Dennis N. Jones

Dennis Neil Jones, an A-V-rated partner, has been practicing insurance coverage and other civil litigation for nearly 40 years. During that time, he has acted as coverage counsel for policyholders, insurers, and governmental self-funding authorities. Mr. Jones has also served as a retained expert on insurance coverage, regulatory and standard of care issues. Retired Judges have retained him as an independent coverage expert in large construction defect mediations.

Mr. Jones has been named a Southern California “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics for 2022 in the field of insurance coverage law. This is the fifteenth year that Jones has received this honor. Only 5% of all attorneys in Southern California in various legal specialties are named as Super Lawyers, based upon peer voting. Mr. Jones was also the 2019 recipient of the VCBA’s prestigious Ben E. Nordman Public Service Award. He was also was the 2008 President of the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association.

Mr. Jones graduated with honors from the University of Southern California in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. After receiving a USC Graduate Fellowship and a William Randolph Hearst Foundation National Journalism Award, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Certificate in Judicial Administration in 1978. Mr. Jones worked in the field of Court Administration from 1977 to 1980 for the Eighth Judicial District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was the Director of the Clark County Jail Overcrowding Project, founded a Pretrial Services agency and testified as an expert witness in a Federal class action jail overcrowding trial. He then matriculated to the University of San Diego School of Law on a full WICHE Fellowship, graduating in 1983. Upon his admission to the California and Nevada Bars, Mr. Jones joined the Los Angeles branch of a large, national law firm. After practicing in Los Angeles for sixteen years, he formed a law partnership now known as Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones & Feingold, L.L.P., in Ventura, California.

Mr. Jones resides in Ojai, CA with his wife, two spaniels and too many cats. In his spare time, he performs in a musical tribute to the Beatles called Sgt. Pepper.

• Ojai Education Foundation – Member & Advisory Board Member (2000 – present)
• Notes for Notes Sound Board – Board Member (2013 – 2020)
• California Coastal Horse Rescue – Board Member (2015 – present)
• Ojai Community Hospital Foundation Board Member (2011 – 2014)

Mr. Jones’ legal publications include

• “Ten…No Make That Eleven Additional Insured Cases You Should Know” The Verdict – Spring 2004;
• “Tips On Handling Fire And Smoke Damage Claims” Ventura County Star December 6, 2003;
• “What’s All The Fuss About Mold?” Citations July 2002;
• “Do Pollution Exclusions Apply to Mold Claims?” Columns-Mold (Harris Martin) April 2002;
• “Sharing the Additional Insured’s Defense In Construction Defect Litigation” California Insurance Law and Regulation Law Reporter – December, 1996;
  Expanded and re-published in Insurance Litigation Reporter, February 15, 1997;
• “Multiple Punitive Damage Awards for a Single Course of Wrongful Conduct: The Need for a National Policy to Protect Due Process” 43 Alabama L Rev. 1, 1991.

Speaking Engagements:

