Insurance Services

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP attorneys have represented clients in all facets of insurance law and in every domestic forum since the firm’s founding in 1934. Today, the more than 60 members of the firm’s Insurance Services Group deliver comprehensive, practical solutions in resolving the most complex legal problems.

Across the United States, Hinshaw lawyers assist clients with:

• Bad faith and extra-contractual disputes
• Corporate and regulatory insurance services
• Insurance coverage litigation
• Insurance coverage opinions
• Product development and policy drafting
• Reinsurance transactions and disputes

Known for their skills as negotiators, litigators and appellate counsel, Hinshaw’s Insurance Services Group attorneys have both secured precedent-setting judgments for the firm’s clients and helped develop industry-wide best practices. Hinshaw lawyers have published benchmark articles on insurance law, including several 50-state compendia of laws that affect or apply to insurance industry matters, and are often asked to present at the premier industry conferences.

Assisting clients from 24 offices nationwide, we cover all issues of concern in the area of insurance, from the most specific local rule to the broadest national trend. From policy drafting to reinsurance recoveries, we have been involved in virtually every aspect of risk transfer. We routinely handle disputes between: insurers and brokers involving the placement of coverage; insurers and policyholders regarding the applicability of coverage; and insurers and other insurers concerning their respective obligations to provide coverage. Our Insurance Services Group members have drafted and interpreted insurance policies as both advocates and experts. They also assist clients with transactions, address regulators’ concerns, provide creative solutions to disputes and, where necessary, aggressively litigate and vindicate underwriting intent.

As part of a law firm with approximately 500 attorneys, Hinshaw’s national Insurance Services Group can call upon the experience and technical knowledge of other Hinshaw lawyers, including business, environmental, corporate, health care, labor and employment, and tax law attorneys, as needed by clients. As a result, the firm can provide clients with seamless, efficient representation.
 

Insurance Coverage Capabilities

Hinshaw handles cases across the United States in nearly every type of coverage dispute. For decades, the firm has been national or regional counsel for several of the world’s largest carriers.

Broadly Experienced Coverage Attorneys
Clients trust Hinshaw to represent them in high-exposure and other significant coverage litigation. Our expertise includes managing all manner of claims, from single-policy, single-claimant matters to multi-billion dollar, multi-jurisdictional coverage disputes involving dozens of parties.

We are well-versed in nearly all insurance contracts, including:

• Aviation
• Boiler & Machinery
• Builder’s Risk
• Commercial and Personal Automobile
• Commercial General Liability
• Directors & Officers (private and public entities)
• Disability
• Employee Benefits
• Employment Practices Liability
• Environmental
• Errors & Omissions
• Excess and Surplus
• Fidelity and Crime
• Fiduciary Liability
• First Party Property
• Homeowners
• Inland Marine
• Intellectual Property
• Life Insurance
• Long-Term Care
• Medical and Non-Medical Professional Liability
• Municipal / State / County Liability
• Real Estate Title
• Umbrella
• Workers’ Compensation / Employer’s Liability

Depth of Insurance Coverage Knowledge
Hinshaw helps clients limit their exposure by assisting them in taking proactive measures to preempt future disputes. Where a lawsuit becomes part of the strategy, we prepare a vigorous defense and negotiate with policyholders or carriers when possible.
 

Bad Faith & Extra-Contractual Liability Defense Services

Hinshaw represents clients in a myriad of bad faith and extra-contractual actions, often serving as counsel as to the most difficult and complex claims. We have successfully resolved cases involving all manner of bad faith allegations, including:

• Asserting a coverage defense without a reasonable basis to do so
• Failure to conduct a good faith claim investigation
• Failure to preserve policy limits for subsequent claims
• Failure to settle within policy limits

Our extensive experience also enables us to spot potential pitfalls. We counsel clients on issues that can develop into bad faith and extra-contractual claims and on the techniques used to defuse the risk of loss. When litigation occurs, we employ dispute resolution and substantive tactics designed to limit all elements of exposure.
 

