Stephen L. Newton    Download Contact Info

Steve Newton joined the firm in 1973 upon graduation from the University of San Francisco, Kendrick Hall School of Law, which he attended as a McRoberts Scholar. He graduated from Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, in 1968 with a B.S. degree in liberal arts, majoring in journalism and public relations. Mr. Newton is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Courts of California for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts as well as the State of California.

Mr. Newton is an experienced trial attorney of tort and contract disputes before juries and judges as well as declaratory relief cases involving the existence or extent of insurance coverage, including related bad faith issues. This includes catastrophic and severity claims where real damages in controversy have exceeded $100 million. Examples of his highly successful insurance work include insurance disputes arising out of the September 11th attacks, major California earthquakes, the Oakland Hills firestorm, Year 2000 computer rollover, the numerous Microsoft civil anti-trust lawsuits, and the Aerojet pollution claims which at the time ranked as the most severe in the Unites States. Additionally, he has handled numerous disputes resolved through arbitration and mediation. He has also tried matters in the administrative law system, including the successful defense of clients in proceedings brought by the State of California through the Department of Insurance, the Franchise Tax Board and the Office of the Labor Commissioner. He has also served as a Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore in Santa Clara County and was a member of the founding pilot program for the evening small claims court system for Santa Clara County.

He conducts insurance coverage investigations and analysis for insurers and policyholders throughout the country under a wide variety of policies, including commercial general liability, technology errors and omissions, professional liability, employment practices, directors and officers, business and private auto, environmental and pollution, media and publishers, intellectual property, homeowners, winery packages, construction-related coverage, entertainment-related coverage, internet and e-commerce-related coverage. Many of these matters involved Fortune 500 companies. His work is among the most extensive of all attorneys in the United States on technology and intellectual property related insurance matters. He is listed in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers. Inclusion in the Guide results from strictly controlled and reviewed peer nominations and interviews.  He is rated A-V (the highest rating) by Martindale-Hubbel.  Terra Insurance Company has appointed Mr. Newton as its General Counsel. 

As part of his practice, Mr. Newton has authored numerous insurance policy provisions utilized by insurance companies in casualty and property policies throughout the United States. Additionally, he has served as a speaker at numerous seminars on liability law for technology companies, financial institutions and the transportation industry as well as on insurance coverage and claim handling for insurance companies and the Santa Clara County Bar Association. He has been interviewed by and featured in Time Magazine and metropolitan newspapers as a trial attorney opposed to joint and several liability. 

Mr. Newton was a member of the U.S. Delegation to China for the 1987 Joint Session on Trade, Investment, and Economic Law held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 

Mr. Newton is a member of the Association of Defense Council of Northern California and the Defense Research Institute. He currently serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board to the Heritage Bank of Commerce.  He enjoys gardening, wine collecting and fly fishing.