The Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) will honor Justice Laurie D. Zelon of the California Court of Appeal, 2nd District, Division Seven; and leading trial lawyer William M. Shernoff, a longtime consumer advocate who is the pioneer of bad faith insurance law, at the Seventh Annual “BHBA Litigation Awards Dinner” on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 pm at Montage Beverly Hills.

Zelon

“The Beverly Hills Bar Association is proud to recognize Justice Zelon and William Shernoff for their meaningful and far reaching impact on the community and the legal field,” said BHBA president Howard Fisher.

Zelon received a B.A. from Cornell University with distinction in all subjects and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1977.

Shernoff has made a career of representing insurance consumers in their cases against insurance companies.  In 1979, he persuaded the California Supreme Court to establish new case law that permits policyholders to sue insurance companies for bad faith, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages when they unreasonably handle a policyholder’s claim thereby creating the new tort of “insurance bad faith.”

Shernoff

“Their commitment to fairness and access to justice are truly exemplary,” said Jonathan Stein, chair of the Litigation Awards Dinner.

Tickets are $300 per person.

Montage Beverly Hills is located at 225 N. Canon Dr. in Beverly Hills. For information, visit bhba.org.