Resume

EXPERIENCED  •  PROFESSIONAL  •  RESULT-ORIENTED  •  FAIR  •  CONCILIATOR

Patrick M. Kelly is one of the pre-eminent trial lawyers, litigators, law firm leaders and professional association leaders in the country. He has vast experience in numerous substantive areas that he will bring to bear in efficiently, effectively and economically resolving matters as a mediator, arbitrator or referee. During his lengthy career, Mr. Kelly has tried, litigated, arbitrated, mediated and/or settled thousands of cases involving the following areas of law:

• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith
• Employment
• Personal Injury
• Product Liability
• Professional Liability
• Class Actions and Complex Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Premises Liability and Sports Litigation

From 1980 to 2019, Mr. Kelly served as Partner and Senior Counsel at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, an international litigation firm founded in insurance defense. His practice focused on advising and representing insurance carriers in coverage matters and defending individuals and companies in high-stakes professional liability and commercial cases. He also handled numerous insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, product liability, premises liability, employment litigation, ski resort liability and railroad liability matters. He has particular experience with class actions involving directors and officers (D&O) liability, product liability, employment and consumer fraud claims.

From 1980 through 2013, Mr. Kelly served as the firm’s Los Angeles Region Managing Partner, Western Region Managing Partner and Director of Litigation, and Member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He also served as General Counsel to Snow Summit Ski Corporation, an owner of several ski resorts in California.

Mr. Kelly is a frequent author, columnist and lecturer in numerous subjects including trial tactics, insurance coverage and bad faith, personal injury, and professional liability. He is an original co-author of Insurance Litigation, The Rutter Group California Practice Guide, a frequently cited insurance treatise in California, and continues to edit the Directors and Officers chapter of the publication.

• Shattuck-Price Outstanding Lawyer Award, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Southern California Lawyer of the Year (Arbitration), The Best Lawyers in America
• Griffin Bell Volunteer Achievement Award, Dispute Resolution Services
• Top 100 Lawyers in California, Daily Journal
• MetNews Person of the Year, Metropolitan News Enterprise
• Bench Bar Coalition Advocacy Award, Bench-Bar Coalition
• Diversity Award, State Bar Council on Access and Fairness
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Association of Ski Defense Attorneys
• Repeatedly recognized by Marquis Who’s Who in American Law, as a Super Lawyer, as a Best Lawyer, and as one of the the Irish Legal 100

• Mediating the Litigated Case (40 hours), Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution
• 40-Hour Mediation Training Program, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• J.D., Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California
• B.A., Pomona College, Claremont, California

Mr. Kelly’s reputation as a problem solver and community leader have been recognized by his peers on both sides of the litigation spectrum. He has been elected to numerous professional organizations and leadership positions, including:

• President of the State Bar of California
• President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
• Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers
• President of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)
• President of Dispute Resolution Services
• President of the Coalition for Justice
• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel

He also served multiple terms as a Los Angeles Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates and the Steering Committee of the Open Courts Coalition.

Mr. Kelly was elected or appointed to several positions working with the California Judiciary, including:

• Member of the California Judicial Council, the board chaired by the Chief Justice that oversees the California Judicial Branch, including all California courts
• Special Advisor to the Executive Committee and Commissioner for the Commission on the Future of the California Courts, which developed the recommendations guiding development of the courts
• President of the the Coalition for Justice, which supports the independence of the judiciary
• One of 11 members and Chair of the Rules Committee for the Commission on Judicial Performance, which administers judicial discipline in California state courts

In Federal Court, Mr. Kelly served two terms as a Lawyer Representative to the 9th Circuit and the Federal Magistrate Selection Committee.

In pursuing his service to the community, Mr. Kelly was a member of the Boards of Directors of numerous community service organizations, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. He was also appointed by the then-mayor as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

• California State Bar
• California Lawyers Association
• Los Angeles County Bar Association
• International Academy of Trial Lawyers
• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• Beverly Hills Bar Association
• Association of Ski Defense Attorneys
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
• Irish American Bar Association
• Cowboy Lawyers
• American Bar Association
• Professional Liability Underwriting Society
• Chancery Club of Los Angeles

Mr. Kelly’s background and accomplishments have been the subject of numerous profiles in legal publications. He is also a frequent author and columnist. To read the latest profile published by the Daily Journal, click here: “For Patrick Kelly, mediating cases will be a final act in a career filled with class acts”. For a full list of articles, please visit his website at www.PatKellyADR.com.