At the law offices of Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones and Schneider, L.L.P. we serve
clients in California and Nevada.
Our office locations are: Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Valencia, Reno, and Las Vegas.
Our legal services help businesses and individuals throughout the tri-counties, including
San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County, and the cities
of Santa Maria, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Ojai, Thousand Oaks – Los Angeles County
and in the Southern California communities of the Santa Clarita Valley and the San
Fernando Valley - and the greater metro areas of Nevada: Reno and Las Vegas.
Mr. Jones graduated with honors from the University of Southern California in 1976
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. After receiving a
USC Graduate Fellowship and a William Randolph Hearst Foundation National Journalism
Award, he obtained a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Certificate in
Judicial Administration in 1978. Mr. Jones worked in the field of Court Administration
from 1977 to 1980 for the District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was the Director
of the Clark County Jail Overcrowding Project, founded a Pretrial Services agency
and testified as an expert witness in a Federal class action jail overcrowding trial.
He then matriculated to the University of San Diego School of Law on a full WICHE
Fellowship, graduating in 1983. Upon his admission to the California and Nevada Bars,
Mr. Jones joined the Los Angeles branch of a large, national law firm. After practicing
in Los Angeles for sixteen years, he formed a law partnership now known as Myers,
Widders, Gibson, Jones & Schneider, L.L.P., in Ventura, California.
Mr. Jones' legal publications include Ten...No Make That Eleven Additional Insured
Cases You Should Know The Verdict - Spring 2004; Tips On Handling Fire And Smoke
Damage Claims Ventura County Star December 6, 2003; What's All The Fuss About Mold?
Citations July 2002; Do Pollution Exclusions Apply to Mold Claims? Columns-Mold (Harris
Martin) April 2002; Sharing the Additional Insured's Defense In Construction Defect
Litigation California Insurance Law and Regulation Law Reporter - December, 1996;
Expanded and re-published in Insurance Litigation Reporter, February 15, 1997 and
Multiple Punitive Damage Awards for a Single Course of Wrongful Conduct: The Need
for a National Policy to Protect Due Process. 43 Alabama L Rev. 1, 1991.
Mr. Jones' reported decisions include Valentino v. Elliott Sav-on-Gas, Inc. (1988)
201 Cal. App. 3d 692; People ex rel Garamendi v. American Autoplan, Inc. (1993) 20
Cal. App. 4th 710; Adler v. Western Home Insurance Co., 878 F.Supp. 1329 (C.D.Cal
1995); S. Bravo Systems v. Environ Products, Inc., 78 F. 3d 603 (Fed. Cir. 1996),
Harry S. Low as Insurance Commissioner v. Golden Eagle (Metabolife International)
99 Cal.App.4th 109 (2002); Burnett v. Chimney Sweep 123 Cal.App.4th 1057 (2004) and
Goldstein v. Barak (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 835. Mr. Jones' speaking engagement include
West Coast Casualty's Construction Defect Seminar - "Is The Gravy Train Slowing?
