J. Robert Renner
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Suite 3100
865 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017-5450
USA

Phone: +1 213 689 7469
Fax: +1 213 403 6561
Email: RRenner@duanemorris.com

J. Robert Renner practices in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance coverage litigation and intellectual property litigation, representing insurers, business enterprises and clients in the entertainment industry. A member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Mr. Renner is admitted to practice in all California state courts, as well as before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of California. He has participated in arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, the Independent Film & Television Alliance and other institutions.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Renner served as a Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice.

Mr. Renner is a 1990 graduate of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, where he was a member of the California Law Review, and a magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Coverage Litigation
• Intellectual Property

Representative Matters

• Currently representing the London insurance market in a declaratory relief action filed against BP America Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co. concerning the scope of a policy buyback agreement. The trial court entered judgment in 2011 in favor of our clients on all claims following a court trial, and I recently completed the respondents’ brief on appeal.
• Represented certain insurers in negotiations to resolve liabilities associated with a manufactured gas plant operated by the insured.
• Lead attorney for a magazine publisher in the defense of injunction proceedings initiated by former executives intended to block a sale of the company's assets. Defeated multiple attempts to obtain a writ of attachment or preliminary injunction.
• Lead attorney for a transportation broker in obtaining an order vacating a $750,000 federal court default judgment on the basis of defects in service of process.
• Represented an insurance broker in the defense of an action alleging malpractice and overbilling.
• Represented the London insurance market in the defense of a declaratory relief and bad-faith action initiated by the San Diego Unified Port District concerning an assignment of policies from the Port District to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
• Lead attorney in the defense of a national clothing retailer against two federal court actions alleging copyright infringement in connection with fabric patterns on women's garments.
• Lead attorney in an action to enforce a $1.9 million Louisiana judgment against a motion picture production company in California.
• Lead attorney for a real estate investment firm in an action arising out of a contract to purchase a sand and gravel mine in Ventura County, California.
• Represented Lloyd's underwriters in the deposition phase of a complex international insurance coverage action venued in New Jersey.
• Represented the owner of the rights to a motion picture library (more than 40 titles, including Terminator 2, Rambo: First Blood and Basic Instinct) in state-court litigation against a domestic video distributor in a dispute over irregularities in participation accounting. The case settled on the eve of trial on terms the client found very favorable.
• Obtained the dismissal of a $15 million-dollar action brought by the City of Bakersfield against a major hotel operator.
• Lead attorney for the copyright owner in an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association over the renewal term of the international distribution rights to a major motion picture.
• Lead attorney in an action against a national restaurant chain for breach of a three-year supply contract.
• As a California deputy attorney general, briefed and argued the case of People v. Colantuono, 7 Cal. 4th 206 (1994), before the California Supreme Court, as well as more than 100 other appellate cases, including People v. Jenkins, 35 Cal. App. 4th 669 (1995), People v. Dimitrov, 33 Cal. App. 4th 18 (1995), and People v. Covarrubias, 18 Cal. App. 4th 639 (1993).

Professional Activities

• California State Bar
• Los Angeles County Bar Association

Admissions

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

Education

• University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1990
  - Member and Associate Editor, California Law Review
• Dartmouth College, A.B., magna cum laude, 1986

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Partner, 2008-present
  - Associate, 2005-2007
• Coudert Brothers LLP
  - Senior Attorney, 2003-2005
  - Associate, 1995-2003
• California Department of Justice
  - Deputy Attorney General, 1991-1995
• Hon. Oliver W. Wanger, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  - Law Clerk, 1991

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Trustee of The Renner Foundation
• Volunteer attorney for Bet Tzedek Legal Services

Honors and Awards

• Recipient of Bet Tzedek Legal Services "Pro Bono Service Award" in 2000

Selected Publications

• "Recent Supreme Court Decision Will Not End Climate Change Tort Litigation," PropertyCasualty360.com, June 30, 2011, and National Underwriter Property & Casualty, August 1, 2011
• "Coverage for Climate Change Claims, An Uphill Fight," Daily Journal, April 11, 2011
• "Will Global Warming Tort Claims Increase Coverage Litigation?" Daily Journal, August 23, 2010
• "Liability of Website Operators for Defamatory Postings by Third Parties," Global eCommerce Law and Business Report, February 2000