Overview
Cam Zangenehzadeh is an attorney in the Litigation practice, representing corporate policyholders in the recovery of insurance assets. Cam regularly advises companies on a wide range of risk management issues and has represented Fortune 500 companies in complex insurance recovery matters, including in coverage litigation involving environmental property damage. Cam has recovered millions of dollars for clients under various commercial insurance policies and in a variety of contexts.
Before joining the firm, Cam served as a judicial law clerk in several courts—from the U.S. District Court to the Washington State Supreme Court and the Washington State Court of Appeals. While clerking he drafted over 50 opinions, as well as myriad orders, covering a wide range of substantive legal issues.
During law school, Cam gained practical experience clerking at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance and Office of Regional Counsel, Region 10. He also externed full-time at Earthjustice, a leading nonprofit public-interest environmental law organization. Cam is an avid writer and helmed his law school’s environmental law journal, serving as editor-in-chief.
Before entering law school, Cam earned his master’s in environmental policy and management while working full-time at a Fortune 100 insurance company.
Education
Seattle University School of Law, J.D., 2017, cum laude; Editor-in-Chief, Seattle Journal of Environmental Law; Dean’s List
University of Denver, M.A.Sc., Environmental Policy and Management: concentration in Natural Resources Management, certificate in Environmental Policy, 2013
Illinois Institute of Technology, B.S., Political Science; minor, Biology, 2009; Dean’s List
Admissions
Oregon
Washington
Alaska
U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
U.S. District Court for Western District of Washington
Experience
Insurance Recovery, Coverage Litigation, and Risk Management
- Represent corporate policyholders in the preservation, protection, and recovery of insurance assets.
- Negotiate several multi-million-dollar insurance settlements for corporate policyholders.
- Represent corporate policyholders in various state and federal courts in insurance-coverage litigation, including coverage disputes involving significant environmental property damage.
- Provide advice and counsel on various kinds of insurance policies, including commercial general liability, property, business income, directors & officers, and representations & warranties, among others.
Environmental matters
- Member of various teams representing property owners performing government mandated actions at contaminated sites.
Clerkships
- Judicial Law Clerk to Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, 2020-2021
- Judicial Law Clerk to Justice Debra Stephens, Washington State Supreme Court, 2019-2020
- Judicial Law Clerk to Judge Rebecca Glasgow, Washington State Court of Appeals, 2019
- Judicial Law Clerk to Judge Thomas Bjorgen, Washington State Court of Appeals, 2017-2019
Insights
Insights & Presentations
- Co-author, OSB Legal Publications, Torts Chapter 17, Indemnity and Contribution, August 2024
- Co-author, The Mood Swings on Insurer Bad-Faith in Oregon: An Analysis of the Oregon Supreme Court Decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, Stoel Rives Notice of Appeal Blog/JDSupra, January 16, 2024
- LIT Education Series 2023 - An Introduction to Insurance Coverage in Litigation, Stoel Rives, September 12, 2023
- “Privilege Issues in Coverage Matters,” Northwest Insurance Law, The Seminar Group, October 26, 2022“‘Help!’ said Toad: The Supreme Court Appears Divided on the Endangered Dusky Gopher Frog,” ABA SEER Endangered Species Committee Newsletter, October 26, 2018
- “‘Blah,’ said Toad: A Divided Fifth Circuit Refuses to Rehear Critical Habitat Decision with Reflections on States’ Challenge to the Services Revised Critical Habitat Regulations,” ABA SEER ESA Student Writing Competition, 2017
Recognition
- Stoel Rives LLP Andrew Guy Pro Bono Award, Recipient, 2023
- First Place, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Endangered Species Act Student Writing Competition, 2017
- CALI Award (highest grade): Legal Writing II; Civil Externship Seminar; and Law, Language and Literature
- Seattle University School of Law Pro Bono Pledge Outstanding Service Awardee (2017), Mark Reutlinger Scholarship for Excellence in Legal Writing (2017), Public Interest Law Foundation Grantee (2016), Law Trustee Scholar (2014–2017), Matthew Henson Environmental Law Fellow (2015)
Affiliations
Professional
- Seattle University Law Alumni Board, Board Member, 2021–present
- Member, Stoel Rives Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (2023-2024)
- Washington State Bar Association Administrative Law Section, former Young Lawyer Liaison
- Washington State Bar Association Legislative Review Committee, former Committee Member
- Seattle University School of Law Environmental Law Society, former Member