Rising Star: Jenner & Block's Kali Bracey

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Rising Star: Jenner & Block's Kali Bracey
By Erin Marie Daly
Law360, New York (April 05, 2010) -- Steering homebuilder Dragas Management Corp. through the first Chinese
drywall insurance coverage action filed in the U.S. and representing policyholder Tyson Foods Inc. in a coverage
suit over environmental claims from poultry operations mark just another day in the office for Jenner & Block LLP's
Kali N. Bracey, garnering her a spot on Law360’s list of 10 insurance lawyers under 40 to watch.
But whether Bracey, 38, is advising a high-profile client or a relatively unknown one, she said the most rewarding
aspect of her insurance practice was the rush she gets from fighting the good fight.
“I like the fact that I feel like we're doing great work for clients who bought insurance policies and are having
difficulty getting insurers to pay, which is something we can all relate to,” she said. “I always feel like I'm fighting
on the side of good.”
The helping spirit is actually one of the reasons Bracey — who joined Jenner & Block in February 2002 as an
associate and became a partner in 2006 — first became interested in practicing in the insurance arena.
The firm's culture of mentorship, she said, allowed her to work with several big-name partners in the early stages
of her Jenner & Block career, and she found that while insurance cases could be difficult to parse through, her
superiors were always willing to help answer her questions.
“They have always wanted me to understand, and they have so much knowledge and take the time to explain
things I never would have thought of,” Bracey said. “What's great about Jenner is that it's full of big-name people
in the insurance field that I'm happy to work with, and I want to follow in their footsteps.”
Prior to joining the firm's Washington, D.C., office, Bracey — a Yale Law School grad — spent four years at the
Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, a role in which she tried a variety of cases, from
misdemeanors to serious felonies and homicides.
That background gave her what John Mathias, the chair of Jenner & Block's insurance practice, referred to as
“street smarts” — a quality that has played a huge part in her professional success, he said.
“As a public defender, you learn day in and day out how to present yourself,” Mathias said. “Insurance work is
contract work, and you have to have the smarts to analyze it. Kali has a very good head on her shoulders. She's
pragmatic and tenacious, and she knows how the world turns. Clients like her for that.”
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Another quality that separates Bracey from the masses, Mathias said, is the fact that she regularly takes the time
to publish scholarly articles and speak at conferences around the country.
Some of Bracey's recent successes for clients include her successful representation of Bovis Construction in a
coverage suit against its insurer over issues related to mold in luxury residences in Washington.
In addition, she represented Arkansas Glass Container Corp., a midsize glass container manufacturer, in insurance
litigation over fire damage — an experience she called “very rewarding.”
“The claim happened right as the recession was hitting and deepening, and these were just good, nice people and I
wanted to help them,” she said. “It was classic work for people in the heartland.”
The case, Bracey said, called on all of her professional skills as an insurance litigator. She had to learn about the
glassmaking business, as well as issues like accounting.`
All of her insurance cases require getting to know her clients' business, she added, and doing so in a thoughtful,
comprehensive way is one strategy that has led to her success.
“As lawyers, we tend to think of ourselves as purely on the legal side of things, but we're serving the client's entire
business,” Bracey said. “You need to get into the weeds of why they bought a particular policy, and why the insurer
doesn't want to write a check.”
While it often feels like an uphill battle, she said, “you have to persevere and be patient, but you also have to know
when to turn up the heat.”
For junior attorneys looking to emulate her impressive career trajectory, Bracey said to focus on asking as many
questions as possible.
“One mistake I made was to sometimes choose deadline over quality,” she said. “Sometimes you need to admit
your work might be better if you have more time to work on it.”
Mathias, for his part, said any purported mistakes in Bracey's early years at the firm had been overshadowed by
her tremendous work ethic.
“She works very hard at this and gives it her best efforts, and she's done extremely well in a very short period of
time,” he said. “She's a brilliant, shining star. You'll be hearing a lot more of Kali Bracey.”
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All Content Copyright 2003-2010, Portfolio Media, Inc.