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Practice Highlights

  • Extensive trial and arbitration experience - more than 100 cases to final conclusion in the last 15 years
  • Work with clients to draft reinsurance and related contracts
  • Construct audit protocols and perform audits for reinsurers, ceding companies and potential purchasers

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Reinsurance

With the increasing contentiousness of reinsurance disputes over the last few years, it is crucial that insurers and reinsurers hire lawyers who are proactive and able to devise and pursue creative strategies that lead to favorable outcomes.  Not only is it important for lawyers to provide sound legal and business advice, but it is critical for counsel and industry clients to work together to consider changes to contract wordings, alternatives to the three-panel arbitration structure and develop other creative solutions in an effort to achieve economic and efficient resolution to disputes. 

With extensive trial and arbitration experience, the Reinsurance Group balances aggressiveness and efficiency to achieve positive results for clients. We have a reputation for being exceptionally focused and analytical. While there may be similarities, no two reinsurance disputes are the same, and drawing from our years of experience and applying a strategic focus, we are able to uncover nuances in a case that  allow us to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients. 

We not only understand reinsurance, but also the underlying insurance claims and coverage issues.  We represent both ceding companies and assumed reinsurers in helping to avoid disputes before they develop, as well as arbitrating or litigating disputes when the parties cannot otherwise amicably resolve them.  By working with our clients before a dispute develops, and while the underlying claim is ongoing, we are able to anticipate possible solutions and develop a strategy that works for our clients. Often times this leads to the quick resolution of disputes, saving the client both time and significant transactional expense.

In the last 15 years, we have litigated or arbitrated more than 100 reinsurance cases to final conclusion – resulting in awards in the hundreds of millions of dollars to our ceding company clients, and very substantial savings to our reinsurer clients.  Numerous additional cases have been favorably resolved by settlement during the same time period. 

Our lawyers have been involved in ground-breaking disputes including those involving:

  • follow-the-fortunes
  • environmental allocation
  • workers’ compensation
  • numerous kinds of financial instruments
  • insurer and reinsurer insolvency
  • offsets
  • reinsurance for asbestos losses
  • actuarial issues in life reinsurance
  • pools
  • surety

We have negotiated market agreements with regard to major repetitive issues and have made substantial use of professional mediation in reinsurance disputes.  We bring years of trial and arbitration experience to bear on clients’ concerns and are very knowledgeable about the leading industry arbitrators and experts.

Transactional Work

We counsel clients regarding the use of reinsurance-related devices in:

  • the purchase and sale of businesses
  • the purchase and sale of books of business
  • real estate financing
  • finite risk, ART transactions, non-traditional (structured) reinsurance
  • commutations
  • coinsurance, modified coinsurance and YRT agreements

We have drafted reinsurance and related contracts for life, accident and health and for property/casualty carriers to effect the transfer of books of business and portions of companies in countries throughout the world. We have drafted reinsurance contracts to address risks in significant real estate transactions, to make contract language more suitable for technology exposures, to provide for new methods of risk transfer and in many other contexts.

Auditing and Counseling

We construct audit protocols and perform audits for reinsurers, ceding companies and potential purchasers with particular experience in:

  • professional liability: attorneys, accountants, medical, architects, engineers, etc.
  • D&O
  • other property/casualty risks
  • life, accident and disability
  • workers’ compensation

On behalf of reinsurance and transactional clients, we have audited some of the largest D&O and professional liability books in the United States.  We have used our reinsurance claims experience to counsel clients in broad and specific issues of claim handling and presentation, contract construction, dispute avoidance and the use of ADR to minimize transaction costs.

Insurance Insolvency

We represent insurers, reinsurers and other entities in connection with insurer and reinsurer insolvencies and in disputes involving setoff, cut-through, acceleration, collateral, arbitration rights and other issues. We also counsel clients on eliminating or reducing the risks associated with the insolvency of trading partners and have negotiated settlements, commutations and assumption reinsurance transactions with receivers.

