Brian Pelanda
Brian Pelanda handles cases involving insurance coverage disputes, business disputes, and real estate disputes.
He has extensive experience litigating cases in California’s state and federal courts.
Background and Education
Brian was born and raised in Maysville, Ohio, where he was the quarterback of his high school football team and spent summers lifeguarding at the city pool.
Brian graduated as valedictorian from Whittier Law School in 2011, where he served as an executive editor of the Whittier Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Honors Board.
Prior to attending law school, Brian graduated with a degree in history from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he was a captain of the track and field team and elected president of the student body. Brian also earned a master’s degree in American history from the University of Akron.
Honors/Awards
- Los Angeles Magazine named Brian a Southern California “Rising Star” every year from 2013 through 2022
- Ironman Triathlon All Word Athlete Status (Bronze Designation), 2021, 2022
- Valedictorian, Whittier Law School, 2011
- Charles B. Seton Award, Copyright Society of the U.S.A., 2011
- Boston Marathon Qualifier, 2008
Areas of Practice
- Insurance coverage and bad faith
- Liability insurance
- Property insurance
- Real estate disputes
- Business disputes
Bar Admissions
- California State Bar
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court Central District of California
- U.S. District Court Southern District of California
- U.S. District Court Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
Associations and Memberships
- Orange County Bar Association
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers
- Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce
- State Bar of California
- USA Triathlon
Representative Cases
- Rzepecki v. Nationwide Insurance Company of America, 836 Fed.Appx. 575 (9th Cir. 2021) (affirming trial court order granting insurance company’s motion to dismiss in case alleging that an exclusion in the plaintiff’s underinsured motorist insurance policy was unenforceable)
- Thompson, et al. v. Crestbrook Insurance Company, et al., Marin County Superior Court Case No. CIV 1904822 (2020) (summary judgment granted to insurance companies on claim that they improperly refused to defend and indemnify insureds for a $3.5+ million judgment obtained by the Sonoma Land Trust for violating a conservation easement)
- AMCO Insurance Company v. Morfe, 749 Fed.Appx. 531 (9th Cir. 2018) (affirming summary judgment in favor of insurance company in case alleging a bad faith failure to accept a $1 million policy-limit settlement demand)
- Valley of the Moon v. AMCO Insurance Company, Sonoma County Superior Court Case No. SCV-251594 (2017) (defense verdict in first-party insurance bad faith case seeking more than $30 million in damages stemming from an explosion at a gas station)
- LCY Partnership v. Chegini Family Limited Partnership, et al., private arbitration (ruling in favor of the defense and awarding the defendants $127,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs in a real estate dispute involving the purchase of an oceanfront rental property in Laguna Beach)
- Lopez v. AMCO Insurance Company, Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG12655606 (2015) (unanimous jury verdict in favor of defense in first-party insurance bad faith case arising from a house fire)
- Vardanyan v. AMCO Insurance Company, 243 Cal.App.4th 779 (2015) (affirming judgment in favor of insurance company as to plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages and reversing the judgment in favor of the insurance company on the breach of contract and bad faith claims for retrial on unique coverage issue)
Published Articles
- The Anti-Competitive Olympic Games, 54 Orange County Lawyer, No. 7, 32 (July 2012)
- Ambush Marketing: Dissecting the Discourse, 34 Hastings Communications & Entertainment Law Journal 341 (2012) (awarded 3rd Place in the 2011 Annual Essay Competition hosted by the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property)
- Extinguishing Freedom of Speech at the Olympics, Los Angeles Daily Journal 9 (March 5, 2012)
- What’s a “Bunker”?: The Curious Case of How Dustin Johnson Lost the 92nd PGA Championship and Why the PGA Must Revise the Now Infamous Local Rule at Whistling Straits, 22 Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal 67 (Fall/Winter 2011)
- Declarations of Cultural Independence: The Nationalistic Imperative Behind the Passage of Early American Copyright Laws, 1783-1787, 58 Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. 431 (2011) (recipient of the 2011 Charles B. Seton Award)
- Copyright’s “Traditional Contours” and “Bedrock Principals”: Golan’s Potential to Secure First Amendment Protection Over the Public Domain, 31 Whittier L. Rev. 547 (2010) (cited by Brief for Project Petrucci, LLC as Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioners, & Brief for Justice and Freedom Fund as Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioners in Golan v. Holder, 132 S. Ct. 873 (2012))