James Jorden is the Managing Partner of JORDEN BURT LLP and a nationally recognized expert in insurance and securities industry litigation. Mr. Jorden conducts and supervises the Firm's substantial litigation practice, representing many of the country's largest financial institutions in securities, corporate and pension litigation. He is known for his expertise in national class action litigation, having served as lead or associate counsel in over one hundred securities, insurance, RICO and other class actions. Over the past 20 years, he has also been lead trial counsel in more than 50 individual cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court, eight of the U.S. circuit courts, and numerous state courts of appeal.
Described in The National Law Journal as a "lawyer's lawyer" by one of his financial institution clients, Mr. Jorden is regularly retained as senior counsel by national insurance companies, mutual funds and banks. He has represented industry groups, including the American Council of Life Insurers, on complex commercial litigation matters. In addition to his trial and appellate practice, Mr. Jorden represents clients before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department and state regulatory agencies. In a BTI Survey of Fortune 1000 companies, Mr. Jorden was named a Client Service All-Star as one of the top "Go-To" lawyers providing the most "extraordinary attention to client needs," and "successful responsiveness."
Mr. Jorden recently served as lead counsel in defending a nationwide class action case in the United States District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The case involved allegations of misrepresentations in marketing materials relating to certain annuity products purchased during a seven year period beginning in 2000. It expanded to other sales policies and practices, and grew to be one of the largest class actions against an insurance company, implicating over 400,000 policies. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict, finding that the insurer's conduct had not caused loss or damage to any class member.
He served as lead counsel during a six week jury trial involving a complex joint venture contract dispute in Tennessee which resulted in a defense verdict and a counterclaim award for his financial institution client in excess of $70 million. He also successfully defeated class certification, at both the District Court and in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a suit alleging policy rate discrimination against more than 1.4 million putative class members (Thorn v. Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Co., 445 F.3d 311 (4th Cir. 2006)). Mr. Jorden is currently serving as lead defense counsel in several multi-district litigation proceedings involving the sale of annuities. He has also served as lead defense counsel in six of the most significant Federal Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court victories involving class actions in the life insurance industry.
In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Jorden continues to represent his insurance company clients in numerous state and federal regulatory hearings and multi-state market conduct examinations.
He is co-author of the "Trial Preparation and Presentations" chapter of the Thompson Reuters seven volume treatise on Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel (2012). He is also the co-author of the Handbook on ERISA Litigation published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers (1992)(3d ed. 2007), and has lectured widely on corporate, securities and employee benefit litigation and authored numerous articles on class actions and trial practice. He chairs the Firm's Life Industry Group.
Representative Matters
· American Bankers Ins. Co. of Florida, Inc. v. First Union Nat. Bank, 900 F.2d 249 (4th Cir. 1990)
· American Bankers Ins. Group, Inc. v. Board of Governors of Fed. Reserve Sys., 3 F. Supp. 2d 37 (D.D.C. 1998)
· Baron v. Best Buy Co., 79 F. Supp. 2d 1350 (S.D. Fla. 1999)
· Benefit Consultants, Inc. v. Fortis Cos., Case No. 28611 (Tenn. Ch. Ct. May 26, 2005)
· Bergeron v. Pan American Assurance Co., 731 So.2d 1037 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1999)
· Bowers v. Jefferson Pilot Financial Ins. Co., 219 F.R.D. 578 (E.D. Mich. 2004)
· Cologne Reinsurance Co. v. Southern Underwriters, Inc., 630 N.Y.S. 2d 548 (N.Y.A.D. 1995)
· Dorsey v. Northern Life Ins. Co., No. Civ. A. 04-0342, 2005 WL 2036738 (E.D. La. Aug. 15, 2005)
· Fechter v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 800 F. Supp. 182 (E.D. Pa. 1992)
· Great-West Life & Annuity Ins. Co. v. Knudson, 534 U.S. 204 (2002)
· Harper Wyman Co. v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins., 1991 WL 18467 (N.D. Ill. 1991)
· Harris Trust & Sav. Bank v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 970 F.2d 1138 (2nd Cir. 1992)
· Harvey M. Jasper Ret. Trust v. Ivax Corp., 920 F. Supp. 1260 (S.D. Fla. 1995)
· Hertz Corp. v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 16 F.3d 1126, (11th Cir. 1994)
· In Re LifeUSA Holding Inc., 242 F.3d 136 (3rd Cir. 2001)
· Magyery v. Transamerica Fin. Advisors, Inc., 315 F. Supp. 2d 954 (N.D. Ind. 2004)
· Mayo v. Hartford Life Ins. Co., 220 F. Supp. 2d 794 (S.D. Tex. 2002)
· McCord v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 138 F. Supp. 2d 1180 (D. Minn. 2001)
· Mooney v. Allianz Ins. Co. of N. Am., No. Civ. 06-545 ADM/FLN, 2010 WL 419962 (D. Minn. Jan. 29, 2010)
· Parkhill v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 286 F.3d 1051 (8th Cir. 2002)
