Jordan S. Altura

Jordan Altura is a partner in GRSM’s Insurance, Class Action and Commercial Litigation practice groups. For over two decades, clients ranging from Fortune 500 to privately held companies have turned to Jordan for the defense of high-stakes class actions, complex insurance litigation, and other sophisticated business and contractual disputes.

Jordan focuses on ERISA and life, health and disability matters, primarily in the Ninth Circuit and California state courts.  He also handles complex insurance coverage litigation involving property and casualty, CGL, excess coverage and annuities.

Jordan’s national class action practice includes cases alleging improper sales and insurance claims handling practices, fraud and consumer protection claims.

Taking a creative, practical approach to cases, Jordan collaborates with his clients in the early stages to formulate strategy and determine the most cost-effective options for achieving a favorable outcome as promptly as possible, and working toward that objective.

Admissions

• California

Memberships

• State Bar of California
• Bar Association of San Francisco

ERISA and LHD Experience:

• Secured summary judgment in disability case based on prior release with employer and application of the policy’s contractual limitations provision.  The District Court (N.D. Cal.) agreed plaintiff had knowingly released claims under the employer’s plan and that, even if she had not, the plan’s contractual limitations period barred the claim.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment.
• Summary judgment granted following hard-fought litigation in which plaintiff alleged claims for breach of contract and “bad faith.”  The insurer had paid the claim for 21 years but terminated benefits following a determination the plaintiff was working and performing many of the duties of her own occupation.  The District Court (D. Ariz) agreed with the defense arguments, holding plaintiff was not entitled to benefits and that the insurer acted reasonably in denying the claim.
• Rule 52 motion granted in ERISA matter on de novo review. The District Court (C.D. Cal) agreed the claim was properly denied because the plaintiff was not disabled based on degenerative disc disease.  The court rejected plaintiff’s argument that available jobs within the regional labor market were inappropriate for a person with his training and experience, and agreed plaintiff’s restrictions and limitations did not preclude him from performing light physical demand level work.
• Secured defense verdict (second-chair) on behalf of a national disability insurer in case involving claims of breach of contract and “bad faith” arising out of an individual disability insurance policy.  The California jury (N.D. Cal.) unanimously concluded the firm’s client properly denied the claim after the trial team demonstrated that plaintiff had misrepresented her true functioning capabilities to her treating doctors and that her claimed traumatic brain injury could not account for her purported symptoms. 
• Prosecuted fraud and ERISA claims on behalf of a global healthcare management company seeking restitution of over $20 million in overbillings by healthcare providers, resulting in a favorable settlement with the providers.

Class Action and Commercial Litigation Experience:

• Defeated putative class action (C.D. Cal.) in which Plaintiffs alleged violations of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act’s reimbursement provisions. Plaintiffs, a group of collection agencies that have asserted dozens of cases against insurers in federal courts across the country, claimed damages in excess of $100 million.  In opposing class certification, the defense offered evidence demonstrating Plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue the claims. After ordering further briefing on the matter, the District Court agreed Plaintiffs lacked standing and dismissed the action. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment.   
• Motion to dismiss granted in putative class action alleging fraud, breach of contract and consumer protection claims arising out of sale of international travel insurance.  (N.D. Ill.)
• Class certification denied in case alleging breach of contract and consumer protection claims based on alleged failure of property and casualty insurer to accurately calculate “diminished value” damages.  (W.D. Wash.)
• Defeated class action in California state court (L.A. County) in case alleging the firm’s client, a property and casualty insurer, failed to accurately calculate contractor overhead and profit following a fire loss. The trial court dismissed the action at the pleadings phase -- despite the strong reluctance by trial courts to decide class certification issues prior to discovery.

Publications

• Contributing Editor, California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial – Claims and Defenses (The Rutter Group) (Bad Faith Breach of Insurance Contract section), 2013-present

Presentations 

• Panelist, 2022 Class Actions Update and Forecast, American Property & Casualty Insurance Association Western Regional General Counsel Conference, Las Vegas, NV, July 2022

• Panelist, 2021 Class Action Cases, American Property & Casualty Insurance Association Western Regional General Counsel Virtual Conference, July 2021

• Panelist, United States Supreme Court: Cases to Watch in 2020, Standard Insurance Company, February 2020

• Contributing Editor, Civil Procedure Before Trial – Claims and Defenses (The Rutter Group California Practice Guide), 2013-present

• Presenter, Developments in Class Action Litigation, Association of California Insurance Companies General Counsel Seminar, Las Vegas, NV, July 2016

• Presenter, Class Actions – Wheel of (mis)Fortune, Association of California Insurance Companies General Counsel Seminar, Las Vegas, NV, July 2015

• Presenter, Rolling the Dice on Cyber Risks?... Do You Really Want to Bet on It?, Association of California Insurance Companies General Counsel Seminar, Las Vegas, NV, July 2014

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, Gonzaga University School of Law, 2000

• Associate Editor, Law Review
• Member, National Moot Court Team

B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1994