Corporate & Regulatory Insurance Services

Hinshaw has decades of experience counseling insurance clients on the full range of their unique corporate, regulatory and other commercial and transactional activities. We advise on:

• Conservation, liquidation and rehabilitation issues
• Corporate bylaw drafting and revisions
• Corporate operations, organization, reorganization and structure, including issues related to mutualization, demutualization, and mergers and acquisitions
• Creation of domestic and offshore captives and third-party risk sharing entities
• Filing and obtaining approval of rates and forms
• Insurance company creation and domicile selection
• Purchase and sale efforts involving issues ranging from due diligence to tax implications
• Purchasing assets of insolvent insurance companies
• Regulatory compliance
• Risk transfer services

Insurance Policy Drafting and Review Capabilities
Our policy drafting services reflect both our understanding of the insurance business, as well as our experience litigating the meaning of insurance policies. We are often called upon by clients needing expert help with drafting, interpreting and revising documents and products. Specifically, we:

• Analyze, draft, negotiate and revise standard and specialty insurance products
• Counsel on regulatory concerns implicated by insurance products
• Represent insurers before administrative agencies
• Monitor legislation and litigation across the United States

The depth and range of our insurance coverage practice enables us to anticipate and preemptively address potential dilemmas when drafting and reviewing insurance products. Insurers also rely on our familiarity with the highly regulated insurance industry to handle even the most sophisticated policy-related tasks effectively.
 

Reinsurance Services

We effectively handle a wide range of complex and sophisticated reinsurance disputes and transactional matters for cedents, reinsurers and others. Our experience, combined with our understanding of insurance and reinsurance issues, enables us to thoroughly understand, resolve and, if necessary, successfully arbitrate or litigate the broad range of reinsurance disputes. Our services include:

• Advising on and assisting in the formation and capitalization of reinsurance companies and captives
• Assisting in the drafting, negotiating and reviewing of reinsurance treaties and other contracts
• Arbitrating and litigating disputes between cedents and reinsurers
• Counseling on matters of allocation
• Evaluating and resolving disputes involving notice, good faith and rescission
• Managing insolvencies, liquidations and rehabilitations and resolving disputes with third parties

The Hinshaw Advantage
Many Hinshaw insurance services group attorneys have worked in-house for industry-leading insurance companies, and bring with them valuable insights into insurers’ business and legal needs. Besides delivering advice and representation that helps our clients achieve their objectives, we are active leaders in both the legal and insurance industries. Individually and collectively, we:

• Hold leadership roles in legal and insurance industry organizations
• Lead educational seminars for clients
• Participate in firm-wide Insurance Services Group monthly meetings in which we:
  • share information about their cases
  • identify trends that we see 
  • detail strategies that work for clients
• Publish insurance-related publications for clients and others
• Publish single- and multiple-state compendia and surveys on various issues, including bad faith and consent judgments, class actions, coverage for construction defect and property damage claims, and punitive damages
• Speak at national and local industry associations
• Teach insurance-related courses
• Write articles on insurance-related topics for publication in industry and legal periodicals

Our insurance clients benefit not only from Hinshaw’s well-informed Insurance Services Group attorneys, but also from the firm’s other unique offerings. In addition to holding an annual Insurance Services Symposium, which is attended by hundreds of senior decision makers in the insurance industry, we provide advantages such as:

• The assignment of at least one partner to all matters, with younger attorneys, whose efforts are closely monitored by senior attorneys, brought in to achieve efficiency
• Attorneys licensed to practice in nearly every state and federal court, and experienced in handling matters in administrative tribunals, trial and appellate courts, and inter-insurer arbitrations and other alternative dispute resolution forums
• Offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, which have large insurance coverage practices and work together to provide insurers uniform advice and secure consistent results, nationally
• Lawyers with expertise in areas including business organizations, employment law, governmental relations, bankruptcy and tax matters and the many other issues affecting insurance companies
• Personal and dedicated attention to our clients

Capitalizing upon our experience, our resources and our reputation in the insurance industry, we are ideally suited to handle the insurance industry’s legal needs.