O’Melveny Worldwide

Janine Panchok-Berry

Counsel

New York Office
Areas of Focus
Areas of Focus
Insurance Coverage
Bankruptcy Litigation
Business & Commercial Litigation
Environmental
Overview Experience Insights News Credentials

As a Legal 500 US Rising Star, Janine Panchok-Berry has represented insurers in complex commercial litigation in federal and state court at every stage of litigation, guiding clients from pre-litigation through appeal, and in arbitration matters (domestic and international). She has spoken at national conferences—including Perrin Conferences and ARIAS—on insurance law and arbitration, and her work has appeared in Crain’s New York Business and the New York Law Journal.

Janine focuses on the confluence of insurance and bankruptcy law, advising on coverage issues in mass-tort bankruptcies, including In re Imerys Talc America and In re Boy Scouts of America.

Janine also has experience defending clients in securities, copyright, and product liability cases, and advises clients on transactions involving environmental law and insurance. Janine focuses much of her pro bono practice on environmental law, drawing on experience gained at the US Department of Justice (Environment and Natural Resources Division), and the National Environmental Law Center before joining O’Melveny.

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  • Counseled insurer clients on insurability of cybersecurity data breach fines under the GDPR and US regulatory regimes.
  • Defended excess insurer in large coverage dispute involving environmental remediation for oil and gas spills.
  • Counseled insurer on liabilities arising out of environmental claims brought against the policyholder's bankruptcy estate.
  • Represented investors in affirmative litigation against general partner and investment adviser for breach of fiduciary duty to investors.
  • Defended excess insurer in coverage dispute involving toxic tort claims.
  • Counseled clients on the environmental liabilities of hydraulic fracturing re-injection wells.
  • Advised a major insurer on its coverage liabilities stemming from a third-party's acquisition of an insured with environmental liabilities.

Languages

  • Spanish

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • New York

Court Admissions

  • US District Court, Southern District of New York
  • US Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Education

  • University of California at Berkeley, J.D., 2014: Finalist, Skadden’s Halloum Business Negotiation Competition held in partnership with Haas School of Business
  • New York University, B.A., Political Science

Honors & Awards

  • Recommended by The Legal 500 US for Insurance: Advice to Insurers (2024); Named a "Rising Star" (2021-2023)

Professional Activities

Clerkships

  • Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, New York Court of Appeals

Internships

  • US Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division
  • Earthjustice
  • East Bay Community Law Center

Author

  • “Current Trends in Application of the Absolute Pollution Exclusion in CGL Policies: Cross-Border Comparison Between New York and Canadian Law,” University of Oregon School of Law Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation (Spring 2019)
  • “A Classic Case of Regulatory Overreach,” Crain's New York Business (October 16, 2018 co-authored with Tancred Schiavoni and Gary Svirsky)

Speaker

  • “Jurisdictional Issues in Reinsurance Disputes (Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway),” ARIAS Fall Conference (November 2023)
  • “Recent Trends and Developments in Allocation Issues – Which Policies Apply and in What Order,” Perrin Insurance Coverage & Allocation Issues (May 30, 2019)

Podcasts

  • “Postponed Events, Cancelled Trips, Disrupted Business – Insurance and Coronavirus Collide,” New York City Bar Association (April 14, 2020)
Related Practices
Environmental
Insurance Coverage
Litigation & Investigations
Bankruptcy Litigation
Business & Commercial Litigation