William Shernoff
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{BLP primary sources |date= August 2023|reason= most sources are to self or are paid advertising or were targeted advertising magazines, see WP:RSN on Attorney at Law magazine and see about on Beverly Hills magazine}}
{{Infobox person
| name = William M. Shernoff
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| birth_date = c. 1955
| birth_place = Wisconsin, U.S.
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| occupation = Lawyer
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| spouse = Jilda Shernoff
| children = 1 daughter
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William M. Shernoff (born c.1949) is an American trial lawyer based in Claremont, California/Beverly Hills, USA. He practices a branch of law known as "insurance bad faith", in which he investigates the alleged bad faith and misconduct of insurance companies.{{unreliable source?|date=August 2023}} {{cite web|url=http://www.beverlyhillstimesmagazine.com/2009/12/09/attorney-william-shernoff/|title=Attorney William Shernoff|publisher=Beverley Hills Time Magazine|date=December 9, 2009|access-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801234400/http://www.beverlyhillstimesmagazine.com/2009/12/09/attorney-william-shernoff/ |archive-date= 2010-08-01 |url-status= dead}} began in 1971 with his first insurance case. He then founded the firm of Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP, in 2004.{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/brandpublishing/businessplus/topratedlawyers/la-ss-shernoff-bidart-echeverria-bentley-llp-20131112-dto-story.html|title=Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP – Paid Post|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-08-30 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140731092428/https://www.latimes.com/brandpublishing/businessplus/topratedlawyers/la-ss-shernoff-bidart-echeverria-bentley-llp-20131112-dto-story.html |archive-date= 2014-07-31 |url-status= dead}}
Shernoff is the author and co-author of several books on law, including Bad Faith (1984), Payment Refused (1986), How to Make Insurance Companies Pay Your Claims and What to Do If They Don't (1990) and Fight Back & Win (1999). He has served on the board of directors of the national insurance consumer organization, United Policyholders.{{cite web|url=http://www.unitedpolicyholders.org/board.html|title=Our Board of Directors|publisher=United Policyholders|access-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141005024832/http://unitedpolicyholders.org/about/board |archive-date= 2014-10-05 |url-status= dead}}
Early life
William M. Shernoff was born circa 1949 in Wisconsin. His father was a lawyer.
Career
{{citation needed span|In 1979, Shernoff won a landmark case amounting to $86 million for the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas when the insurance company failed to meet its obligations after the fire which devastated the hotel.|date=August 2023}}
Cyclone Val was a tropical cyclone that devastated American Samoa in December 1991. In 1991, American Samoa had purchased a $45-million "all risk" insurance policy from the firm Affiliated FM Insurance. The firm would only pay $6.1 million for the damages, arguing that the insurance did not cover water damage, only that driven by the wind.{{primary source inline|date=August 2023}} {{Cite web|url=http://shernoff.com/resources/representing-american-samoa/|title=Representing American Samoa {{!}} Bad Faith Insurance Lawyers {{!}} Attorneys Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP|website=shernoff.com|date=6 August 2013 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-30}} Shernoff stated that the insurance company had altered American Samoa's insurance policy to exclude damages caused by "wind-driven water", despite it still covering hurricanes. In 1995 a jury awarded the American Samoa Government $28.9 million, and then added twice that amount ($57.8 million) for punitive damages. The total award in the final judgment was $86.7 million,{{unreliable source?|date=August 2023}}{{dead link|date=August 2023}}[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/JURY+AWARDS+$86.7+MILLION+TO+AMERICAN+SAMOA+GOVERNMENT+FOR+BREACH+OF...-a017476611 Jury Awards $86.7 Million to American Samoa Government for Breach of Hurricane Insurance Policy], September 26, 1995 which was stated to be the largest insurance bad faith judgment in the state of California, in 1995.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}
Shernoff also won cases against Generali insurance on behalf of Holocaust victims, which paved the way for a five billion dollar settlement for Holocaust victim restitution in 2002.{{primary source inline|date=August 2023}}{{Cite web|url=http://shernoff.com/resources/holocaust-era-insurance/|title=Holocaust-era Insurance {{!}} Bad Faith Insurance Lawyers {{!}} Attorneys Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP|website=shernoff.com|date=26 February 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-30}}{{Cite book|title=Payment Refused|last=Shernoff|first=William|publisher=William & Sons|year=2004|isbn=0-9632891-5-2|location=Palm Desert, CA|pages=129–136}}
Shernoff has ranked on The Best Lawyers in America, every year since its first edition in 1983.
Personal life
Shernoff married Jilda Shernoff in Beverly Hills, California.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://shernoff.com/ Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP]
- [http://shernoff.com/attorneys/william-m-shernoff/ William's Staff Profile]
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Category:20th-century people from Wisconsin