Chad Butterfield handles a wide range of matters, including employment defense, professional liability, business litigation, and insurance coverage and bad faith. Chad has litigated employment matters arising under federal and state employment laws. In addition, Chad has successfully represented clients in sophisticated commercial cases in state and federal court, and has represented attorneys in legal malpractice actions.
Prior to joining Wilson Elser, Chad gained valuable experience representing health care professionals, financial institutions and major hotel/casino resorts. He has a business background from working in his family's automobile dealership, which has served him well in representing clients in the automotive industry.
Areas of Focus
Employment Litigation
In employment matters, Chad represents employers in claims alleging race, sex, religious, national origin, disability and sexual orientation discrimination, and has handled cases involving discrimination claims, retaliation, wrongful discharge, defamation, and sexual harassment. Chad also handles tort, contract and whistleblower claims and has defended employers in charges of discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and issues arising under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and state laws.
Lawyers’ Liability
Chad defends attorneys in both litigation and transaction-based malpractice matters in state and federal court, litigating a wide variety of issues. He has handled matters involving complex commercial transactions, personal injury, fraud, real estate, family law and commercial litigation.
Consumer Finance
In the area of consumer finance, Chad regularly represents financial institutions in actions involving claims arising under federal statutes such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Coverage & Bad Faith
Chad’s practice includes providing insurance coverage advice on a variety of subjects, defending insurance carriers in extra-contractual litigation, and litigating rescission, contribution and declaratory relief actions.
Representative Matters
Obtained dismissal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a commercial case in which the firm’s client life insurance company was sued by its business partner on the loss of a real estate development deal for alleged failure to follow corporate formalities.
Prevailed on a legal malpractice claim obtaining dismissal for failure to state a claim, arguing that the plaintiff could not prove causation.