· Semanko v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 168 F. Supp. 2d 997 (D. Minn. 2000)
· Texas Life, Acc. Health & Hosp. Service Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Gaylord Entm't Co., 105 F.3d 210 (5th Cir. 1997)
· Thorn v. Jefferson-Pilot Ins.Co., 445 F.3d 311 (4th Cir. 2006)
· United Commercial Ins. Service, Inc. v. Paymaster Corp., 962 F.2d 853 (9th Cir. 1992)
· Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. AIG Life Ins. Co., 872 A.2d 611 (Del. Ch. 2005)
· Zarrella v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 824 A.2d 1249 (R.I. 2003)
Speeches
· Co-Leader: Litigation Track, IRI Government, Legal and Regulatory Conference, Washington, DC, June 2011
· Co-Chair: ALI-ABA Conference on Insurance and Financial Services Industry Litigation, July 2009, July 2010, May 2011
· Speaker: "Judicial and Practitioner Perspectives on Class Action Hot Topics," ALI-ABA Conference on Insurance and Financial Services Industry Litigation, April 2008
· Speaker: ACLI (The American Council of Life Insurers) Trends in Annuities Litigation "Annuity Litigation Update," November 2007
· Speaker: ALI-ABA "Class Action Annuity Litigation," May 2007
· Speaker: DRI - The New Market Conduct War, 2007
· Speaker: LOMA/LIMRA Compliance & Market Conduct Exchange Conference, "A Litigator's Perspective on Compliance and Operational Risk," November 2006
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Annuity Class Actions, 2006
· Speaker: ALIC (The Association of Life Insurance Counsel) - Review of Class Action Fairness Act, Broker Compensation Investigations/Litigation, and Current Developments in Life Insurance Industry Class Action Litigation, 2005
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Recent Challenges to Insurance Broker Compensation Practices, 2005
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Implications of the Canary Case and Subsequent Fund Fallout on the Insurance Industry, 2004
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Issues Impacting Class Action Litigation With Respect to Life Products and Annuities, 2002
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Developments in Market Conduct and Variable/Investment Product Litigation, 2002
· Speaker: Discovery and Evidentiary Issues in Non-Federal Question Class Actions, 2002
· Speaker: NAVA - Managing Your Company's Litigation and Enforcement Action Risk, 2001
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Variable Insurance Products and Market Conduct Class Actions: The Impact of SLUSA and Other Considerations, 2001
· Speaker: LOMA/LIMRA/IMSA - Class Action Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 2000
· Speaker: PLI - Selected Issues Concerning Removal and MDL Considerations in Class Litigation, 2000
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Class Action Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 2000 & 1999
· Speaker: PLI - Class Action and Merits Issues in Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 1999
· Speaker: AAHP (American Association of Health Plans) - Anatomy Of A Class Action Lawsuit, 1999
· Speaker: ACLI - Recent Developments and Trends In Sales Practice Class Actions, 1998
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Recent Perspectives on Life Insurance Sales Practice Litigation, 1998
· Speaker: DRI (Defense Research Institute) - Market Conduct Litigation: New Defense Strategies, 1998
· Speaker: ALI-ABA - Variable Products: Annuities-Life Insurance-Insurance Funds, 1997
· Speaker: ALIC (The Association of Life Insurance Counsel) - Market Conduct Class Action Litigation, 1997
· Speaker: NOLHGA - Implications of Market Conduct Class Action Litigation for Life Insurance Solvency, 1997
· Panelist: Securities Industry Association on Securities Activities of Insurance Companies: Regulatory Jurisdiction-Litigation-Compensation-Industry Market Conduct Initiatives, 1997
Publications
· Co-Author: "Trial Preparation and Presentations," Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, Thompson Reuters, 2012
· Author: Litigation and Regulatory Issues for Insurance Companies, Inside the Minds: Legal Strategies for the Insurance Industry, Aspatore Books, 2005
· Co-Author: "Handbook on ERISA Litigation," Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers (3d ed. 2007)
· Numerous publications for ALI-ABA and other venues as speaker as outlined above
Noteworthy
· Involved with a number of educational and civic groups throughout his career
· U.S. Army, First Aviation Brigade, Vietnam
Professional Affiliations
· Member: Board of Governors, Association of Life Insurance Counsel, Securities Section Chair
· Member: ALI-ABA Commercial Law Advisory Panel, including Bankruptcy and Insurance Law
· Founder and Chairman: Annual ALI-ABA Conference on Securities, Tax and ERISA Issues Affecting Insurance Companies
· Founder and Chairman: Annual ALI-ABA Conference on Life and Health Insurance Litigation
· Past-Chairman: Division of Corporation, Finance and Securities Law of the District of Columbia Bar Association
· Member: American Bar Association; Past Chairman: ABA Insurance Section's Committee on Employee Benefits; Corporation, Banking, and Business Law Section's Subcommittee on Securities Activities of Insurance Companies: ERISA Litigation Subcommittee; Member: Litigation and Taxation Sections of the ABA
· Member: The American Law Institute
· Member: The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
· Past-Chairman: National Learning Center in Washington, D.C.
(Also at Washington, D.C. Office)