AIG Property Casualty Company v. Cosby, 15cv4842 (C.D. Cal., Dec. July 15, 2016).
But the lawsuits aren't about sexual misconduct, Pasich said, so coverage should apply. The lawsuits currently filed against Cosby were filed for defamation, with the women involved claiming that Cosby's various representatives had defamed them by publicly denying the validity of their claims. A Los Angeles judge sided with Pasich in November, and the other two cases in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are currently awaiting responses to motions for summary judgment.
Pasich estimates that more than half of his clients are entertainers, including actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson and musician Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.
"It's kind of everything — claims involving paparazzi, where they may knock a camera out of their hands and get sued for assault and battery, or if someone steals their property," Pasich said. "Every kind of claim imaginable, we end up fighting insurance companies for coverage."
Outside the entertainment world, Pasich is currently representing the Southern California Gas Company and Sempra Energy in pursuing insurance recoveries for claims related to natural gas such as Porter Ranch. The lawsuit, which Pasich estimates could ultimately involve over $1 billion in claims, is the type of high stakes "bet-the-company" litigation he's best known for.
"We're never retained for the easy things," Pasich said. "Anytime we get involved, there's some significant fight either on a matter of principle or a matter of dollars."
— Steven Crighton
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