Shawn Toliver is the Managing Partner of the Walnut Creek office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP (Walnut Creek is East SF Bay Area).  He is a co-chair of the firm’s national General Liability Practice, a member of the firm’s Compensation Committee, a former member of the firm’s Management Committee, a former member of the firm’s Finance Committee, and former Managing Partner of the San Francisco office. 

Mr. Toliver is licensed to practice in California and Idaho, both state and federal courts, and is pending admission in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.  He has been retained to handle and try cases in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida and Hawaii.  Some of those cases include a traumatic brain injury case in New Mexico, an amputation case in federal court in Hawaii, a medical device product liability case in Los Angeles, a business litigation case in Arizona, and a multiple shooting case in Colorado.  

Mr. Toliver has 35 years of experience as a litigator and trial attorney in California State and Federal Courts.  Mr. Toliver is frequently asked to parachute into cases shortly prior to trial as lead trial counsel.  Almost all of his trial experience involves cases with demands in the 7-figure, often 8-figure, and 9-figure range.  His trials have includedtransportation cases, traumatic brain injuries, products liability cases including a quadriplegic, a mass shooting case, a water rights/flooding case, etc.  Many of the cases Mr. Toliver defends involve catastrophic injuries and damages, including traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, amputations, comatose plaintiffs and wrongful death cases.  

Additionally, Mr. Toliver has many years of experience handling business and commercial litigation, and professional liability claims including medical malpractice, dental malpractice, legal malpractice, and accounting malpractice cases.  He regularly handles catastrophic cases presenting multimillion dollar exposure arising from transportation accidents (including trucking, railroads, and aviation), industrial workplace and construction site accidents, product liability, premises security, wildfires, floods, wrongful death cases, toxic tort/environmental cases including refinery explosions and spills, agricultural cases, rape and molestation claims, including sex trafficking claims, labor and employment issues, and debtor/creditor litigation. 

Representative clients include an excavator contractor, for which, Mr. Toliver served as lead defense counsel in a 22-case coordinated litigation, known as the Walnut Creek Pipeline Explosion litigation, arising out of a high-pressure jet fuel pipeline explosion in Northern California resulting in 5 deaths, 4 serious burn cases, and various other claims including business interruption claims.  He was also asked to be involved in dozens of cases arising out of a power company explosion resulting in loss of lives, injuries and property damage in the Bay Area.

Mr. Toliver serves as national coordinating counsel for various companies including a national security company and a national commercial property owner.  He is regional counsel for a national distributor, a national manufacturer, and multiple contractors.

Due to his experience in these areas, Mr. Toliver has been invited to provide training and presentations on nuclear verdicts and how to avoid them, catastrophic case evaluation, defending traumatic brain injury cases, handling and defending excess exposure cases, defending transportation cases, indemnity claims, construction OCIPs, and avoiding litigation pitfalls.

Legal Experience

Professional Presentations

• Presented and coordinated numerous Continuing Education Seminars.
• Mr. Toliver has provided in-house and client seminars and presentations regarding various litigation issues including contractual indemnity provisions, proposition 51 analysis, risk transfer, accident investigation, litigation prevention and avoiding litigation pitfalls.

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • California
  • Idaho
• State Supreme Courts
  • California Supreme Court
• State Appellate Courts
  • California Courts of Appeal
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Court for the District of Hawaii
• United States Courts of Appeals
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Admissions

California State Courts

Federal Courts – Northern District and Eastern District and Hawaii District Court

U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit

Associations

• San Francisco County Bar Association
• Alameda County Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute, Product Liability and Construction Law committees
• Association of Defense Counsel
• Italian Bar Association
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Awards & Honors

AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell's Peer Review

Education

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Juris Doctor, 1990

Oral Roberts University

Bachelor of Science, 1985