Maura Walsh Ochoa

Ochoa, managing partner at Grotefeld Hoffmann’s San Francisco office, is often the only female litigator in a courtroom full of men. She’s not deterred by that. In fact, she’s in leadership positions out of hundreds of law firms representing thousands of claimants in some of the most high profile lawsuits targeting utilities.

She has experience representing individual property owners and policyholders devastated by wildfires, but currently her clientele includes well-known insurance companies.

Name all of the litigation stemming from recent major wildfires caused by privately-owned utilities, and Ochoa has served in a co-leadership position for subrogation plaintiffs. From the 2007 trio of wildfires in San Diego caused by San Diego Gas & Electric Co., the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, the 2015 Tubbs Fire, 2017 North Bay fires, Thomas and Woolsey wildfires and the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Butte started by Pacific Gas & Electric Co., she’s always been behind the scenes, working with her counterparts to secure quick resolutions for insurance carriers. Walsh-Ochoa has also helped secure landmark settlements for insurance companies with utilities in the recent months, including the Thomas Fire, where Southern California Edison Co. settled with insurers for $1.16 billion. For the Northern California wildfires, PG&E agreed to pay $11 billion to insurers.

“There’s been a lot happening in the last several years,” Ochoa said. “This state has been burning for years. California definitely seems to be the busiest wildfire state. But I like to think we’re doing some good for policyholders around the world by recovering from the actual tortfeasors. In a way you’re helping people rebuild.”

As high profile as some of her accomplishments have been in the last decade, fighting against corporate utilities, Ochoa tends to shy away from the limelight.

“I’m surrounded by men at my work and surrounded by men at home,” she joked. “I have three boys and no daughters. I always make jokes to my male counterparts because a lot of the time, I’m the only female attorney in the room especially on the subrogation side. I really don’t know why that is, because more than half the people in law school are women, but I hope that changes very soon. I expect it to.”

— Gina Kim