About Me

Helen H. Chen practices commercial litigation with an emphasis on complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation. Ms. Chen is a skilled litigation attorney with extensive experience in federal and state courts, and has experiences in all phases of civil litigation: discovery, law and motion, alternative dispute resolution, trial and appeal. Her excellent research, writing and analytical skills have led to successes in winning cases by way of terminating sanctions in employment and legal malpractice actions, dispositive motions in insurance coverage, landlord-tenant and legal malpractice actions, and appellate victories on issues of insurance coverage, informed consent, judicial misconduct, and anti-SLAPP.

Ms. Chen represents domestic, Canadian and European insurers in lines of commercial general liability, errors and omissions, directors and officers liability and professional liability, and has published in insurance industry journals. Ms. Chen has significant experience evaluating insurance coverage, drafting coverage opinions, reservation of rights and declination of tender letters involving claims presented under multiple lines of insurance. She provides advice and counsel on coverage and claims-handling issues on a variety of matters including asbestos, pollution, construction defect, data privacy and various multi-million liability claims. She has acted as monitoring counsel supervising and managing outside counsel, analyzing and evaluating claims value, and establishing budgets and reserves.

Ms. Chen served on the Executive Committee of Insurance Law Section, Santa Clara County Bar Association for five years. She provides pro-bono legal services to non-profit organizations.

Ms. Chen received her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law, the University of California, Berkeley in 2000. While in law school, she served as notes & comments editor for the California Law Review, and as topics & research editor for the Berkeley Journal of International Law. She was awarded the Moot Court Advocacy Commendation, and was listed in Who’s Who: American Law Students.

Ms. Chen received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her M.A. and B.A. in English from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She also studied English literature at the University of Leeds in Britain for a year.

Publications:

• Co-author, “Compliance with Federal Safety Standards Does Not Bar State Tort Claims-Williamson & Pre-emption Defense,” USLAW, Fall/Winter 2011.
• Contributing Author, “The World Outside The Contract: When Claims Handling Meets Politics,” Declarations, Winter 2006.
• Co-author, “Latest Case Law on Coverage Issues Affecting Professional Liability and Directors & Officers Insurance,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Insurance, September 1, 2004.
• Co-author, “Recent Developments in Coverage Issues Affecting Claims-Made Policies,” Mealey’s Litigation Report: Insurance, July 22, 2003.
• Scholarly articles on comparative literature appeared in China in a Polycentric World: Essays in Chinese Comparative Literature (Stanford University Press 1988), and American Journal of Chinese Studies.

Presentations:

• Santa Clara County Bar Association, “Annual Review of Insurance Law Appellate Opinions,” September 25, 2014, Co-presenter.
• Santa Clara County Bar Association, “What You Do Not Know About Healthcare Coverage Can Hurt You,” September 15, 2013, Co-presenter.

Languages:
Chinese

Professional Activities:
Contra Costa County Bar Association