Representative Matters

  • Arbitrated dozens of reinsurance disputes concerning the accumulation of long tail claims pursuant to “causative agency” and similar language on behalf of ceding companies
  • Defeated reinsurers’ documentation requirements applicable to the adjustment of asbestos claims
  • Obtained declaratory relief in several cases establishing a protocol with respect to the adjustment of reinsurance claims on a going forward basis
  • Arbitrated several cases on behalf of a ceding company seeking to collect reinsurance for asbestos liabilities under a clash treaty
  • Represented ceding companies in defense of reinsurers’ rescission claims
  • Arbitrated disputes involving finite risk contracts
  • On behalf of a reinsurer, achieved summary judgment with respect to ceding company’s attempt to cede Extra Contractual Obligations under an Excess of Policy Limits provision
  • Successfully arbitrated series of surety reinsurance disputes arising out of Enron Mahonia bonds on behalf of a ceding company
  • Represented ceding companies and reinsurers against companies in liquidation and confronted issues involving offsets and cut throughs

Events

  • Current Trends in D&O Liability Insurance
    Re Claims: Reinsurance Claims and Loss Management Seminar, New York, NY
    September 13, 2012
  • Emerging Trends in Reinsurance Arbitration
    CLE Teleconference sponsored by HB Litigation
    January 12, 2012
  • Emerging D&O Issues Resulting From Dodd-Frank Legislation and Stepped-up SEC Enforcement and the Federal Corrupt Practices Act
    RAA 2011 Annual Conference (New York, NY)
    September 15, 2011
  • ECO, XPL Declaratory Judgment Expenses
    Strain Reinsurance and Contract Wording Textbook Training Course
    2011
  • Policy Forms: Anticipating the Future (D&O Social Media)
    Intermediaries and Reinsurance Underwriters Association
    April 21, 2011
  • Aggregation and Accumulation
    ARIAS-US Educational Seminar
    February 7, 2011
  • Wall Street & the Mortgage Meltdown: Implications for the Insurance & Reinsurance Industries
    White and Williams Coverage College 2010
    September 30, 2010
  • Reinsurance Implications of Hot Claims Topics
    White and Williams Coverage College
    September 2010
  • Reinsurance Claims and Loss Management
    Reinsurance Association of America
    September 2010
  • The Art of Designing Reinsurance Contracts and Programs
    Reinsurance Association of America Re: Contracts Conference (New York, NY)
    July 20, 2010
  • Considering Structural Change Regarding Reinsurance Arbitrations
    ARIAS-U.S. Spring Conference
    May 2010
  • The Role of Courts in the Arbitration Process
    White and Williams Coverage College
    October 2009
  • Reducing Costs in Reinsurance Arbitration
    Massachusetts Reinsurance Bar Association Symposium
    Fall 2009
  • New York’s Contract Certainty Initiative
    Excess and Surplus Lines Claims Association/Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, US Regional Conference (New York, NY)
    June 2009
  • The Right to Associate Counsel in Insurance and Reinsurance Disputes
    HB Litigation Conference (Philadelphia, PA)
    February 2009
  • Current Trends and Issues Impacting the Reinsurance Industry
    22nd International Reinsurance Congress (Bermuda)
    October 2008
  • Follow the Settlements: What it Is and What it Isn't
    White and Williams Coverage College
    September 17, 2008
  • Discovery in Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation
    White and Williams CLE
    June 11, 2008
  • Credit Risk Exposure
    Casualty Actuaries in Reinsurance Annual Meeting
    May 9, 2008
  • Innocent Coinsured Doctrine in Property and D&O Insurance and Reinsurance Law
    Intermediaries and Reinsurance Underwriters Association (New York, NY)
    November 2007
  • Reallocation Among Settled and Non-Settled Insurers
    West Legal Works Insurance and Reinsurance Allocation Workshop
    November 2007
  • Brokers and Reinsurance Markets Association - 2007 Committee Rendezvous
    Naples, FL
    March 2007
  • Back to Basics in the Reinsurance Industry
    CPCU Society (Philadelphia, PA)
    May 2004
  • Intensive Arbitor Training Workshop
    ARIAS-US
    January 2003
  • September 11 - The Insurance and Reinsurance Aftermath
    CPCU Society (Philadelphia, PA)
    March 2002

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