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Gary R. Selvin, Esq. brings more than four decades of experience at the highest levels of insurance coverage, bad faith, and complex civil litigation to his work as a neutral. Over the course of his career, he has advised insurers and businesses nationwide, tried and appealed high-exposure cases in state and federal courts, and increasingly served as a trusted problem-solver in matters where the stakes are significant, positions are entrenched, and resolution requires both legal rigor and practical judgment.

Mr. Selvin’s practice has encompassed virtually every category of insurance-related dispute. He has deep experience in insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, catastrophic bodily injury, professional liability, habitability and construction defect claims, employment practices liability, and sophisticated first-party property matters. His trial work has involved some of the most serious injury claims presented in civil courts, including wrongful death and life-altering injuries, and he has argued dozens of appeals before state and federal appellate courts, including state supreme courts—providing him with a comprehensive understanding of how cases are evaluated at every stage of the dispute lifecycle.

A portion of Mr. Selvin’s career has involved representing insurers and insureds in large coverage matters, including complex litigation arising out of abuse claims involving the Catholic Church and other substantial entities, multi-party habitability disputes, and very large construction claims.  In these cases, his work focused on identifying implicated policies, and collaborating with insurers and parties to resolve allocation issues and extraordinary financial exposure across multiple insured entities. This experience sharpened his ability to manage disputes involving intense scrutiny, high emotional content, and existential financial risk—while maintaining disciplined legal analysis and strategic focus on resolution rather than rhetoric.

What distinguishes Mr. Selvin as a neutral is his ability to translate deep substantive experience into forward movement. Insurers have increasingly retained him in a quasi-mediator role—often before litigation formally begins—to engage directly with plaintiffs’ counsel and defense teams, identify the true pressure points in a case, and resolve disputes early. He is particularly effective in matters that parties initially view as “unsettleable,” including catastrophic injury, death, and habitability cases, where legal exposure, financial risk, and human dynamics intersect.

As a mediator, Mr. Selvin is deliberate, prepared, and engaged well before the mediation session itself. He conducts pre-mediation calls with counsel to surface roadblocks, misaligned assumptions, and disputed legal or factual issues that may impede progress. During mediation, he focuses on ensuring parties feel heard, de-escalating personalized advocacy, and reframing disputes around their core drivers. He is comfortable employing evaluative techniques when appropriate—particularly where unresolved legal questions or unrealistic risk assessments are preventing meaningful negotiation.

Mr. Selvin is widely regarded as even-keeled, creative, and strategically minded. He brings a steady temperament to difficult negotiations and a practical understanding of how counsel, carriers, and parties assess risk. His mediation style reflects a consistent philosophy: identify common ground, eliminate unnecessary conflict, and help parties reach durable resolutions grounded in reality rather than posturing.

Mr. Selvin’s work as a neutral reflects the accumulation of decades of judgment, perspective, and credibility. He approaches each matter with the understanding that effective dispute resolution is not about winning arguments, but about guiding parties—often under significant pressure—toward outcomes they can accept and move forward from.

• Insurance Coverage
• Insurance Bad Faith
• Habitability
• Personal Injury
• Construction

• Partner, Selvin Wraith Halman, 2002-2026
• Partner, Burnham Brown, 1985-2002

• J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1983
• B.A., Occidental College, 1978

• Member, State Bar of California, 1983
• AV-Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
• Super Lawyers – Northern California, 2008–2025