We’re No. 1. The May 2007 edition of Reactions, an international insurance industry magazine that conducts an extensive survey of in-house counsel, ranked Lord, Bissell & Brook as the top U.S. law firm for insurance and reinsurance related issues. The firm ranked #1 in the categories of regulatory, litigation and dispute management, insolvency, corporate contracts, policy drafting and reinsurance. This is the sixth year in a row that Lord, Bissell & Brook has achieved high rankings in the survey.
For the fifth consecutive year, Lord, Bissell & Brook was ranked as a top Illinois firm in insurance work by Chambers & Partners. In Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, 2007, Lord, Bissell & Brook received #1 rankings in the areas of insurance: coverage litigation; insurance: transactional and regulatory; and insurance: reinsurance litigation. SNL Financial, an independent research analyst firm, has identified Lord, Bissell & Brook as one of the leaders in insurance related mergers and acquisitions work, a substantial amount of which involves various forms of reinsurance transactions.
Industry Experience
We use our combined decades of experience and in-depth knowledge of the reinsurance industry to help our clients across the United States, in the United Kingdom, in continental Europe and in Bermuda anticipate and exploit industry trends and reposition, expand or downsize their businesses. Our attorneys are leaders in transactions, regulatory counseling and dispute resolution. We represent cedents, reinsurers, retrocessionaries, MGAs, intermediaries and buyers and sellers of insurance and reinsurance businesses based in the U.S. and throughout the world. Our attorneys represent clients in some of the largest and most complex contested and transactional engagements involving the property-casualty and life and health industries.
Reinsurance Transactional Work
We have experience in designing appropriate reinsurance arrangements, including clash, contingency, alternate risk transfer, excess of loss, coinsurance, modified coinsurance and other sophisticated structures, as well as implementing various forms of collateral arrangements to provide security or comply with state laws and regulations governing financial statement credit for ceded reinsurance. Our practice includes major transactions involving assumption reinsurance, indemnity reinsurance, coinsurance and modified coinsurance, sale of renewal rights and other cutting edge structures.
Representative Engagements—Reinsurance Transactions
Lord, Bissell & Brook has represented:
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A major life insurance company in its acquisition of the annuity, life and investment businesses of a large financial services group for $1.1 billion;
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A leading life insurer in the sale of its individual life insurance business for $1 billion;
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A national life insurance company in the reinsurance of over $3 billion of life and annuity reserve liabilities with a major U.S. reinsurer;
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A large corporation in a series of unique reinsurance and capital enhancement transactions, which enabled certain syndicates at Lloyd’s, London to satisfy Lloyd’s capitalization requirements; and
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A major financial insurance company in various reinsurance or servicing transactions involving blocks of debit life, term life and long term care insurance business.
Reinsurance Regulatory Work
We are one of the few firms in the United States with a large group of corporate lawyers dedicated to, and with substantial experience in, insurance and reinsurance regulatory law. We routinely represent clients from all parts of the country and internationally, practice before each of the state insurance departments, counsel clients on all aspects of their operations and litigate in state and federal courts throughout the nation. We are active in various state and federal legislative matters and routinely participate in the programs and activities of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
We form and capitalize domestic and off-shore reinsurance companies, counsel on licensing, TPA and MGA matters, accreditation and financial statement credit issues, security and collateral issues under reinsurance treaties (including statutory accounting issues), market conduct issues, use of terrorism exclusions, financial reinsurance/surplus relief issues, rights and remedies in the event of the insolvency of the cedent or reinsurer, use of cut-through endorsements and analyzing the enforceability of arbitration remedies in domestic and international reinsurance treaties.
We have considerable experience in negotiating and obtaining regulatory approval of various forms of administration agreements and structuring and/or unwinding reinsurance pools involving affiliated and non-affiliated insurers and reinsurers. We have represented clients in the design and formation of offshore captive insurers, including single-parent captives, association captives and rent-a-captives. Our legal services include corporate, regulatory and tax advice concerning the formation and operation of these captives. In connection with federal income tax issues, we advise on the tax deductibility of premium payments, controlled foreign corporation (CFC) issues, and related person insurance income (RPII) issues, as well as what actions an off-shore company can take and still not be deemed to be doing business in the U.S. for income tax purposes.
