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Richard Giller

Partner and Chair of the Insurance Recovery and Counseling Group
Overview

Richard Giller serves as head of the Insurance Recovery and Counseling practice group at Greenspoon Marder LLP. He concentrates his practice on recovering insurance benefits from insurance companies on behalf of his institutional and individual professional athlete clients. With over 37 years of experience, Mr. Giller develops litigation strategies for complex insurance and commercial disputes. He has represented policyholders all over the U.S. and has successfully secured hundreds of millions of dollars in defense costs, settlements, and indemnity payments on behalf of his clients.

Besides advising Fortune 500 clients, Mr. Giller is one of the most recognized sports insurance recovery attorneys in the country and is responsible for creating the athlete disability insurance recovery practice niche out of whole cloth. He represents collegiate and professional athletes, professional sports teams and leagues, and entertainers in securing payouts under various insurance products including permanent total disability (PTD), temporary total disability (TTD), loss-of-value (LOV), and critical injury (CII) insurance claims. His clients have included athletes such as NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas, MLB All-Star Walker Buehler, and NFL Super Bowl Champion Jay Ajayi, along with a host of others. Mr. Giller is also a thought leader in the area of sports insurance and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), and currently represents several NIL collectives. In addition, he has successfully obtained recoveries under event cancellation insurance, cast and crew insurance, and other entertainment-related insurance policies and coverages.

Mr. Giller was one of only five lawyers in the country to be selected as a Law360 MVP in Insurance for 2023 and he was among the select group of recipients of the 2022 West Trailblazer Award from The American Lawyer magazine. He was also named one of the “Top 50 Attorneys for Los Angeles” for 2022 by Attorney Intel and, for the past several years, he has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Lawyers in America” guide for insurance litigation and, for the 2023 edition, for insurance law generally.

As a seasoned litigator, Mr. Giller has substantial experience defending complex product liability cases, representing clients in environmental litigation, and handling toxic tort matters. He has also tried several civil and commercial matters in state and federal courts, taking cases through arbitration and mediation. In addition, Mr. Giller has extensive appellate experience, including numerous appearances before several California Courts of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as authoring several amicus briefs filed with the California Supreme Court concerning significant insurance issues.

Bar Admissions

  • California

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Education

  • J.D., Southwestern University School of Law, cum laude (Top 5%), 1984
  • B.A., College of the Holy Cross, History, 1981
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Secured over $120 million in defense and indemnity payments from an insurer on behalf of a Fortune 500 client in a Qui Tam action involving over a dozen written court opinions.
  • Successfully sued parent insurance company for bad faith and breach of fiduciary duties in connection with the sale of a life insurance subsidiary to buyer known for denying claims.
  • Secured millions of dollars in payouts on behalf of MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL players under permanent disability and loss-of-value insurance policies.
  • Crafted cost-of-insurance nationwide class action complaint involving hundreds of thousands of potential class plaintiffs arising out of employer provided universal life policies.
  • Secured $20 million in insurance coverage from Environmental, D&O, P&C and Business Interruption insurers, in a case involving criminal indictments and proceedings.

Professional and Community Involvement

  • Sports Lawyers Association, Member
  • Law360 Insurance Authority Specialty Lines Editorial Advisory Board, Member

Speaking Engagements

  • Featured Panelist, Collegiate Sports Roundtable, Webinar, UBS, April 22, 2024
  • Featured Speaker, Emerging Issues in Sports Law – Sports Injury Management, Texas State Bar CLE, April 12, 2024
  • Co-Presenter, “The Current State of College Athletics and NIL,” LinkedIn Live, March 25, 2024
  • Guest Lecturer, “Sports Insurance,” Sports Law Class at Florida International University School of Law, November 2, 2023
  • Speaker, “Rise in Injuries Highlights Athletes’ Insurance Needs,” AM Best TV, October 4, 2023
  • Featured Speaker, “Opportunities and Challenges Protecting the Student-Athlete and the Institution While Prospering in the World of Sports,” The Maryland General Assembly and Delegate Darryl Barnes on Name Image Likeness (NIL) at Bowie State University, February 11, 2023
  • Featured Panelist, The Business of Sport in Insurance, 2022 NAAIA National Conference, October 7, 2022
  • Appeared as a guest on the Under Those Lights podcast with Thomas Hilliard discussing the loss of value policy and the fight to get you paid, May 11, 2022
  • Featured Panelist, Year in Review: COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Cases Involving Professional Sports, as part of the Technotainment 2021: Distributing Content Across Multiple Platforms webinar, put on by the Praticising Law Institute (PLI), September 17, 2021
  • Featured Panelist, Sports Organization Legal Challenges and Opportunities Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic, at the Sports Lawyers Association 2021 Annual Conference, May 18, 2021
  • Featured guest on the LEAD1 Angle Podcast hosted by former NBA star and LEAD1 Association President, Tom McMillen, discussing College Sports Insurance Issues Including NIL Insurance Coverages, April 6, 2021
  • Featured Panelist, COVID-19 Related Emerging Lawsuits and Liability Issues, at the Global Security Exchange Plus (GSX+) conference put on by ASIS International, September 24, 2020
  • Interviewed by former NFL lineman, Ross Tucker, for the highly rated Ross Tucker Football Podcast, discussing athlete disability insurance, August 10, 2020
  • Featured Panelist, COVID-19 Legal Issues and Considerations, sponsored by the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security and The University of Southern Mississippi, June 11, 2020
  • Featured on the Trustees and Presidents – Opportunities and Challenges with Intercollegiate Athletics Podcast hosted by Drexel University Associate Professor Karen Weaver, discussing Liability and Lawsuits: What to Know in the COVID-19 Era. (June 10, 2020).
  • Appeared as a guest on the Halforf & Brough Canadian sports radio show (TSN 1040) discussing sports insurance for COVID-19 sports claims, June 1, 2020
  • Featured Panelist, along with Congresswoman Donna Shalala, and LEAD1 Association President Tom McMillen: Survive and Advance: Understanding the Legal and Cultural Impacts of COVID-19 on College Sports, a webinar sponsored by Pillsbury and LEAD1. (May 27, 2020).
  • Featured on The Business of Sports Podcast hosted by former Vice President and General Counsel of the Green Bay Packers, Andrew Brandt, discussing sports insurance and insurance for COVID-19 sports losses. (March 25, 2020).
  • Guest Lecturer: Sports and Event Cancellation Insurance for COVID-19 Sports Losses presented to the Business of Professional Sports class at Villanova University’s School of Law, March 24, 2020
  • Featured on the Sports360 Podcast hosted by former MLB Players Association Assistant General Counsel Jeff Fannell on Insurance for COVID-19 Losses, March 16, 2020
  • Featured guest on HBCU Gameday discussing California’s Fair Pay to Play Act. (November 6, 2019).
  • Guest Lecturer: An Introduction to Property, Auto and Disability Insurance, UCLA Anderson School for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment, and Sports, July 10, 2019
  • Guest Lecturer: Who’s Looking Out for Student Athletes, Summer Classroom Series presented by Pepperdine University’s Institute for Entertainment, Media, Sports, and Culture and the California Lawyers Association, July 10, 2019
  • Featured Panelist, Breaking a Leg Without Breaking the Bank: A Primer on Insurance Vehicles for Athletes, at City National Bank’s second annual Pro Sports Business Management Summit, May 9, 2019
  • Guest Lecturer: Insuring Against Missed Opportunities: The Athlete and Loss of Value Insurance, USC Leventhal School of Accounting, Risk Management Program, March 21, 2019
  • Participated in a 40+ minute interview with Jonathan Yates of www.CollegeAd.com. The Culture of Sports: Richard Giller Discusses Student-Athletes Insurance, February 1, 2019
Awards

