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Practice/Industry Group Overview
Regulation, Reinsurance, Insolvency & Litigation
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Insurance and Reinsurance Group -- a team of multidisciplinary attorneys and consultants -- understands the highly competitive and complex nature of the insurance industry, as well as the state insurance regulatory system within which insurers operate.
The industry faces tremendous challenges created by the prolonged soft commercial property/casualty market in the 1990s and the legacy of the recent economic and investment environment. Insureds, in increasing numbers, are looking to or opting to establish alternative risk mechanisms for their insurance needs.
We bring a comprehensive range of capabilities, as well as a broad, industrywide perspective to both insurance industry clients and to those who deal with these industry participants.
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Services Available
The Insurance and Reinsurance Group provides services to clients with respect to the legal matters that concern the insurance industry, including, but not limited to:
- Insurer insolvency proceedings
- Dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration)
- Reinsurance issues and transactions
- Administrative hearings
- Self-insurance, captives, risk retention groups and purchasing groups
- Insurance holding company transactions and filings
- Mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and demutualizations
- Formation and corporate governance of insurance companies, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Plans, HMOs and PPOs
- Capital adequacy and business plan development
- Integration of banking and insurance services
- Surplus lines market eligibility and transactions
- Regulatory filings for licensing and products
- Market conduct and consumer complaints
- Policy interpretation and coverage analysis
The group also represents clients in insurance-related proceedings before administrative agencies and in state and federal courts. In addition, among our team members are experienced litigators who can respond in any forum in which our clients' interests are threatened (for example, when the state insurance department fails to carry out its statutory duty or attempts to exercise authority that it does not possess).
Our overall industry knowledge sets us apart, particularly in reinsurance and insolvency matters. Our attorneys have handled both insolvencies and a wide range of reinsurance disputes.
The group often works side by side with the firm's tax and corporate attorneys in matters involving regulatory law and procedure and actively litigate a wide variety of arbitration, mediation and state and federal court reinsurance, insolvency and regulatory matters.
Our Clients Reflect Many Facets of the Industry
Our group has helped insurance industry clients from every sector meet their unique regulatory challenges:
- Non-profit health plan corporations ("Blues")
- Health maintenance organizations ("HMOs")
- Preferred provider organizations ("PPOs")
- Insurance companies
- Risk retention groups
- Captive insurance companies
Similarly, there are many individuals and entities that deal with insurers and thus require counseling and representation on insurance regulatory matters:
- Insurance rating organizations
- Financial institutions
- Risk purchasing groups
- Third-party administrators
- Agents and brokers
- Long-term care facilities
- Regulators
- Private and public companies (i.e., insureds)
- Professionals (physicians, lawyers, engineers, etc.)
- Hospitals and health systems
Recent Highlights
Our recent achievements have included representing:
Comerica Bank in a collateral swap transaction involving a Pennsylvania-based insurance company in rehabilitation.
Highmark Inc., Pennsylvania's only Blue Shield plan and one of our nation's largest health insurers, defending it in many state forums against claims of irregularities in the fundamental corporate transaction that created the entity, as well as class action litigation challenging the surplus and reserve levels maintained by the company.
The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in (1) negotiations with excess carriers and reinsurers on the risk for damages from Hurricane Marylin; (2) emergency actions seeking injunctive relief against its carriers seeking to improperly terminate its group health insurance plan for over 30,000 government employees; and (3) providing general advice on insurance-related issues involving FEMA.
An insurance company in a stock purchase transaction involving the sale of a life insurance company, including the preparation of an administrative services agreement, reinsurance agreement and Insurance Department regulatory filings.
A coalition of title insurance companies, which collectively account for over 90 percent of the written title insurance premiums in the state of Delaware, in the formation and operation of a title insurance rating organization in Delaware.
A risk retention group in federal civil rights litigation against a state insurance regulator, prevailing at every level of the federal judiciary including the United States Supreme Court.
Volvo Commercial Finance in its acquisition of a Texas insurer (the stock of which was held by a California insurance company in receivership) by preparing the requisite filings and making court appearances in Texas and California.
How Can Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Insurance and Reinsurance Group Help You?
The Insurance and Reinsurance Group stands ready to assist its clients with every aspect of their insurance-related needs.
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