Neil S. Lerner

Practice areas

Transportation/Maritime, Insurance Coverage, Business Litigation

Focus areas

Admiralty & Maritime Law, Bad Faith Insurance, Insurance, Insurance Defense, Transportation Law

Neil S. Lerner serves as a partner at the Los Angeles branch of Cox Wootton Lerner Griffin & Hansen, LLP (CWL), a regional law firm that operates in multiple locations, including San Francisco and Honolulu. CWL caters to clients in the Western U.S. and the Pacific Rim. Neil specializes in maritime and transportation law and has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in Southern California for consecutive years from 2012 to 2022. In his primary legal practice, he represents both domestic and international insurers in cases involving first and third-party matters. Additionally, he offers legal counsel to local companies in the maritime and transportation sectors, handling business litigation cases that encompass issues like unfair competition, misclassification, preemption, public trust, and navigational rights.

Neil’s accomplishments have earned him coverage in respected publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Forbes Magazine, and LA Magazine. He has also been honored with titles such as a “Go-To” lawyer by Corporate Counsel Magazine, the exclusive “Transportation Law Expert” by Legal Elite, and a “Top Rated Transportation/Maritime Attorney in Los Angeles” by Super Lawyer. Notably, he was among the pioneer Certified Admiralty & Maritime Law Specialists in California between 2012 and February 2018. He additionally served multiple terms on the state’s Admiralty and Maritime Law Advisory Commission until February 2018.

In response to the recent surge in mergers and acquisitions within the maritime and transportation industries, Neil has ventured into a burgeoning field. He now advises private equity firms on issues pertaining to transportation law during their due diligence processes. Neil’s involvement includes providing legal guidance to private equity entities like Och-Ziff in relation to their involvement in Uber’s Series E Financing, ABRY Partners in their acquisition of SambaSafety, The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of CB URS Holdings Corporation, York Capital Management in acquiring Mode Transportation LLC, and more. His expertise also extends to assisting Mode Transportation LLC in its pursuits to acquire TSG (The Transportation Specialist’s Group) and SunteckTTS, as well as to aiding Olympus Partners in its efforts to acquire Superior Bulk Logistics and Heniff Transportation. Furthermore, he served as transportation law counsel to Gamut Capital Management, L.P., and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation concerning their investment in PS Logistics in September 2021.

In 2022, with anticipation that the Supreme Court would not take up the AB-5 case, Neil took on the task of advising his local maritime and transportation clients on compliance with the evolving California law related to independent contractors, as indicated by the Dynamex case and AB-5 legislation. He guided these clients through the transition either to employee-based business models or brokerage models to align with the updated legal landscape.

Neil frequently participates as a speaker in discussions addressing emerging legal issues within the maritime and transportation sectors. His engagements include being a panelist on topics such as “The Legal Framework of Insurance Policy Rescission and Claims Misrepresentation Webcast,” which aired on February 02, 2017. He also served as an Instructor at IAMI, providing instruction on “Admiralty Law-Barratry & Marine Claims.” Moreover, he was a featured speaker addressing “bad faith and the duty to settle” for The Knowledge Group. Neil’s expertise led to an interview in Lawyer Monthly Magazine’s “Expert Insight” column on maritime and transport matters. From that interview, he delivered a prescient speech titled “Change is Everywhere in the Maritime and Transportation Industries” in Seattle, where he forecasted the disruptions that would arise from driverless technology, blockchain, the involvement of state courts in transportation, and the increased participation of private equity.

However, Neil’s most notable achievement remains his representation of Cigna in winning the Rex DeGeorge insurance fraud case. The case, which began off the coast of Italy and concluded in downtown LA with DeGeorge’s conviction for sinking his intentionally over-insured yacht, resulted in his imprisonment. Neil chronicled this complex 12-year saga, involving death threats, Hollywood elements, and ancient maritime doctrines, in a true crime book titled “An Act of Piracy.” The book, which explores the case in detail, including Judge J. Spencer Letts’ astonishment at its proceedings, is contracted with the New York-based publisher Morgan James. While the manuscript is completed, Neil continues to gather information from witnesses who, even to this day, reach out to him with new insights into the fraudulent scheme.

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