Kathryn C. Ashton practices in the area of appellate law with an emphasis on complex civil litigation and insurance coverage disputes. Ms. Ashton has worked on over 30 appellate matters, including appeals, writ proceedings, petitions for review and rehearing, amicus curiae briefs, and requests for publication and depublication of appellate opinions. She also handles appeals on a variety of issues in both state and federal courts of appeal.

In addition to her appellate experience, Ms. Ashton is active in litigating complex insurance coverage disputes and in providing coverage advice to clients on a variety of matters including construction defect, pollution and asbestos claims. Ms. Ashton advises on all phases of litigation with emphasis on preserving issues for appeal and post-trial briefing.

Ms. Ashton is a member of the Appellate Section of the Bar Associations of San Francisco and Santa Clara and is a contributor to an upcoming ABA practice guide on civil appeals. She is a 1997 graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, where she was a technical editor for the Santa Clara Law Review and served as an extern to the Honorable Edward A. Infante of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and a graduate of the University of California, Davis.

Representative Matters

CreAgri, Inc. v. USANA Corp. (9th Cir. 2006, published opinion involving trademark infringement claims)
GAIC v. Assurance, et al. (Wa. Ct. App. 2008 published decision involving equitable allocation resulting in million dollar credit to client)
R.L. Schafer v. Certain Underwriters (5th Dist, 2006 unpublished decision affirming summary judgment in clients' favor on professional liability policy)
Geyser Products, et al. v. American Nat. Ins. Co. (10th Cir. 2005, unpublished opinion affirming dismissal of $28M judgment creditor action against client on summary judgment)
Starpoint v. Daewoo Motor Co. (2nd Dist. Cal 2007, unpublished opinion reversing demurrer against client in breach of contract action)
Transdyn/Crecsi Joint Venture v. Washington Int'l (1st Dist. Cal 2007, unpublished decision reversing attorney's fee award against client in a surety bond matter)
Great American Ins. Co. v. Fidelity & Guaranty Ins. Co. (1st Dist. Cal. 2007, unpublished decision reversing summary judgment against client's million dollar subrogation action)
JPI Westcoast Construction Co. v. RJS Assoc. et al. (1st Dist. Cal. 2007, published decision affirming summary judgment in favor of client on equitable subrogation)
Donaldson, et al. v. City of Long Beach (2nd Dist. Cal. 2005, unpublished decision affirming summary judgment in favor of client in class action involving energy rate hikes)
Rosen v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co. (Cal. Supreme Court, 2003 published opinion confirming courts may not rewrite policy language based on perceived public policy (amicus curiae))
Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. MV Transportation (Cal. Supreme Court, 2005 published opinion involving insurer's right to recover defense costs where the insurer reserved rights and the underlying suit did not raise a potential for coverage (amicus curiae))
Catholic Mutual Relief Society v. Superior Court (Cal. Supreme Court, 2007 published opinion rejecting right of plaintiffs to discover reinsurance information (amicus curiae))

Professional Activities

Bar Association of San Francisco
- Appellate Section
Santa Clara County Bar Association
Queen's Bench

Admissions

California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Central, Southern and Northern Districts of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education

Santa Clara University School of Law, J.D., 1997

Santa Clara Law Review

University of California, Davis, B.A., 1993

Experience

Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2006-present
Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft LLP
- Partner, 2005
- Associate, 2000-2004
Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley LLP
- Associate, 1999-2000
Ernst & Young LLP
- Corporate Tax Consultant, 1997-1999