The Three E’s—Experience, Expertise and Excellence.
Experience
Milbank represents US and foreign cedents and reinsurers in complex litigation and arbitration proceedings in both the property/casualty and life/health fields. Our attorneys have considerable experience with a broad spectrum of issues, including:
- Reinsurance procurement
- Treaty and facultative certificate wordings
- Reinsurance security deficiencies
- Directors' and officers' liability
- Loss allocation disputes
- Monoline bond insurance disputes
- Broker liability
- Insurer insolvency
- Reinsurance pooling arrangements
- Disputes with state regulators
We have been involved in many high-stakes matters, both public and confidential. We obtained arbitration awards in favor of AIG member companies against Argonaut Insurance Company, in which Argonaut was ordered to pay AIG millions of dollars, plus interest and special damages under reinsurance contracts concerning twelve corporate environmental and toxic tort claims. We obtained numerous arbitration awards against Lloyds entities that refused to honor their reinsureance obligations. On behalf of reinsurers, we successfully represented a group of Swiss owned US insurers, who challenged California regulations that required US companies to provide records of their European affiliates to the California Department of Insurance to maintain their licenses in California. The US Supreme Court struck down these regulations. We have represented both cedents and reinsurers in disputes arising out of insolvencies, including one in which we obtained full rescission of a reinsurance treaty procured by fraud. We have represented counter-parties to reinsurance agreements with monocline bond insurers and have obtained favorable commutations of those contracts.
Expertise
Our lawyers publish widely on topics affecting the reinsurance and insurance industry. Our articles have appeared in, among other publications, Business Insurance, Best’s Review, National Underwriter, Journal of Reinsurance, Risk/Factor, Mealey’s Litigation Report: Reinsurance, Global Reinsurance and Insurance and Reinsurance Law Briefing. Our attorneys have chaired and delivered keynote speeches at national and international reinsurance conferences, such as those held by the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (“ARIAS”).
Excellence
Several of our attorneys are admitted in multiple jurisdictions within the US, including New York, Washington, DC and California, to meet the needs of our clients in this global industry. We employ the latest litigation technologies to complete discovery and other case management tasks in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Above all, we work closely with our clients to ensure an informed and creative approach to the resolution of their disputes. For many years, Chambers, The Best Lawyers in America and the International Who’s Who of Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers have recognized us as a leading reinsurance and insurance litigation firm and identified our lawyers as preeminent in their field.
