Leandro H. Duran, Esq.

The Professional Law Office of Leandro H. Duran, Esq.

1990 N California Blvd. Walnut Creek CA 94596 (510) 540-1046

Educational Facts

University of California, Berkeley 1978
University of California, Hastings College of Law, 1984

Professional Facts
Admitted to California State Bar on January 17, 1986
Appointed by the Board of Governors to serve the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) 2000-2001

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Bar Activities

Member of the La Raza Lawyers Association, Alameda Chapter; President (1996 to 2000)
Served as member of the California State Bar's Executive Committee on Law Practice Management from 1987 to 1990
Member of the California State Bar's Executive Committee on Solo and Small Firms (1995-1998), (1998-1999) State Bar Chair
Member of Earl Warren American Inn of Court (1997 to 2001)
Member of Alameda County Bar Association
Member of the State Bar's Environmental Law Section

Specialties

Environmental Claims, Personal Injury, Insurance Coverage, and Insurance Bad Faith

Law Practice

Solo Practice commencing in Richmond, California. {personal injury, family law, and civil litigation}
Solo Practice in Oakland and San Jose, California (1991-93) . {environmental law and civil litigation; volunteer staff attorney for Centro Legal de la Raza
Solo practice in Berkeley (1994 to 1999)
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Duran, Gonzales, Ochoa & Tafoya (1999 to 2001).
Alameda County Bar Association Distinguished Law Firm Award (2003)
Honored as Hispanic Hero by the Oakland Raiders (2003)
Oakland Centro Legal de la Raza Visionary Leadership Award (2006)
Served on Alameda County Bar Associations Judicial Evaluations Committee (2007)

Important Legal Contributions

Vann v. Travelers (1995) 39 Cal App 4th 1610 - This case is cited by many legal and professional periodicals on issues pertaining to "duty to defend: in an insurance context, summanry adjudication motions, groundwater and environmental coverage for gradual pollution (i.e., sudden-accidental exception). In addition the case is one of five cases noted nationwide in 48 AALR 5th 355 [ What Constitutes "Suit" Triggering Insurer's Duty to Defend Environmental Claims-State Cases.

The above noted case was the front page story in the California Lawyer Magazine, November 1997 edition. Ultimately, a veredict in the sum of 26.5 million was unheld on appeal. The case resolved itself by the refusal of the US Supreme to issue a stay in August, 1998.