Elmira R. Howard

Elmira is a seasoned litigation attorney who has a broad range of experience counseling and representing clients in complex commercial, real estate, insurance and surety litigation. She is the Co-Chair of the Surety Practice Group.  She is experienced in matters relating to construction and property contract disputes, lien and title disputes, fraud and other business torts, bad faith claims, insurance coverage, easements, boundary disputes, lender liability, escrow liability, real estate broker/salesperson liability, real estate financing and a myriad of other real estate and insurance matters. Elmira also has experience in representing surety companies in connection with litigation against commercial bonds, license and permit bonds, construction bonds and court bonds. Elmira has tried several high profile and complex cases on behalf of title insurance companies, surety companies, real estate developers, financial institutions and lenders, contractors, universities, real estate brokers, notaries, banks, and commercial and residential property owners.

Elmira’s expertise also includes providing coverage opinions under policies of insurance. Prior to joining Anderson McPharlin & Conners LLP, Elmira worked in-house at First American Title Insurance Company and HCC Surety Company where she rendered coverage decisions and monitored litigation under title insurance policies and commercial/license and permit bonds.

Elmira has been awarded the Super Lawyers-Rising Star award for six consecutive years (2012-2019) and has been recognized as a distinct attorney in the areas of real estate and surety law. She offers powerful advocacy as well as problem solving skills to assure the best outcome for her clients.

Other Languages

• Farsi
• Azeri-Turkish

Education

• Chapman University School of Law, Orange, California
  • J.D.
• University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA,
  • B.A., Law and Society, magna cum laude, June, 2005

Admissions & Associations

Bar Admissions

• California
• U.S. District Court Central District of California

Professional Associations

• State Bar of California
• American Bar Association
• DRI
• Iranian American Bar Association
• Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Real Property Section
    • Title Insurance Sub-Section Chair 2019 – 2020

Speaking & Publications

Presentations and Publications

• DRI Fidelity and Surety Roundtable “Commercial Bonds- A Step-by-Step Discussion to Deciding Coverage” May 2015.
• Art as a Fixture: Maximizing a Surety’s Indemnity Rights with Fixture Law published in DRI Journal March 2014.

Experience

• Summary Judgment establishing validity and priority of deed of trust.
• Court judgment after trial in favor of construction lender establishing priority of construction deed of trust in $18mm mechanic’s lien action.
• Summary Judgment in favor of purchaser of real property in connection with real estate purchase transaction dispute.
• Dispositive Pre-Trial ruling defeating a financial elder abuse claim against purchaser of real property.

Awards

• Super Lawyers – Rising Star 2012 – 2017
• SCLARC Vanguard Award