Insurance Litigation -- Author Information

Justice H. Walter Croskey is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District. Prior to this appointment, he was a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

He is a graduate of the University of Southern California Law Center. Before appointment to the bench, Justice Croskey was in private practice in Los Angeles, specializing in commercial and business litigation.

Justice Croskey has authored numerous opinions on insurance law and has written several law review articles on related topics. He is active in continuing education for judges and lawyers, and has directed insurance litigation programs for the California Judges Association, the American Bar Association and The Rutter Group.

He received the Jurist of the Year Award from the California Judicial Council, and the Bernard S. Jefferson Award from the California Judges Association for distinguished service in judicial education. Justice Croskey has also been named Appellate Justice of the Year by the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association.



Judge Rex Heeseman is a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Before his appointment, he was a partner in Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, and specialized in representing both insurers and insureds on coverage issues. He has also served as an arbitrator and testified as an expert witness in insurance coverage cases. Judge Heeseman has taught Insurance Law at Loyola Law School and UCLA School of Law.

Judge Heeseman is a graduate of Stanford Law School, and was an Assistant United States Attorney before entering private practice. He is widely known as a writer, lecturer and commentator on issues involving commercial torts and insurance coverage. He has been a frequent panelist in continuing education programs for both lawyers and judges dealing with insurance and related topics.



Susan M. Popik is a partner in Chapman, Popik & White, LLP in San Francisco, where she specializes in litigation and appeals of insurance coverage disputes and insurance bad faith actions, generally on behalf of insurers. She also serves as a mediator and arbitrator in complex insurance disputes and provides expert testimony in insurance coverage and bad faith actions. Ms. Popik is certified as a Specialist in Appellate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Ms. Popik received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Law Journal. She is a former officer of the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and an active member of several other professional organizations. Ms. Popik is a well-known author and speaker on insurance and appellate issues and is a frequent participant in continuing education programs on these topics.



Christina J. Imre is an equity partner in Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP, where she co-chairs the firm's national appellate department. Ms. Imre specializes in appeals, writs and pre/post-trial motions in bad faith, punitive damages and significant institutional business and tort matters. She is regularly quoted by the national media on punitive damages issues, and is an elected Fellow in the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Named one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Los Angeles Law" by the Los Angeles Business Journal, she is regularly voted by her peers as a "Southern California Super Lawyer."

Ms. Imre has a Master's Degree from the University of Notre Dame, and took her law degree, cum laude, from Loyola of Los Angeles Law School where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola International Law Journal. She lectures around the country on insurance, appellate procedure and punitive damages, and writes prolifically on these subjects.


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