Reinsurance

Hinshaw attorneys have for many years been involved in cutting-edge issues involving reinsurance and reinsurance dispute resolution. Through our long-standing, extensive relationships with both insurers and reinsurers, we have a unique ability to understand and address their oftentimes complex transactions and agreements. Early in their careers, two Hinshaw partners in our reinsurance practice were officers of insurance or reinsurance companies, and one now serves as a certified reinsurance arbitrator of ARIAS – US. The diverse knowledge and experience of our attorneys positions us to address almost any issue that may be raised in a reinsurance litigation or arbitration.

With a nationwide network of offices in locations such as Boston, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, we are positioned to represent clients in reinsurance disputes all over the country.
Among our attorneys’ successes in the area of reinsurance dispute resolution are:

• recovery of millions from a reinsurer on successive facultative certificates reinsuring claims-made professional liability policies.
• winning the extraordinary remedy of rescission of a reinsurance contract on three separate occasions: once in a jury trial, once in an arbitration, and once from the bench.
• convincing a federal district court that, despite follow-the-fortunes provisions in two reinsurance contracts, the reinsurer was not obligated to cover ECO payments the ceding company had made to its policyholder arising out of the ceding company’s bad faith.
• prevailing in the first reinsurance arbitration on the New York Insurance Exchange.
• collecting millions from reinsurers located in Europe, Asia and Central and South America.
• demonstrating to a federal Circuit Court of Appeals that a reinsurance dispute had to be litigated, not arbitrated.
• persuading federal courts, including a federal Circuit Court of Appeals, that sovereign immunity was inapplicable in private reinsurance arbitrations.
• establishing before a tribunal of a state insurance department that a liquidated entity was not the reinsurer, thus paving the way for the cedent’s collection in full from its true reinsurer.

We provide a wide range of services, to ceding companies, reinsurers, brokers and others, involving complex and sophisticated reinsurance-related matters, including:

• the formation and capitalization of reinsurance companies and captives.
• drafting, negotiating and reviewing reinsurance treaties and other contracts.
• advising and counseling on allocation issues.
• managing insolvencies, liquidations and rehabilitations.

Finally, as leaders in the field, members of our reinsurance practice group regularly publish articles in major industry publications on topics such as arbitration practice, including arbitrability and pre-hearing security, rescission and the attorney-client privilege.