| University | Louisiana State University, B.S., Finance, 1987 |
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| Law School | Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D., 1990 |
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| Admitted | 1991, Louisiana, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana and U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; 1996, Illinois, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois and U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; 2000, New York |
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| Memberships | Illinois State and Louisiana State Bar Associations; Maritime Law Association of the United States; Professional Liability Underwriter's Association. |
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| Biography | Presentations: "Resolving Claims Made under Cyber-Risk Policies," American Conference Institute's Forum on Cyber Risk Insurance, Philadelphia, September 26, 2007; "Technology Risks: Knowledge is Power," 2006 ASHRM Seminar, San Diego, October 31, 2006; "Overview of U.S. Court System and Tort/Class Action Reform," Katie School of Insurance, Illinois State University, Bloomington, Illinois, July 6, 2005; "Rescue Counsel: Strategies for Defending Indefensible Cases in Difficult Jurisdictions," Illinois State University, Katie Insurance School Seminar, Bloomington, Illinois, March 31, 2004; "Key Trends in U.S. Law," Katie School of Insurance at Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL, July 13, 2004; "Defending Complex Claims - Aggressive Motion Practice," presented at insurance client seminars in New York, London and Paris, June 17, 22 and 24, 2004; "Overview of U.S. Court System and U.S. Litigation," In-house seminars, London insurance clients, London, October 2002 and March 2003; "Recent Developments in U.S. Law," at the International Underwriting Association and Lloyd's Underwriting Association, London, October 16, 2000. |
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| ISLN | 901432924 |
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| Transactions | First chaired, as rescue counsel, first-party bad faith insurance coverage trial for certain London market insurers in unfavorable southern United States venue involving over $25 million at issue; The case settled after trial; The bad faith litigation was proceeding adversely against Underwriters, prior counsel did not properly assert federal court jurisdiction and the policyholder attempted to transfer the case to state court; As rescue counsel, Josh amended the pleadings, secured the necessary affidavits and convinced the federal court to retain jurisdiction; Thereafter, he persuaded the court to sever Underwriters' declaratory judgment action from the policyholder's bad faith claims, and to try the declaratory judgment action first; After first-chairing the declaratory judgment trial and obtaining significant rulings in his client's favor, the case settled for a nominal sum; Underwriters faced serious bad faith exposure based on post-claim underwriting and had the case reserved for a multi-million dollar amount prior to Josh's involvement; Defeated, as rescue counsel, a Fortune 500 corporation's claim for coverage under $25 million professional liability policy by winning motion to dismiss for foreign insurers in pro-insured state court venue; Case is currently on appeal; Defended, as rescue counsel, foreign insurers in a complex professional liability coverage dispute against a major U.S. corporation involving a $25 million policy limit; Prior to Josh's involvement, the insurers had reserved the case for approximately eighty percent of the policy limit; The claim fell within the insuring agreement and underwriters' sole defense pertained to a single exclusion that was arguably ambiguous; Following two and a half years of aggressive litigation in unfavorable venue for insurers, and savvy negotiations, settlement was attained for a significant (and confidential) multimillion dollar (eight figure) discount off the $25 million policy limits claim; Negotiated favorable resolution of complex multimillion data theft claim against technology service provider for slightly less than twenty percent of the value of the claim; The claim, pursued by several major U.S. banks and credit card issuers, involved coordinated theft of data in transit from hundreds of automatic teller machines; Tried two jury cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, one of the most unfavorable venues for business litigants in America, involving amounts in dispute of $30 million and $10 million; The first trial was covered extensively by the local media; Both cases settled on appeal for amounts substantially less than pre-trial demands; Settled several days before trial, as rescue counsel, a serious maritime wrongful death case pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County that former counsel had suggested the insurer reserve for several million dollars; Josh prepared the case for trial and settled it on the eve of the trial; The client had provided settlement authority of $1.5m going into the mediation. |
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