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Mary is a nationally recognized policyholder advocate who has been named repeatedly as one of the top women litigators in California and nationally.&nbsp;She has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for her policyholder clients.&nbsp;Mary is a Past President of the prestigious American College of Coverage Counsel, an honorary organization of the United States’ and Canada’s top coverage lawyers, and she is a former national Chair of the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee.&nbsp;She has chaired two national women’s conferences for the ABA Litigation Section, and after serving four years as the Section’s Revenue Officer, she now serves as a member of Council, the Section’s board.&nbsp;Mary is ranked Chambers USA Band 1 in California and Nationwide, and she is one of only nine women ranked nationally in the area of "Insurance: Policyholder." Mary has numerous other accolades, including Best Lawyers, “Top 100 Women Lawyer” in California by the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal, the Legal 500, the Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, and other national and international ranking associations.Mary has more than 35 years of experience litigating all aspects of insurance recovery under directors and officers liability, errors and omissions, media and entertainment policies, as well as intellectual property claims, cyber liabilities, e-commerce/technology claims, first party losses and business interruption claims. She also has served as an arbitrator and expert witness and frequently lectures and publishes on a variety of insurance topics.Chambers USA notes Mary is a “market leader” who has been praised as “best in class in insurance recovery matter—she is dedicated, creative, authoritative and knows how to drive results.” “She’s as good as they come and wonderful to work with through complicated insurance issues.” “Mary is an outstanding guide and advocate—I recommend her without any reservations.” “Mary is fantastic, clients love her.”The Legal 500 United States says, “Mary Craig Calkins is a force of nature. She is relentless, intelligent, experienced and insightful. I have worked with her on several different matters over the years and she has ALWAYS delivered exceptional results. She gets results and that’s what matters.”

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United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

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Entertainment

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ADG Insurance Recovery

Mary Craig Calkins and Stacy D. Phillips Recognized in Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2026 Women of Influence: Attorneys

Mary Craig Calkins, Linda Kornfeld, and David A. Thomas Named 2026 Leaders of Influence: Insurance by Los Angeles Business Journal

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Honored by Benchmark Litigation 2026

Blank Rome Partners Recognized in Century City’s Women of Achievement Awards

Blank Rome Partners Recognized in the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2026 Best Lawyers in America®

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Highly Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2025

Chambers USA 2025 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

Mary Craig Calkins, Linda Kornfeld, and David A. Thomas Named Leaders of Influence: Insurance by Los Angeles Business Journal

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Honored by Benchmark Litigation 2025

Blank Rome Partners Recognized in the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

Mary Craig Calkins Elected to Serve on the American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s Council

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2025 Best Lawyers in America®

Mary Craig Calkins, Robert L. Kahan, and Kristina Royce Named Entertainment Business Visionaries

Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices Highly Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2024

Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

ABA Litigation Section 2024 Annual Conference

2024 Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar

Benchmark Litigation 2024 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

Blank Rome Partners Recognized in the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

Blank Rome Attorneys Recognized in 2024 Best Lawyers in America®

Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes Blank Rome Attorneys and Practices

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Insurance Recovery

<ul>
<li>Lead coverage counsel for an international media and communications company, recovering over $150 million in insurance coverage used to settle multiple shareholder class actions and derivative suits.</li>
<li>Recovered $90 million in coverage for a television news company, which was the first media outlet to address issues relating to the #MeToo movement.</li>
<li>Negotiated insurer-funding of a multimillion-dollar shareholder class action lawsuit and addressed D&amp;O bankruptcy issues for a U.S. oil and natural gas exploration company.</li>
<li>Represented major network and cable television studios and producers in recovering insurance for television production-related losses (location fires, floods, cast issues, taping disruptions, and tax incentive negotiations).</li>
<li>Negotiated a $20 million payment against defense costs on behalf of an international hotel client sued by a competitor for unfair business practices and misappropriation of trade secrets.</li>
<li>Collected significant coverage for manufacturers on products liability and recall issues.</li>
<li>Pursued coverage for flood-related losses and mitigation efforts affecting a large data aggregator/technology company in Iowa forced to relocate to mitigate losses, and hurricane-related losses for a North Carolina hotel.</li>
<li>Litigated property damage and business interruption losses suffered at a Honolulu hotel complex resulting from underlying construction defects.</li>
<li>Represented former officers and directors of a large communications group and negotiated an insurer-funded settlement of securities class action, derivative suit, and tag-along ERISA claims alleging misrepresentations on financial statements.</li>
<li>Recovered $16 million in insurance coverage from multiple insurers to settle a shareholder derivative suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of a going-private transaction.</li>
<li>Obtained a $6.2-million jury verdict including bad faith damages for the failure to defend and indemnify the insured for alleged software piracy.</li>
<li>Successfully represented producers of the longest-running vocal competition and other reality television series seeking coverage for claims alleging copyright violations, idea submission, and other coverage disputes under production, first-party, business interruption, and general liability policies, as well as COVID-related losses.</li>
<li>Litigated coverage for multiple foodborne products cases, including allegedly defective and contaminated products incorporated by end users, alleged causing bodily injury and property damage.</li>
<li>Obtained jury verdicts and managed litigation seeking coverage for property damage (groundwater contamination) at 64 environmental sites caused by the decades-long manufacture of agricultural chemicals.</li>
<li>Represents multiple clients in the entertainment industry in connection with all types of insurance issues.</li>
<li>Assisting multiple individual and corporate clients in connection with property damage and business interruption losses resulting from California fires and mud flows, tornado damage in Texas, and other natural events.</li>
</ul>

Mary Craig Calkins

Mary Craig Calkins

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