Insurers New Policy Forms Limit Coverage for Owners, Developers and General Contractors"
(May 2005); The American Indoor Air Quality Council, Los Angeles Chapter Workshop
- "Prosecuting and Presenting A Consumer's Claim for Mold Damage: A Coordinated Approach
Between Attorneys and Environmental Professionals" (October 2004); The American Indoor
Air Quality Council, Santa Barbara Chapter Workshop - "Medical Effects of Mold: What
Does The Latest Research Show? What Is Admissible In Court?" (September 2004); CPA
Law Society of Ventura and East Ventura Chapters - "The Use and Abuse of Expert Witnesses"
(July 2004 & February 2005); The Journal Of Light Construction "Insurance Coverage
and Liability - What Contractors Need To Know" (May 2004); Roto Rooter Franchise
Association National Conference - "Avoiding Liability For Mold Claims" (March 2004);
Tolman & Wiker "- Avoiding Insurance Broker Errors & Omissions Claims In An Era Of
Shrinking Markets And Coverage" (January 2004); National Business Institute - "Emerging
Issues in California Indoor Air Quality and Toxic Mold Litigation" (January 2004);
Nevada Independent Insurance Agents Construction Defect Seminar - "Additional Insured
Issues" - Reno and Las Vegas (April 2003); Bench & Bar & Tri-Counties Paralegal &
MCLE Conference - "Litigating the Toxic Mold Case" (October 2002); Santa Barbara
Real Property Association - "Legal Aspects of Toxic Mold" (July 2002); Santa Barbara
Contractors Association - "Mold Claims In Construction Defect Litigation" (May 2002);
Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association - "Litigating The Toxic Mold Case" (May
2002); Community Associations Institute - Channel Islands Chapter - "Mold, Mayhem
and Life in the Post-September 11 Marketplace" (April 2002); Community Associations
Institute - Los Angeles Chapter - "The Mold Epidemic - Come Find Out The Truth" (February
2002); Santa Barbara Association of Realtors - "Mold Contamination In Buildings:
Health, Legal and Remedial Issues" (December 2001); Tri-County Government Lawyers
Association - "The Additional Insured, Not a Second Class Citizen Anymore" (February
2001); Environmental Inspections and Solutions Mold Seminar - "Recovery of Damages
for Injuries to Persons and Property Caused by Mold" (February 2001); West Coast
Casualty Company's Seventh Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA - "A Paradigm
For Insurance Coverage: What's The Defect? What's the Repair Methodology? Is It Covered?"
(April 2000); Community Associations Institute (Mid-California Chapter) - "Anatomy
of a Construction Defect Case" (March 2000); Swerdlow, Florence & Sanchez, APLC -
"Spotting Insurance Coverage Issues In Employment Litigation" (January 1998). Same
lecture presented to LEFTJAW (plaintiff's employment lawyer organization) October
1998; Construction Law Breakfast Group, Pomona, CA - "An Introduction to What Every
Construction Defect Lawyer Should Know About Insurance Coverage" (May 1997). Same
lecture presented to Verboon, Hartman, Whitaker & Peter (April, 1997); Wolf, Rifkin
& Shapiro (June, 1997) and Koletsky, Mancini, Feldman & Ryan (September 1997); West
Coast Casualty Company's Fifth Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA, "An
Introduction To What Every Claims Representative and Attorney Should Know About Insurance
Coverage for Construction Defect Claims" (October 1997); West Coast Casualty Company's
Fourth Annual Construction Defect Seminar, Anaheim, CA, "Sharing the Additional Insured's
Defense" (October, 1996); West Coast Casualty Company's Third Annual Construction
Defect Seminar, Hollywood, CA, "Status of the Additional Insured" (October, 1995);
Northland Insurance Company, St. Paul, Minn., "Recent Developments in California
Tort Law" (February, 1995); Civitan Club of the San Gabriel Valley - "The Ballot
Initiatives - What's In A Number?" (1988).
Mr. Jones resides in Ojai, CA with his wife, two daughters, a horse, three dogs and
"too many cats." He may be reached at (805) 644-7188 or djones@mwgjs.com.
Dennis Neil Jones
Dennis Neil Jones, an A-V rated partner in the Ventura-based law firm of Myers, Widders,
Gibson, Jones & Schneider, L.L.P., has been practicing insurance coverage and other
civil litigation for 25 years. During that time, he has acted as coverage counsel
for insurers, policyholders and plaintiffs. Mr. Jones has also served as a retained
expert witness on insurance coverage, regulatory and standard of care issues. Retired
Judges have retained him as an independent coverage expert in large construction
defect mediations. He is a civil trial attorney who has recovered more than $50 million
for his clients.
Mr. Jones has been named a Southern California “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics for
2012 in the field of insurance law. This is the fifth time in six years that Jones
has received this honor. Only 5% of all attorneys in Southern California in various
legal specialties are named as Super Lawyers, based upon peer voting.
Mr. Jones was the 2008 President of the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association.
