Handles high-stakes, complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts and arbitrations throughout the country.
Advises financial services companies and their service providers regarding cutting-edge consumer lending and insurance issues.

Ashley Crawford is the partner in charge of the firm’s San Francisco office. Ashley represents clients in consumer and securities class actions, enforcement actions, false claims litigation, and a broad range of insurance and other business disputes. Her clients include financial services providers; private equity and hedge funds; and other health, energy and entertainment companies.

Ashley brings a strong industry background to her representations, having served as in-house counsel for an insurance company, where she managed bad-faith and corporate litigation and regularly advised claims personnel in various lines of business.

In addition to her substantial trial and arbitration experience, Ashley brings additional value to her clients through her focus on implementing effective project management, innovative discovery methods and other cost efficiencies in sprawling, complex litigations.

Representative Work

Won fraud, breach-of-contract and indemnification claims against a Fortune 500 financial services company in a more than six-month bench trial. Successfully recouped the client’s multimillion-dollar settlement and attorney’s fees from a mass-plaintiff tort suit alleging that it was liable for damages its employees allegedly suffered as a result of investment advice they received from broker-dealer representatives licensed by a former seminar provider for the company.
Represented a consumer lending company and its principals in a series of class actions and dozens of arbitrations alleging that the company and individuals were not properly licensed and violated usury caps under various state lending laws.
Represented a lead aggregation/generation company in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement action alleging that the company’s failure to properly supervise the activities of the third-party lending companies to which it sold leads was unfair and abusive under the Consumer Financial Protection Act.
Defended a supplier of modular refineries in a contract and tort dispute alleging faulty construction of a commercial-sized biodiesel plant.
In a class action lawsuit and related litigation, represented an insurance company against allegations that the company’s representatives improperly recommended that public employees transfer out of a state-run pension program and into the insurance company’s annuity within the state’s defined contribution plan.

Education
J.D., Harvard Law School, 2003
B.A., Louisiana State University, summa cum laude, 1999

Bar Admissions
California
Texas

Recognitions

Law360 “Insurance Rising Star,” 2015.

Affiliations and Public Service

Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers.
Member, Bar Association of San Francisco.
Instructor, National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
Instructor, one-week pilot program in trial advocacy, Public Defender’s Office, Lagos, Nigeria.

Speeches and Publications

Panelist, “Litigation and The Future of Consumer Protection for InsurTechs,” InsurTech Legal Forum, October 24, 2018.
Panelist, “Leading the Way: The Most Impactful Market Trends and Opportunities in Legal Pricing,” LMA P3 – The Practice Innovation Conference, May 15, 2018.
Panelist, “Basics and Advanced Techniques for Business, Litigation and Change Management,” ABA Legal Project Management Webinar Series, July 20, 2016.