Jenny H. Wang

Jenny is a Partner in Maynard Nexsen’s Insurance practice group. She represents insurers, employers and other national corporations in ERISA-governed litigation.  

With more than twenty years of experience, Jenny has litigated hundreds of actions involving employee benefit plans. She successfully defends ERISA plan fiduciaries against claims for breach of fiduciary duty, equitable relief and the payment of benefits under employer-sponsored benefit plans.

Jenny defends insurers in first-party actions involving common law claims for breach of contract, bad faith, negligence and fraud. She also prosecutes declaratory relief actions involving coverage disputes and rescission of insurance policies.

Jenny represents institutional clients against claims of unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duties. She also provides opinions in complex insurance coverage matters and counsels corporate clients in employer-employee disputes.

Jenny represents clients in state, federal and appellate courts, obtaining favorable results in every phase of litigation, including at the pleading stage, by way of motions for summary judgment, early mediation, trial and appeal.  She has:

• Prevailed on ERISA bench trials, defeating disputed claims for life insurance and long-term disability benefits.
• Prevailed after oral arguments in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals involving appeals of judgments in ERISA-governed benefits litigation.
• Successfully pursued ERISA-preemption of state law claims asserted against insurers, resulting in the elimination of claims for extra-contractual damages.
• Blocked attempts by claimants to litigate ERISA-governed benefits claims without having exhausted their administrative remedies.
• Obtained orders precluding attempts by ERISA claimants to conduct discovery outside of the administrative record.
• Successfully tried cases to verdict in state and federal courts on breach of contract and tort claims, including obtaining a money judgment in favor of her client insurer following a jury trial on its insurance fraud claim and the insured’s counterclaims for breach of contract and bad faith.
• Obtained judgments in favor of her clients in cases involving interpretation of what constitutes “sickness” versus “accidental bodily injury” within the meaning of insurance policies that provide different levels of benefits for claims due to either sickness or injury.
• Successfully moved to eliminate claims against her clients for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and punitive damages.
• Obtained favorable rulings for her clients in cases involving the interpretation of “appropriate care” as set forth in disability policies that condition benefits on the receipt of appropriate care.

Jenny holds a J.D. from the UC Hastings College of the Law.

Community & Professional

• Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Fellow
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Orange County Bar Association

Jenny's representative matters include the following:

• Ryan Whitesell v. Liberty Life Assur. Co. of Boston, U.S.D.C., Northern District of Calif., Case No. 21-cv-8464-YGR (Oct. 10, 2022).
• McBean v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59292 (S.D. Cal. 2019)
• Pegues v. Raytheon Company, U.S. District Court, Central District of Calif., Case No. 2:17-CV-052420 (GJSx) (C.D. Cal. 2019)
• Curran v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 697 Fed. Appx. 558 (9th Cir. 2017)
• Leslie v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 2014 WL 5511089 (C.D. Cal. 2014), aff’d at 662 Fed. Appx. 522 (9th Cir. 2016)
• Carey v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29155 (C.D. Cal. 2014)
• National Life Ins. Co., et al. v. Saks, USDC, Central Calif., Case No. LACV 07 3061, May 2013
• Bilezikjian v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, 692 F. Supp. 2d 1203 (C. D. Cal. 2010), aff’d at 2011 U.S. App. Lexis 14664 (9th Cir. July 14, 2011)
• Mastaler v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, 2012 U.S. Dist. Lexis 21725 (S. D. Cal. Feb. 22, 2012
• Williams v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America, 2007 WL 3407425 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 13, 2007)
• Kirsh v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of America, 2002 WL 1293016 (Cal. 2nd App. Dist. June 12, 2002)