Karen Leviton retired from the partnership in July 1991. She was of counsel in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the Litigation & Trial Department. Her prior practice focused primarily on mass tort and environmental litigation, complex business disputes in trial and appellate courts and insurance coverage litigation.
Karen has experience working on a variety of complex matters for diverse clients in federal and state courts. In the mass tort area, she focused on toxic torts. Her experience includes defense of multi-plaintiff actions for alleged exposure to hazardous substances from airborne emissions or soil and groundwater contamination, including cases where the alleged exposure was both in the US and abroad. In the products liability area, her experience includes defense of a tobacco case brought by a former smoker in which the jury returned a defense verdict.
Karen's experience in insurance coverage litigation includes an action for recovery of business income losses suffered by a beverage company resulting from an E. coli bacteria incident. It also includes representation of a bank in several actions that were among the first cases arising out of the insurance industry's involvement in the motion picture finance field, which cases produced several significant legal rulings concerning policy interpretation and the law of bad faith.
Karen, a native of White Plains, New York, joined Latham & Watkins in 1978 following graduation from Georgetown University Law Center. She has had extensive experience in all aspects of major litigation throughout her career at the firm.