Maurice Pesso Partner

Maurice Pesso has been practicing law for more than 10 years and represents domestic and international insurers in connection with insurance coverage and liability issues arising under major professional liability lines, including directors and officers, banker and financial professional liability, errors and omissions and fiduciary liability. Maurice has particular experience in securities class actions, shareholders derivative actions, and in bankruptcy and insolvency issues arising in the insurance context.

Maurice has significant involvement with respect to some of the decades' largest scandals involving directors and officers and financial and professional insurance, including Enron, Worldcom, Adelphia, Tyco, IPO Laddering, Subprime/Credit Crisis-Related litigation, Madoff-Related litigation and Options Backdating-Related litigation.

He regularly represents professional liability insurers in mediations and arbitrations, and in coverage litigation before state and federal courts across the country. 

Maurice also works with insurance company clients on developing new insurance products and drafting policy forms, and advises corporate clients on structuring their insurance programs at renewal or in the context of M&A activity. 

Representative Matters

• Regularly represents insurers' interests in connection with resolution of complex securities claims through litigation and alternative dispute resolution procedures
• Successfully negotiated numerous policy settlements in connection with Claims noticed under directors and officers liability policies
• Obtained summary judgment for an insurance company that denied coverage for a portion of a multi-million dollar regulatory settlement that was labeled as disgorgement
• Defended insurance companies in coverage actions brought by financial institutions seeking coverage for their settlements of the Enron and WorldCom securities class actions
• Integral part of the lead counsel team that represented the lead plaintiff in the first ever securities class action brought by shareholders of a Turkish company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, resulting in a settlement of over $19 million