Alston & Bird LLP

Alston & Bird’s insurance attorneys focus on the legal issues that affect insurers, reinsurers, insureds, intermediaries and their professional insurance consultants.  Our approach is to bring an array of insurance-specific litigation, regulatory and transactional expertise to bear in order to achieve the most effective solution.  Our clients span the breadth of commercial insurance providers, consumers, intermediaries and consultants.

Experience

We work with clients across a wide range of insurance-related issues - regulatory counseling in all product lines; policyholder litigation including coverage and policyholder class actions; mergers and acquisitions; regulatory enforcement actions; investigations and contested hearings before state regulators; agency and broker disputes; reinsurance counseling; policy and coverage contract drafting; and assisting with the presentation of insurance products and insurance programs. 

Nothing says more about the depth and level of sophistication enjoyed by our insurance practice than the clients for whom we provide insurance legal services.  No other insurance practice in the country can present a more outstanding client list of insurance industry leaders.  After a nationwide survey of insurance industry in-house counsel by Reactions magazine, Alston & Bird was ranked among the top five U.S. insurance practices in 2005 — a critical year for the insurance industry as it grappled with such disparate issues as hurricane recovery, contingent commissions and finite reinsurance.

Accolades

Our attorneys are recognized as leaders in the insurance industry and include a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a former in-house attorney with one of the nation’s largest life insurers as well as one of the largest multiline insurance brokers, and another who served as associate general counsel and first vice president of Liberty National Life Insurance Co., an affiliate of Torchmark Corporation.

Bringing Value to Our Clients

Our insurance practice offers a combination of experience, depth and breadth that has been independently recognized by industry leaders.  One need look no further than the quality of clients we represent in our insurance practice to understand the quality of our practice.

Alston & Bird's approach to diversity has been one of commitment and action to establishing diversity as a basic element of the firm's culture. The pursuit of diversity is important to the firm -- not because it has become a criterion for those who hire law firms -- but rather because the firm fully embraces the value each individual brings to the firm. A diverse culture and a willingness to recognize and appreciate that diversity strengthen the firm every day. We are proud of the activities we support and the results we have achieved.

Initiatives  

• Alston & Bird has designated a senior partner with responsibility for supporting and enhancing diversity -- not just monitoring it. John Latham ([email protected] 404.881.7915) reports directly to the firm's managing partner and chairs a diversity committee comprised of attorneys and staff from all offices. The committee is responsible for implementing the firm's policy for diversity enhancement in all hiring decisions and for overseeing a work environment that embraces diversity.
• Each of our practice group leaders is held accountable by the firm's management for the diversity efforts of her or his practice group. The success or failure of these efforts directly impacts the evaluation and compensation of our practice group leaders.
• We work with Roosevelt Thomas Consulting & Training, experts in the diversity and diversity management field, to develop education programs for our attorneys and staff.
• We offer domestic partnership insurance benefits and have a longstanding policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Alston & Bird is a founding member and active in the Atlanta Large Firm Diversity Alliance and the Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium.
• We proudly sponsor the Hispanic and Asian Bar Associations.

Awards and Commendations  

• Our workplace environment has been praised as one of the most open and receptive in the United States, not only among law firms, but also among all businesses. For the 14th consecutive year, Alston & Bird has been named to the list of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For,"® including placement in the top 25 for seven consecutive years, four of which were in the top 10. 
• In 2013, Vault Inc. ranked Alston & Bird ninth in the United States in diversity issues with respect to minorities.
• Alston & Bird has received a top rating of 100 percent from the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2012 Corporate Equality Index.  This is the eighth year in a row that Alston & Bird has received HRC’s perfect rating.
• Ben Johnson, the firm's former managing partner, received the Metro Atlanta YMCA Joseph C. Bransby Leadership Award, the highest award presented for outstanding volunteer service and recognition of exceptional leadership. Ben is also the recipient of the American Jewish Committee's Institute of Human Relations Award in recognition of his community activism and leadership in the battle against all forms of bigotry and discrimination and for his lifelong effort to promote human rights.
• The Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia has honored Alston & Bird with its "Outstanding Service to the G&L Community" award.