Mark G. Bonino

Mark G. Bonino has over thirty years of experience handling Appellate, Insurance Coverage, and Bad Faith cases.

Mr. Bonino is admitted to practice before all of the Courts of the State of California, all of the United States District Courts for California (Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern), and the Districts of Arizona and Hawaii. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Bonino has handled over 500 appeals to completion and argued a number of important cases in the California Supreme Court and the State and Federal Courts of Appeal such as: Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689 [doctrine of peculiar risk held inapplicable to employees of subcontractors]; Levinson v. Owens (2009)  176 Cal.App.4th 1534 [Rider thrown from horse, summary judgment in favor of horse owner affirmed] ;  Paiva v. Nichols (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 1007 [Denial of anti-SLAPP motion reversed- judgment entered for defendant]; General Casualty v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 345 [aka: RemedyTemp - depublished - insurer for a special employer does not provide workers' compensation coverage to temporary employees after the general employers' insurer becomes insolvent]; Frank and Fredus v. Allstate (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 461 [employment practices exclusion held to preclude defense in post-termination defamation claim]; Loth v. Truck-A-Way (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 757 [expert testimony on hedonic damages held inadmissible in a personal injury action]; Smith v. State Farm (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 1104 [stipulated judgment held unenforceable against the insurer]; Equitable v. Berry (1989) 212 Cal.App.3d 832 [disability policy held not to apply to manic-depressive illness]; Barker v. Hull (1987) 191 Cal.App.3d 221 [ruling on motion held to act as collateral estoppel and bar against later legal malpractice claim]; North Co. Contractors v. Touchstone (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 1085 [settlement held in good faith where the limited available insurance was considered by the trial court]; Santiago v. Employee Benefits (1985) 168 Cal.App.3d 898 [workers compensation insurer held not liable for bad faith failure to settle].

In addition to the appeals, Mr. Bonino has tried bad faith cases to verdict in four different northern California counties and in the U.S. district court and has resolved numerous cases in favor of the defendants by dispositive demurrer, judgment on the pleadings or motion for summary judgment.

A native of Southern California, Mr. Bonino attended college at the University of California at Davis, graduating in 1973; he then attended law school at Santa Clara University School of Law, graduating cum laude in 1976. Upon graduation, he served for one and one-half years as law clerk to the presiding judge of the Superior Court of San Mateo County.

He is the Past-President of the Association of Defense Counsel for Northern California and Nevada, and is the current California State Representative for the DRI.

Before attending law school Mr. Bonino worked on the staff of then-Governor Ronald Reagan.