Curtis Cole has appeared before trial and appellate courts throughout California for fifty years. His legal experience includes two hundred seventy decisions from state and federal appeals or writ proceedings and one hundred civil and criminal jury trials, court trials, arbitration hearings, and administrative proceedings before California regulatory agencies. For twenty-five years, Curtis was Certified as an Appellate Specialist by the State Bar Board of Specialization. He is acknowledged by his peers, including by way of the familiar “A.V.” and “Super Lawyer” ratings.
In the California Supreme Court, Curtis has filed petitions for review, briefs on the merits, and/or argued for the prevailing parties in many of that court’s leading opinions, including Madden v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (where the issue was arbitration), Fein v. Permanente Medical Group (tort reform), Adams v. Murakami (punitive damages for intentional acts), Hendy v. Losse (exclusive remedy doctrine), Guz v. Bechtel (wrongful termination of employment), Bird v. Saenz (negligent infliction of emotional distress), Ruiz v. Podolsky (arbitration). He also has filed many amicus curiae briefs for professional associations or insurers in cases pending before that court, including Huggins v. Longs Drug Stores (negligent infliction of emotional distress), Western Steamship v. San Pedro Peninsula Hospital (equitable indemnification and tort reform), College Hospital v. Superior Court (punitive damages for intentional acts), Lisa M. v. Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (employer vicarious liability for intentional acts), Artiglio v. Corning, Inc. (civil liability arising from scientific research), Barris v. County of Los Angeles (civil liability for EMTALA violation), Viner v. Sweet (causation), Covenant Care v. Superior Court (elder abuse), Howell v. Hamilton Metas & Provisions, Inc. (economic damages), and Sargon v. USC (expert witnesses).
In the California Courts of Appeal, Curtis also has achieved many important published decisions, including recent decisions in cases where he represented the prevailing parties and where he represented amici curiae. Curtis has almost a hundred published decisions and more than a hundred unpublished appellate decisions to his credit.
Curtis appears in the United States District Courts and Courts of Appeals, as well.
In addition to appellate litigation, Curtis has represented and/or advised clients in regard to coverage, claims, contract, and general commercial litigation. He has tried to jury verdict or arbitration award cases involving a variety of issues, including breach of contract, insurance coverage, “bad faith” denial of contractual benefits, fraud, violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200, professional negligence, wrongful termination of employment, and wrongful dissolution of partnership. In regulatory proceedings, Curtis has represented health care providers before the California Medical Board and in hospital staff privilege hearings. He has represented a large, national property and casualty insurance group in various matters before the California Department of Insurance.
Curtis also has served as a mediator, both in private mediations and in the appellate settlement program of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District.
Curtis is a partner at Cole Pedroza LLP. He received his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied economics as an undergraduate and then continued his studies at the School of Law. He became a partner of Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, which firm subsequently merged with another and became known as Thelen, Reid & Priest LLP.
Among his many professional activities, Curtis served as the founding Chair of the Insurance Law Committee of the California State Bar Business Law Section. He has frequently lectured and occasionally published on substantive and procedural topics of interest not only to lawyers, but also to individuals in the health care and insurance industries