Recognitions

  • U.S. News and World Report, “Best Lawyers in America,” Litigation-Insurance, 2021-2024
  • College of the Holy Cross Lawyers Association, “Distinguished Service Award,” 2023
  • Law360, “MVP Awards,” Insurance Law, 2023
  • The American Lawyer, “West Trailblazer,” 2022
  • Attorney Intel, “Top 50 Attorneys of Los Angeles,” 2022
  • Los Angeles Business Journal, “Los Angeles Entertainment and Sports Law Attorney of the Year,” Finalist, 2017
  • Super Lawyers magazine, “Southern California Rising Stars,” 2010-2011, 2014-2015
Publications

Publications

  • Co-Author, “The Impact of Monetizing NIL on the Transfer Portal,” Lead1 Association, May 2023
  • Co-author, “Nearly Half of the Country Allows NIL Deals at the High School Level – Why it Should Matter to Colleges and Universities,” Lead1 Association, January 11, 2023
  • Author, The Need For Student Athletes to Insure Their Current and Future Earnings, LEAD1 NIL Institutional Report, August-September, 2022
  • Author, “How One Player’s NFL Draft Could Alter the College Football Playoff System,” Sportico, April 28, 2022
  • Author, “Op-Ed: Why College Athletes’ Decision To Opt-Out Of Play-Offs Games Should Be Respected?” LawInSport, January 9, 2022
  • Co-author, How U.S. Courts Have Dealt With COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Cases Involving Pro Sports Teams, Law in Sport, July 22, 2021
  • Co-author, The Need for Insurance Options to Protect NFTs, published in the Fintech, Insurance, IP, Media & Entertainment, Retail & E-Commerce, Sports & Betting and Technology Law360 newsletters, July 12, 2021
  • The Far-Reaching Consequences of the California Court of Appeal’s Recent Opinion in McNair v. NCAA, Sports Litigation Alert, February 26, 2021
  • Co-author, Insurers Should Stop Crying Wolf and Start Paying Valid COVID-19 Claims, published by com/AmLaw family of publications, including the Texas Lawyer, November 11, 2020
  • Author, Liability Issues Related to the Return of College Football, Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 28, 2020
  • Author, Analyzing COVID-19 Liability Protections in the HEALS Act, Los Angeles Daily Journal and San Francisco Daily Journal, August 6, 2020
  • Co-author, Pandemic Risk Insurance Act can have a positive impact on American sports, Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal Newsletter “Unpacks,” July 13, 2020
  • Author, Return to play for US college sports – legal risks, liability waivers and best practices, Law in Sport, June 25, 2020
  • Author, Insurers Should Have Been Better Prepared for Virus, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Guest Column, April 16, 2020
  • Author, The Seemingly Never-Ending Case of Todd McNair v. The NCAA Provides a Rare Glimpse into the Association’s Secretive Infractions Process, ABA Entertainment & Sports Lawyer, March 2020
  • Author, Five Tips to Help Minimize or Eliminate Reputational and Economic Disruptions Caused by COVID-19, Where We Stand: The LEAD1 COVID-19 Report, March 19, 2020
  • Co-author, Insuring Student-Athletes: What are the Federal Income Tax Implications of Schools Buying Disability Policies? Law in Sports website, February 11, 2020
  • Author, “Tua Tagovailoa: A Case Study Involving the Importance Of Purchasing Loss-Of-Value Insurance Coverage,” Sport Litigation Alert, December 20, 2019
  • Author, “Calif. Is Chipping Away At NCAA’s Monopoly On Amateurism,” Law360, December 19, 2019
  • Who Is Looking Out For Student-Athletes When Schools Purchase Disability Insurance For Them: A Case Study, Business Law News (published by the California Lawyers Association), March 2019

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