Practice Areas & Industries: Carlton Fields, P.A.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

America's insurance industry, the nation's protective safety net, has never been more financially stressed, governmentally regulated, scrutinized, and pressed to provide service to so many. Catastrophic events -- such as floods, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes - continue to test and pressure the insurance industry on a daily basis. There is also a continuing flow of litigation and settlement in every area of business, employment, life, health, medical malpractice, and liability. Our insurance practice at Carlton Fields has always included claims defense for insurance companies. Over the past few years, however, we have moved into insurance coverage matters and business litigation. Our substantive areas also include property and casualty, professional liability, Bad Faith Litigation, ERISA, E&O coverages, marine insurance, workers' compensation, life and health, and medical malpractice. We stand ready to assist our insurance clients in every area of business strategy, litigation, finance, regulation, and government relations.

The insurance industry is truly America's safety net, providing our citizens, cities, and businesses with billions of dollars a year in compensation for what would otherwise be irretrievable losses. But in order to protect others, insurance companies must also protect themselves, litigating and defending in matters with millions of dollars at stake, where the legitimate interests of the company must be protected, and making the case to insurance regulators for adequate rates, flexible products and forms, fair market entry and retrenchment rules, and reasonable tax structures.
The attorneys in the Insurance Practice Group understand the risks and benefits of litigation. We understand the value of employing dialogue with regulators and using administrative law procedures to affect policy decisions at the outset to avoid or limit the risks of future litigation. Our goal is always to advance your interests with a cost-effective, successful outcome -- in court, in administrative law venues where regulators' policy decisions may be informed through dialogue or through formal administrative proceedings, and through alternative dispute resolution.

Additional information and important links pertaining to Insurance in Florida:

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation ("OIR") has primary responsibility for regulating the business of insurance in Florida and the monitoring of industry markets. The web address for OIR's main page is: http://www.fldfs.com/companies/index.htm - This page has a link to the Florida Administrative Code, which contains rules adopted by OIR. (Alternatively, the Florida Administrative Code can be reached by a direct link to the web address of the Florida Secretary of State: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/fac/index.shtml.) The OIR webpage links to OIR bulletins and press releases, and to web pages of sub-administrative units devoted to regulating property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, managed care (HMOs), and specialty insurance (such as motor vehicle warranty companies and similar lines of specialty insurance).

Other administrative units of the Department of Financial Services (of which OIR is a part) handle certain aspects of insurance-related regulation. The rehabilitation or liquidation of insolvent insurance companies is overseen by the Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation, whose web address is: http://www.fldfs.com/Receiver. The Division of Agents and Agencies Services is responsible for the licensure of life, health and variable annuity agents, property and casualty insurance agents, bail bond agents, title agents, customer representatives, adjusters, reinsurance intermediaries, viatical settlement brokers, certain field insurance representatives and insurance-related entities and firms authorized to transact insurance in Florida. The web address for this division is: http://www.fldfs.com/Agents.

The Florida Legislature's web page ("On-Line Sunshine"), gives access to session laws, bills and other legislative history and activity and can be found at http://www.leg.state.fl.us.

Additionally, the Florida Insurance Council website can be found at http://www.flains.org/newfic/mediapublic, The Florida Chamber of Commerce is located at http://www.flchamber.com and the Florida Courts website is http://www.flcourts.org.

Services Available

We make it a point to listen to our clients as well as counsel them.

Our experience includes:

• Litigating and defending health, life, and disability claims under group and individual policies and defending ERISA claims
• Investigating and defending comprehensive general liability, builder's risk, environmental, director and officer errors and omissions, attorney, accountant, and appraiser malpractice liability claims
• Defending life and health insurers, and property and casualty insurers, in claims, coverage, and market conduct individual suits and class actions
• Counseling insurers in form and rate filings, market conduct examinations, and financial examinations
• Representing insurers in regulators' financial examinations and market conduct investigations
• Representing insurers in regulatory rule development proceedings, rule challenge proceedings, regulatory disciplinary matters, and other regulatory litigation matters
• Assisting with insurance tax assessments and other state and local tax assessments affecting insurers and litigating tax issues
• Analyzing and defending construction, fidelity, and financial institution bond claims
• Representing surety insurers concerning all types of contractor defaults, payment bond claims and subrogation issues as well as financial, brokers, and commercial crime bond claims for fidelity insurers
• Representing life and health insurers in ERISA claims litigation involving disputed ERISA governed group health, group disability, and group life insurance throughout Florida .
• Providing advice concerning the appropriate standard of review in fully insured and self insured ERISA benefit plans, ERISA preemption, ERISA plan establishment and administration, weight to be given to treating physicians' opinions and reviewing physicians' opinions, the appropriate scope of the insurer's administrative review record.
• Representing insurers in extra contractual litigation, which includes bad faith claims and other matters outside claims for coverage under an insurance contract, such as defamation, tortious interference, fraud, deceptive trade practices, and breach of fiduciary duty
• Consulting with clients on how to avoid, as well as defending against, bad faith actions
• Representing insurers in commercial litigation
• Providing counsel in regard to formation, acquisition, and divestiture of insurers and insurer assets