Gretchen Hoff Varner represents a wide range of companies in high-stakes coverage litigation and arbitration and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurers. She is a noted trial lawyer who has successfully arbitrated or tried multiple insurance cases. Chambers USA ranks Gretchen as one of the leading insurance policyholder attorneys in California, and says that she is “an incredibly thoughtful and strategic adviser, a good counsellor, and is incredibly knowledgeable. She is also an excellent writer and communicator." She was one of the Daily Journal's 2017 Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in California and Business Insurance named her as one of its Women to Watch for 2022. She recently secured a trial victory in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of her client Brooklyn Union Gas Company. She is the Managing Partner for the San Francisco office of Covington.

Gretchen's trial work also reflects her commitment to public service; she led the Covington trial teams that overturned New York City's racially discriminatory stop-and-frisk policy after a three-month trial in the Southern District of New York, and challenged unconstitutional conditions for mentally ill prisoners in a Mississippi private prison.

Gretchen represents policyholders with all types of insurance policies, and focuses on:

General liability insurance
D&O and E&O insurance, particularly related to securities claims
Cyber insurance, data breaches, and privacy-related losses
Property and business interruption insurance for catastrophic losses, including fires, hurricanes, and Covid-19
Trademark infringement and intellectual property losses
Environmental contamination and other long-tail liabilities, including product liability
Event cancellation
Bad faith, fraud, and violations of insurance regulations

Outside the courtroom, Gretchen is a trusted advisor to corporate decision-makers and has resolved multiple high-dollar matters without the need for litigation. She is often praised for her ability to translate complex insurance concepts into practical guidance.

She is a member of the American Law Institute, the past Chair of the Insurance Section of the San Francisco Bar Association, and a frequent speaker to industry groups and at conferences. A champion of women in leadership, she also serves on the board of the Girl Scout Council of Northern California.