Nefertiti J. Alexander
Partner
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
Nefertiti’s practice focuses on complex commercial and civil litigation and white-collar defense and government investigations. She represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes disputes involving business tort, breach of contract, antitrust, securities fraud, and other matters in federal and state courts and arbitration.
Robin Cohen
Chair
Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
The recipient of numerous awards by prominent organizations and recognized as one of the very best insurance coverage lawyers in the world, leading litigator Robin Cohen has recovered more than $5 billion in assets for her clients during her more than 30-year career. Robin counsels an exclusive policyholder client base spanning industries and countries, astutely advocating for them in cases involving asbestos, directors and officers issues, employee coverage, employee dishonesty, environmental, first-party, product liability, toxic tort, and other claims.
John F. Finnegan
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
John concentrates his practice on the insurance and reinsurance industries. His background includes trying more than 35 insurance and reinsurance disputes to conclusion as lead counsel, both in court and in arbitration. He has substantial experience handling environmental, lead paint, asbestos and other mass tort claims, as well as claims involving natural disasters, including earth movement and weather (storm) related incidents. John has been retained to testify as an expert witness to explain procedural and substantive principles of law in products liability and insurance coverage disputes to foreign tribunals. John is active in legal and trade associations, including AIRROC and ARIAS, and regularly lectures on insurance coverage and reinsurance topics.
Laura M. Gregory
Partner
Sloane Walsh
Laura has specialized in insurance coverage and bad faith and the related litigation for more than 25 years. Laura’s practice includes assisting clients on a broad range of insurance issues including litigating declaratory judgment actions and bad faith claims, alternative dispute resolution (mediations and arbitrations), as well as rendering coverage opinions and providing advice and support for insurance companies on a full range of coverage, bad faith, and related issues. She has broad experience with complex coverage matters including commercial policies (commercial general liability, businessowners, commercial property, commercial auto, D&O, E&O, inland marine, cyber, and excess policies) and personal lines policies (auto, homeowners, umbrella, and renters policies), as well as manuscript policies.
Sean C. Griffin
Member
Dykema Gossett
Sean Griffin focuses his practice on commercial litigation, with a specialty in cases involving allegations of breach of contract or fraud. He regularly assists clients with data security and responding to data breaches and is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). His experience includes litigating cases in federal and state courts and arbitration panels around the country. Sean also provides counsel regarding insurance industry and compliance issues, including government contract compliance, and he assists in responding to state and federal subpoenas.
Jeffrey L. Kingsley
Partner
Goldberg Segalla
Jeffrey is the co-chair of the firm’s Global Insurance Services practice and oversees a team of 65 attorneys, handling matters from cybersecurity to extra-contractual bad faith litigation. Jeff handles a wide range of complex insurance and reinsurance coverage, environmental claims, commercial and regulatory issues, and extra-contractual liability arbitration and litigation. He has extensive experience handling and consulting clients on complex allocation issues, regulatory issues, arbitrations, transactional issues, and disputes involving the eco bad faith exposure across the country.
Timothy P. Law
Partner
Reed Smith
Tim focuses his practice on representing policyholders in insurance disputes, focusing on general liability and professional liability insurance coverage litigation, arbitration, and mediation. Tim has broad experience both domestically and internationally, representing clients in U.S. litigation, London and Bermuda arbitrations, and insurance company insolvency proceedings. Tim also represents clients in workers’ compensation insurance coverage and premium disputes.
John M. Leonard
Counsel
Anderson Kill
John M. Leonard is an attorney in Anderson Kill's New York office and a member of the firm's Insurance Recovery Group. He represents clients in disputes over first-party property damage and business interruption claims, directors & officers liability, third-party tort and environmental liability claims, as well as in construction litigation. He is also a member of Anderson Kill's Technology, Media and Distributed Systems Group.
Lorelie S. Masters
Partner
Hunton Andrews Kurth
Lorelie (Lorie) Masters is a partner in Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s Washington, DC office. A nationally recognized insurance coverage litigator, Lorie handles all aspects of complex commercial litigation and arbitration. Lorie has been deeply involved in representing clienits on coverage for COVID-19 losses since March 6, 2020, advising clients on business-interruption, event-cancellations, directors and officers (“D&O”), and other coverages. She also continues to advise clients on a wide range of liability coverages, including insurance for environmental, employment, directors and officers, fiduciary, property damage, cyber, and other liabilities. She also handles various types of first-party property insurance claims, including claims under boiler and machinery, business-interruption, contingent business-interruption, extra expense, disability and other related coverages. She is the author of two well-known treatises, Insurance Coverage Litigation and Liability Insurance in International Arbitration: The Bermuda Form. The Bermuda Form treatise won the British Insurance Law Association’s 2012 Book Prize and has been called the “standard work on the topic” by the English Court of Appeal. Among other accomplishments, she helped found the American College of Coverage Counsel and served as its second President. Lorie also served for eight years as an Adviser to the Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance, the first Restatement on insurance (published in September 2019).
