Howard is the co-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Subrogation & Recovery Department and is chair of the Department’s Western Regional Offices. He is a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Board of Directors and serves on the firm’s Management Committee. In his role as department co-chair, Howard leads a team of more than 225 trial lawyers, recovery analysts, paralegals, and subrogation technical coordinators handling cases in all 50 U.S. states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and all 10 Canadian provinces.
Howard has successfully litigated a wide array of civil cases while focusing his practice in the areas of wildfires, catastrophic property damage claims, energy/utility losses, product liability, construction defect, fine art & specie, and commercial litigation. He is accomplished at handling significant subrogation and recovery cases against public and private utilities, major manufacturers, national contractors and government entities in mass tort events, including numerous California wildfires and the San Bruno Pipeline Explosion. He routinely handles high level decision-making impacting the largest subrogation cases in the world.
Howard is widely recognized for his experience in litigating catastrophic wildfires and has been selected by his peers to serve as co-lead litigation counsel for the subrogation industry for every major California wildfire over the past decade, including the 2017 California North Bay Fire cases, 2017 Southern California Thomas, Creek, and Rye Fires, 2018 Woolsey Fire, 2019 Kincade, Saddle Ridge, and Getty Fires, 2020 Mountain View and Zogg Fires, 2021 Dixie Fire, and 2022 Coastal Fire. He is presently co-lead litigation counsel for the 2025 Eaton Fire. Howard handles cases domestically and internationally, with significant experience in Asia. He has also successfully arbitrated before the International Chamber of Commerce in London, England.
In 2021, Howard was awarded the prestigious California Lawyer of the Year (“CLAY”) Award for his work as co-lead litigation counsel for the subrogation industry in the Woolsey Fire $2.2 billion settlement. In addition, he has been named as one of the Best Lawyers in America from 2020-2026.
In addition to his roles in the Subrogation & Recovery Department, Howard is the Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office of Cozen O’Connor; has served on the Pro-Bono, Cross-Marketing, and PAC committees; and has co-chaired its Shareholder Nomination Committee.
In his role as Western Region chair, Howard oversees lawyers handling matters in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Howard is the creator and former editor of Cozen O'Connor's Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog and has authored blogs and publications in the areas of Inverse Condemnation, The Internet of Things and Its Impact on Subrogation and Cyber Risks to Utilities and Power Companies. He has been a repeat guest on the Subro On The Go Podcast. Howard has presented at NASP, National Wildland Fire Conference, and the California Conference of Arson Investigators. He frequently lectures to clients and organizations throughout the country addressing a wide range of litigation and practice issues.
Howard has worked on a number of pro bono matters including procurement of reparations for Holocaust survivors, as well as providing legal counsel to Hurricane Katrina and Rita evacuees who were relocated to Los Angeles. Howard has also participated in Los Angeles County’s Teen Court program in Santa Monica, an alternative to Juvenile court, where he guided the student jury through an actual trial including the deliberation process to reach a verdict and sentence, which was approved and enforced by the Los Angeles County Superior Court and Probation Department. Howard volunteers his time at The Ronald McDonald House, food banks and homeless shelters in the greater Los Angeles area. He is a former executive board member of the Hermosa Beach Little League and Hermosa Beach Education Foundation board member.
Howard earned his Bachelor of Arts at the College of William and Mary in 1992, where he was a three-year starter on the football team that earned a Lambert Cup Championship in 1990. Outside the office, Howard enjoys spending time with his wife and their three children, who he has coached in football, baseball, softball, and basketball. He is an avid Philadelphia sports fan.