Terrence J. Coleman
Top rated Insurance Coverage attorney in San Francisco, California
Pillsbury & Coleman, LLP
Practice Areas: Insurance Coverage; view more
Licensed in California since: 1994
Education: University of San Francisco School of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2025 Details
With a practice completely dedicated to litigation, Terrence J. Coleman represents all of California in legal cases related to ERISA, disability claims, and bad faith and insurance law. A partner at Pillsbury & Coleman LLP, Mr. Coleman represents organizations and individuals and once preserved health insurance policies for employees of the Bay Area Chamber, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and the Organization of Women Architects.
For his commitment to legal ethics and professional accomplishments, Mr. Coleman earned the highest peer rating possible of AV Preeminent* from Martindale-Hubbell. He is a past president of the St. Thomas Moore Society of San Francisco and the current president of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. A fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel, he also served as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s Insurance Section chair in 2003.
In 1991, Mr. Coleman earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley, and he graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1994. From 1992-1994, he worked on the University of San Francisco Law Review and has been given the Distinguished Service Award and the President’s Award by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.
Mr. Coleman is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the State Bar of California and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. In 2003, he was named a Trial Lawyer of the Year finalist by the SFTLA, and he has published many written works on legal insurance issues and regularly teaches seminars and classes on similar topics.
* AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
Insurance CoverageFocus areas
Bad Faith Insurance, Insurance, Insurance Defense
- 100% Insurance Coverage
First Admitted: 1994, California
Professional Webpage: https://www.pillsburycoleman.com/Attorneys/Terrence-J-Colema...
- The State Bar of California
- American Association for Justice, Insurance Litigation Section, Past Chair
- American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel, Fellow
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, President, 2014 - Present
- Robertson v. Health Net, Inc.
- Lead trial counsel in Westover v. Oregon Mutual Insurance Company
- Lead counsel in San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association v. Health Net, Inc.
- Lead trial counsel in Patrick v. UNUM Life Insurance Company
- Co-tried Chapman v. UnumProvident Corp.
- Organization of Women Architects v. Health Net
- President, St. Thomas More Society, 2008
- Finalist, Trial Lawyer of the Year, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, March 2003
- “Super Lawyer”, 2006 through 2014
- Distinguished Service Award, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, October 5, 2001
- President’s Award, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, January 15, 2004
- University of California at Berkeley, B.A., 1991
- “Bad Faith Litigation”, American Conference Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2014
- “Policy Limit Demands”, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, New Lawyers Division Ski Seminar, January 2014
- “Insurers on the Attack,” American Association for Justice, Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, July 2013
- “Auto Claims: Maximizing Recoveries and Protecting the Subsequent Bad Faith Case”, moderator, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, February 2009
- “Insurance Bad Faith Litigation & HMO Liability”, moderator, Regional TLA Conference, Squaw Creek Resort, June 2009
- VoiceAmerica live radio show, “Meeting By Accident,” discussing insurance company claims denials and tactics, September 18, 2007
- “Disability Insurance Claims: Navigating the Waters of ERISA and Bad Faith”, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, July 2005
- "The Year in Review — Developments in Civil Litigation", Continuing Education of the Bar, January 2002, January 2003, January 2004
- Challenges in California Insurance Coverage Litigation, San Francisco, CA, March 31, 2004
- "Fundamentals of Insurance Litigation", Continuing Education of the Bar, April 2001
- "ERISA Preemption: A Relic of the Past?", Association of Trial Lawyers of America Annual Convention, July, 2000
- "Recent Developments in Punitive Damages", Consumer Attorneys of California Winter Convention, April, 2000
- Author, “Protecting the Subsequent Insurance Bad Faith Action”, The Trial Lawyer, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Fall 2011
- Author, “Big Insurers, Dirty Tricks: ‘That’s not my signature’”, Trial, Journal of the American Association for Justice, July 2007
- Author, “Legal Rights Voting Team”, The Trial Lawyer, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Spring 2005
- Author, “Perfecting Your Disability Bad Faith Claim: Tips From the Trenches”, Forum, Consumer Attorneys of California, June 2004, Vol. 34, No. 5
- Author, “Back to the Basics: Reexamining Compensatory Damages in Light of Campbell”, The Trial Lawyer, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Spring 2004
- Author, “Using Corporate Documents and Depositions to Prove Bad Faith,” Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 2003 Convention
- Co-Author: "Overcoming the 'Genuine-Issue' Rule in Bad-Faith Cases, Trial Magazine, March 2002, Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- Co-Author: "Using the 'Treating Physician Rule' in Disability Bad Faith Cases, Forum Magazine, December 2001, Consumer Attorneys of California
- Co-Author: “Homeowner and Consumer Insurance: Landslides, Fires and Natural Disasters,” Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1995 convention
- Author: “Bily v. Arthur Young & Co.: An Inequitable Approach to Defining Accountant Liability to Third Parties,” 28 USF Law Review 239
- University of San Francisco Law Review, 1992 - 1994
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2025
