Michael L. Cohen

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

• Insurance and Reinsurance, including:

• Insurance Coverage
• Excess
• Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation
• Reinsurance Pools
• Insurance Corporate and Regulatory
• Professional Errors and Omissions
• Directors & Officers
• Insurance Company Insolvency, including Transnational Insolvencies
• General Liability Defense
• Financial Institutions Insurance

NOTEWORTHY MATTERS

• International Insurance and Reinsurance Practice.
• Managed Runoff of Major Municipality Liability Program for London Insurer.
• Handled two large London Market Runoffs for one of the largest U.S. Property and Casualty Companies.
• Represented Liquidators, Guaranty Associations, Reinsureds and Reinsurers in Insurance Insolvencies.
• Opposed High Profile Certification of a U.K. Part 7 Transfer by U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
• Obtained judgment establishing direct liability of purchaser of major international pool on behalf of cedant to potentially insolvent issuing company.
• Successfully arbitrated long tail allocations and aggregation issues on behalf of reinsurers.
• Served as Director on Boards of Several Domestic Insurers and U.S. Branch of Foreign Insurers and as first President of Legal Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland.
• Obtained the approval of the Institute of London Underwriters' Companies (more than 100 companies) as Reinsurers in Maryland to establish the ILU's port of entry into the United States.
• Established first toxic tort trigger favoring insurers in the State of Maryland.

PROFESSIONAL/EDUCATION

• Admitted to Bar in Maryland
• Former General Counsel to the Maryland Insurance Administration
• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Practice Section
• Former Chairman, Professional Liability Insurance Committee, Maryland State Bar Association
• University of Pennsylvania (J.D. 1977)
• Appellate Litigation

Thomas A. Buckley

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

• Complex Civil Arbitrations and Litigation
• Primary, Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Coverage, Counseling, Arbitration, and Litigation
• Insurance Defense, including general liability and professional errors and omissions.
• Personal Injury Claims & Suits

NOTEWORTHY EXPERIENCE

• Defended and prosecuted complex commercial arbitrations and lawsuits.
• Defended and prosecuted malpractice lawsuits relating attorneys and insurance and real estate brokers/agents.
• Represented manufacturers of forklifts, tractors, ski equipment, pharmaceuticals, and asbestos-containing products.
• Represented developers, home inspectors and contractors in construction defect suits.
• Represented automotive manufacturers and dealerships in claims of breach of warranty (lemon law) and improper sales practices.
• Represented transportation and trucking companies in tort suits.

PROFESSIONAL/EDUCATION

• Member, State Bar of California
• Admitted in all Federal Districts in California, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court
• Member, American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Section
• University of California, Hastings (J.D. 1987)
• University of Santa Clara (B.S. 1984)

John H. Haley

• Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation
• Commercial Insurance Coverage Disputes, including Professional Liability of Lawyers, Accountants, D&O, Brokers, CGL, Property, Life, etc.
• Insurer/Reinsurer Corporate and Regulatory
• Expertise in the Law of Corporate Governance for Insurers and Reinsurers
• Insurer Insolvency, representation for and against Liquidators and Rehabilitors in a number of states
• London Market and Bermuda insurance/reinsurance experience
• Policy Drafting and Interpretation
• Program Insurance Business Commercial Litigation and Appeals
• Service as Expert and Mediator

NOTEWORTHY EXPERIENCE

• Won major reinsurance case on behalf of cedant at NY Court of Appeals, 1990 establishing standards for waiver of rescission claims
•  Primary Author of Legal Malpractice Chapter for West Group’s treatise, General Practice in New York.
•  Author of Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Chapter for Matthew Bender & Co.’s treatise, New York Insurance Law.
•  Review and evaluation of books of insurance and reinsurance business in connection with M&A, purchases and reinsurer reviews
• Representing Vermont Liquidator, persuaded a California court to abstain in favor of Vermont liquidation proceeding
• Persuaded Illinois federal court not to enforce a cut-through endorsement against foreign reinsurer
• Co-chair/Organizer of Practicing Law Institute seminars re Legal Malpractice
• Claims Counsel for many D&O Carriers handling claims against D&O’s of Fortune 500 companies and nuclear power plants
• Sr. Vice President and Associate General Counsel of sixth largest U.S. broker-market
• reinsurer for six years
• Representation of foreign purchaser of a large U.S. insurer in state approval hearings
• Representation of NY Liquidation Bureau and other insurer liquidators in insurance and reinsurance disputes
• Coverage Counsel for the largest writer of lawyers professional liability coverage in New York State
• Frequent seminar panelist on insurance and reinsurance matters, including attorney ethics

PROFESSIONAL/EDUCATION

• Member New York State Bar and NY Federal Courts
• ARIAS Member and Certified Arbitrator
• Graduate of Fordham Law School

James W. Wiggin III

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

• General business and commercial litigation
• Construction disputes
• Reinsurance and insurance disputes
  
• White collar crime defense

• Successfully represented purchaser of insurance company in complex litigation arising from post-closing adjustments and involving claims and counterclaims totaling $30 million.
• Successfully represented niche insurer in two, multi-million dollar arbitrations to enforce long-tail reinsurance agreements covering numerous underlying claims.
• Successfully represented niche insurer in $2 million arbitration to recover reinsurance for settlement of bad-faith claims arising from electrical contact case against primary insurer.
• Successfully represented Fortune 500 corporation in $30 million, international arbitration against major Asian corporation arising from demise of joint development agreement for cutting-edge technology.
• Successfully represented owner before AAA Blue-Ribbon construction panel in arbitration with contractor over 86 claims and counterclaims totaling $100 million arising from construction of cross-country pipeline.
• Successfully represented contractors and construction managers in various multi-million dollar actions involving construction defects or delays.
• Successfully defended alarm company against major subrogation claim brought by insurer of home destroyed by fire.
• Successfully defended manufacturer against multi-million dollar patent infringement claim.

PROFESSIONAL/EDUCATION

• Admitted to Bar in Ohio, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth and Federal Circuits.
• University of Cincinnati College of Law (J.D. 1985)
  • Editor in Chief, Law Review
• Dartmouth College (B.A. 1980)

Jessica L. Johnson

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Employment discrimination and wrongful discharge
• OSHA and FMLA litigation
• Personal injury tort litigation
• Medical malpractice

NOTEWORTHY EXPERIENCE

• Capital University Law Review, Executive Articles Editor.
• Order of the Barrister, Presidential Scholar.
• Jessup International Law Moot Court, Top Ten Oralist.

PROFESSIONAL/EDUCATION

• Admitted to Bar in Ohio, Florida and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
• Ohio University, B.S. Journalism, 1999, Summa cum laude.
• Capital University Law School, J.D., 2004, Magna cum laude.
• Former city hall reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette
• Former Labor and Employment Litigation Section law clerk, Lane, Alton & Horst, LLC