INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE
Counseling | Coverage Dispute Resolution | General Litigation
Our insurance and reinsurance practice consists of approximately 50 lawyers principally representing insurers in a broad range of capacities, including counseling on wordings, coverage, reinsurance, placing and regulatory matters and representation of insurers in litigation, arbitration and mediation. These attorneys handle issues involved in policies of commercial liability, professional indemnity, first party, marine, energy, aviation, employment practices liability, and directors and officers liability.
Because of the exclusive nature and broad base of the practice over time, our lawyers practicing in this area have developed an understanding of the issues that affect underwriters, claims professionals and brokers. The knowledge gained from this understanding has allowed us to develop a perspective of the insurance business, which permits us to evaluate issues and to develop positions borne out of fundamental insurance principles and our clients' commercial goals. We are accustomed to dealing with insurance and reinsurance policies as commercial instruments of risk management and transfer. This perspective allows us not only to deal with the unusual and cutting edge issues presented in the insurance market today, but also to approach problems and issues with the knowledge that the resolution of a particular issue or claim has an impact beyond that current issue or claim. We take pride in the insight and the analytical skills that our attorneys bring to matters our clients entrust to us. It is, in fact, on this basis that the insurance practice at Phelps Dunbar sets its standards.
Our attorneys in the insurance and reinsurance practice perform in three general areas - Counseling, Coverage Dispute Resolution, and General Litigation.
We are regularly asked to review a broad range of claims under a broad range of policy wordings, and to advise claims professionals on the extent that coverage may exist with respect to claims. We are guided in this respect by the fundamental concept that we are expected to provide an objective assessment. We recognize that most insurers are prepared to meet their obligations and expect us to advise them when and if they have such an obligation. Some of our clients seek our counsel on matters in all parts of the country. We therefore maintain a current knowledge of the developments in the law - on matters of coverage, claims handling issues and other subjects - in jurisdictions across the United States.
Our lawyers are frequently asked to review wordings or drafts or to review current wordings for modification. We have contributed to the drafting of policies. The experience and perspective we have in this respect gives us an ability to provide assistance to underwriters, and to non-insurance clients of the firm relative to their insurance requirements in the transaction of their business. Our insurance lawyers are routinely involved in business transactions that involve insurance issues.
Some of our attorneys counsel insurers with respect to matters before commissioners of insurance and meet with representatives of those offices to present insurer concerns on matters involving the approval of wordings and the regulation of insurers.
In the event of a disagreement between an insurer and its insured relative to coverage, our attorneys represent insurers in litigation, arbitration and mediation. This representation is on a national basis with some clients, and federal and state courts throughout the United States have admitted our attorneys to practice pro hac vice. We have tried and/or brought to successful conclusion through the litigation process numerous coverage disputes, from those involving hundreds of millions of dollars in very complex litigation to more straightforward litigation involving a single insurer and its insured. This practice is not limited to any particular area, and involves coverage disputes under a broad range of claims in first party and third party contracts.
We staff litigation in the most efficient manner possible, attempting to have each project performed by that person on the litigation team most capable of performing the task at the most efficient cost. The actual cost to our clients usually is considerably lower than clients may expect for similarly experienced insurance coverage litigators. Because of our involvement in matters involving complicated issues, we understand the financial impact of litigation on our clients and our clients' desire that we prepare to resolve coverage disputes at the earliest possible moment on the best possible terms. We have also learned that traditional settlement agreements are frequently unsatisfactory in these circumstances. We are familiar with and have negotiated unusual and sophisticated arrangements to conclude coverage disputes to the satisfaction of our clients.
Frequently, one of the outcomes of a successful resolution of a coverage dispute through litigation is a subsequent claim by an insured alleging a failure by the insurer to discharge a defense obligation or a breach by the insurer of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, or for the imposition of extracontractual liability. Our attorneys are familiar with the obligations imposed upon insurers in this respect and defend insurers against those claims.
Insurers face an increasing number of class action lawsuits. These cases have involved allegations of various unfair trade and claims handling practices, including territorial rating complaints against auto and life insurers, complaints regarding the use of "after market" parts in auto repairs, complaints regarding forced collateral protection insurance in auto purchase financing, "diminished value" claims under auto policies, vanishing premium claims under life insurance policies and complaints that installment fees for the payment of premiums and membership dues paid to non-insurance associations are premiums. These suits typically involve jurisdictional issues and significant issues whether there is, in fact, a class that a court may certify. These cases, therefore, require an ability to address jurisdictional and procedural issues before addressing the merits of the claim. Our attorneys are connected to networks of lawyers who also defend insurers in these matters in other parts of the country, and we keep abreast of the latest developments in these areas.