Mr. Jones’ speaking engagements include Women Lawyers of Ventura County – “Between Rock n’ Roll and a Hard Place: A Balancing Act” (February 2015); West Coast Casualty’s Construction Defect Seminar – “Is The Gravy Train Slowing? Insurers New Policy Forms Limit Coverage for Owners, Developers and General Contractors” (May 2005); The American Indoor Air Quality Council, Los Angeles Chapter Workshop – “Prosecuting and Presenting A Consumer’s Claim for Mold Damage: A Coordinated Approach Between Attorneys and Environmental Professionals” (October 2004); The American Indoor Air Quality Council, Santa Barbara Chapter Workshop – “Medical Effects of Mold: What Does The Latest Research Show? What Is Admissible In Court?” (September 2004); CPA Law Society of Ventura and East Ventura Chapters – “The Use and Abuse of Expert Witnesses” (July 2004 & February 2005); The Journal Of Light Construction “Insurance Coverage and Liability – What Contractors Need To Know” (May 2004); Roto Rooter Franchise Association National Conference – “Avoiding Liability For Mold Claims” (March 2004); Tolman & Wiker “- Avoiding Insurance Broker Errors & Omissions Claims In An Era Of Shrinking Markets And Coverage” (January 2004); National Business Institute – “Emerging Issues in California Indoor Air Quality and Toxic Mold Litigation” (January 2004); Nevada Independent Insurance Agents Construction Defect Seminar – “Additional Insured Issues” – Reno and Las Vegas (April 2003); Bench & Bar & Tri-Counties Paralegal & MCLE Conference – “Litigating the Toxic Mold Case” (October 2002); Santa Barbara Real Property Association – “Legal Aspects of Toxic Mold” (July 2002); Santa Barbara Contractors Association – “Mold Claims In Construction Defect Litigation” (May 2002); Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association – “Litigating The Toxic Mold Case” (May 2002); Community Associations Institute – Channel Islands Chapter – “Mold, Mayhem and Life in the Post-September 11 Marketplace” (April 2002); Community Associations Institute – Los Angeles Chapter – “The Mold Epidemic – Come Find Out The Truth” (February 2002); Santa Barbara Association of Realtors – “Mold Contamination In Buildings: Health, Legal and Remedial Issues” (December 2001); Tri-County Government Lawyers Association – “The Additional Insured, Not a Second Class Citizen Anymore” (February 2001); Environmental Inspections and Solutions Mold Seminar – “Recovery of Damages for Injuries to Persons and Property Caused by Mold” (February 2001); West Coast Casualty Company’s Seventh Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA – “A Paradigm For Insurance Coverage: What’s The Defect? What’s the Repair Methodology? Is It Covered?” (April 2000); Community Associations Institute (Mid-California Chapter) – “Anatomy of a Construction Defect Case” (March 2000); Swerdlow, Florence & Sanchez, APLC – “Spotting Insurance Coverage Issues In Employment Litigation” (January 1998). Same lecture presented to LEFTJAW (plaintiff’s employment lawyer organization) October 1998; Construction Law Breakfast Group, Pomona, CA – “An Introduction to What Every Construction Defect Lawyer Should Know About Insurance Coverage” (May 1997). Same lecture presented to Verboon, Hartman, Whitaker & Peter (April, 1997); Wolf, Rifkin & Shapiro (June, 1997) and Koletsky, Mancini, Feldman & Ryan (September 1997); West Coast Casualty Company’s Fifth Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA, “An Introduction To What Every Claims Representative and Attorney Should Know About Insurance Coverage for Construction Defect Claims” (October 1997); West Coast Casualty Company’s Fourth Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA, “Sharing the Additional Insured’s Defense” (October, 1996); West Coast Casualty Company’s Third Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Hollywood, CA, “Status of the Additional Insured” (October, 1995); Northland Insurance Company, St. Paul, Minn., “Recent Developments in California Tort Law” (February, 1995); Civitan Club of the San Gabriel Valley – “The Ballot Initiatives – What’s In A Number?” (1988).

Ben E. Nordman Public Service Award, Ventura County Bar Association (2019)
California Super Lawyer (2007 & 2009 – 2021)

Noteworthy Matters:

Represented a city as coverage counsel in connection with a claim for false imprisonment by a man who served 39 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Obtained a verdict of $7 million against a framing contractor in favor of Reno, NV homeowners for defective construction of their homes.

Obtained a jury verdict of $1 million in favor of a homeowners association against the developers who converted apartments into condominiums.

Obtained a jury verdict in favor of a homeowner defrauded by an unlicensed contractor.

Mr. Jones’ reported decisions include Navigators Specialty Ins. Co. v. Moorefield Construction, Inc. (2016) Cal.App.4th 1258; Burnett v. Chimney Sweep 123 Cal.App.4th 1057 (2004), Goldstein v. Barak 164 Cal.App.4th 835 (2008); Harry S. Low as Insurance Commissioner v. Golden Eagle (Metabolife International) 99 Cal.App.4th 109 (2002); S. Bravo Systems v. Environ Products, Inc., 78 F. 3d 603 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Adler v. Western Home Insurance Co., 878 F.Supp. 1329 (C.D.Cal 1995); People ex rel Garamendi v. American Autoplan, Inc. (1993) 20 Cal. App. 4th 710 and Valentino v. Elliott Sav-on-Gas, Inc. (1988) 201 Cal. App. 3d 692.