Recently, Lord, Bissell & Brook:
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Successfully represented a life reinsurance company in a financial examination matter involving the attempted disqualification of hundreds of millions of dollars of admitted assets held in reinsurance security trust accounts;
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Successfully represented numerous insurance and reinsurance companies in affiliated reinsurance and other transactions subject to approvals under state insurance holding company acts;
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Successfully represented a life insurance company in a major examination matter involving nine state insurance departments, including allegations of problems with advertising, underwriting procedures, and marketing practices;
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Counseled various clients on privacy issues arising from Gramm-Leach-Bliley and other federal and state initiatives;
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Counseled various reinsurers and cedents on rights and strategic alternatives under reinsurance treaties with financially troubled companies;
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Counseled various insurers on federal terrorism legislation and the use of multi-state terrorism exclusions;
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Analyzed market conduct risks and mitigants arising from administration of credited interest rates and other non-guaranteed elements under direct and assumed life insurance policies and annuities; and
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Counseled clients concerning the reinsurance of punitive damages under various state laws.
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Because our lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of reinsurance litigation and arbitration, clients seek our assistance in handling some of the most complex and highest exposure reinsurance disputes in the United States and abroad.
We represent clients in cases addressing such issues as late notice, salvage and subrogation, loss adjustment expense allocation, aggregation, net retained lines, premium disputes, follow the fortunes, claims cooperation set-offs and right to associate clauses. We offer comprehensive resolution services and, where a reasonable compromise cannot be achieved, provide our clients with aggressive and effective arbitration and litigation skills.
Recently, Lord Bissell & Brook:
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Obtained judgment in favor of a major U.S. reinsurer after a two-week trial on claims seeking participation in reinsurance of a $30 million block of individual disability insurance;
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Obtained summary judgment in New Jersey for a reinsurer of the captive of one of the largest asbestos manufacturers regarding which documents constituted the facultative reinsurance contracts between reinsurer and captive cedent;
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Represented the London market in connection with disputes involving a captive insurance company and over $1.5 billion in environmental and health hazard claims. The case was litigated in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, Northern District of New York, the Supreme Court of Bermuda and House of Lords in London;
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Successfully represented a large international reinsurer in collecting $45 million of amounts due under a quota share treaty reinsuring Argentinean Pension Fund business;
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In a case involving alleged exposure of more than $90 million, including allegations of unfair claim practices, we obtained summary judgment on behalf of reinsurers of an insolvent Massachusetts company;
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Successfully defended a major U.S. reinsurer in connection with several claims brought by the Florida Department of Insurance with respect to interpretation of aggregate spread loss endorsements to a workers’ compensation treaty;
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Obtained a $25 million damages award for our client reinsurer in an arbitration against a ceding company based on accounting discrepancies and overcharges for loss adjustment expenses;
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In a $30 million reinsurance coverage action, in which summary judgment had been entered against a reinsurer of a Bermuda-based captive, we successfully obtained a reversal;
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Successfully defended a major U.S. reinsurance company with respect to claims of rescission on $40 million of retrocessional coverage relating to a group medical quota share treaty;
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In an Asian reinsurer’s dispute involving an improper draw down of credit, we were able to show that the ceding company had acted improperly, resulting in a substantial recovery for our client;
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In a European and Asian reinsurers’ dispute over large reinsurance claims arising out of complex environmental claims of various U.S. corporations, more than 400 claims had resulted in massive losses estimated at approximately $1 billion. Our efforts in multi-state and federal courts, and in United Kingdom courts, led to settlements at a fraction of the estimated losses; and
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Began defending several members of a worker’s compensation pool carve-out, which involves claims of rescission and claims of damages in excess of $80 million.