Nicholas R. Maxwell
Counsel
Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
Nick Maxwell has spent his entire career guiding policyholders in recovering the proceeds they deserve from their insurers. He has helped clients recover hundreds of millions of dollars under directors and officers, property/business interruption, errors and omissions, and general liability policies, among others. Since any company can encounter an insurance issue, Nick has had the opportunity to become conversant in many different industries, including among others consumer products, manufacturing, retail, construction, and energy Nick brings to any new matter his prior experience analyzing hundreds of insurance policies and deposing dozens of adjusters, underwriters, risk engineers and other insurance industry professionals. Using that experience, Nick quickly identifies the salient issues and manages the trajectory of a dispute from day one. Nick genuinely enjoys mastering the intricacies of sophisticated insurance programs, enabling him to methodically dismantle insurers’ erroneous policy interpretations. Nick has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for Insurance Coverage since 2015, and was named to the Insurance Coverage Litigation Center’s editorial advisory board in 2020.
Joseph P. Monteleone
Partner
Weber Gallagher
Joe serves as coverage and monitoring counsel for errors and omissions (E&O), directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), and other claims-made insurance products. Joe frequently serves as a consulting and testifying expert witness in insurance disputes involving claims handling practice and industry custom and practice in the underwriting area. In particular, he has concentrated this work in the D&O and professional liability product lines. He also serves as arbitrator and mediator in insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes. Representative Experience: Successfully litigated a D&O coverage dispute with a pro hac admission in California, avoiding a policy limit exposure for the client. Obtained a litigated rescission of a D&O policy in New York. Served as a party-appointed arbitrator in a major employment practices insurance dispute in an international forum in London, England.
Julie E. Nevins
Partner
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Julie has been litigating complex commercial disputes for over 20 years. She handles a broad range of matters, including insurance coverage, bad faith, business torts, contracts, real property, outdoor advertising and intellectual property. She has experience with various types of insurance coverage, including commercial general liability, professional liability, directors and officers, property and casualty, and media liability. In addition to litigating, Julie provides counseling on coverage and claims handling.
Seth B. Schafler
Senior of Counsel,
Covington
Seth B. Schafler is a partner in the Insurance Recovery & Counseling Group. Seth has represented high-profile clients in precedent-setting cases spanning every type of insurance work for more than 25 years. He has extensive experience representing policyholders in coverage negotiations and disputes with their insurance companies, and litigating coverage issues in federal and state courts across the country. Seth’s experience covers a wide variety of insurance products including commercial general liability, D&O, professional liability, E&O, fiduciary liability, property, business interruption, fidelity, marine and credit risk insurance, among others. In the biggest single insurance claim of all time, Seth represented the lessees of the World Trade Center in the litigation involving their insurance claims for property damage and business interruption losses resulting from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Eric B. Stern
Partner
Kaufman Dolowich Voluck LLP
Eric concentrates his practice in all aspects of insurance coverage litigation. With nearly 20 years of industry experience, he focuses on the insurance coverage practice area. He has analyzed, written on, and litigated over various types of coverage including D&O liability, cyber-liability, professional liability, commercial general liability, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and homeowners’ liability. Eric has become a frequent presenter on multiple insurance coverage topics. He is the co-chair of KDV’s Cyber Practice Group.
Nefertiti J. Alexander, Partner, Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
Robin Cohen, Chair, Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
John F. Finnegan, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Laura M. Gregory, Partner, Sloane Walsh
Sean C. Griffin, Member, Dykema Gossett
Jeffrey L. Kingsley, Partner, Goldberg Segalla
Timothy P. Law, Partner, Reed Smith
John M. Leonard, Counsel, Anderson Kill
Lorelie S. Masters, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Nicholas R. Maxwell, Counsel, Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
Joseph P. Monteleone, Partner, Weber Gallagher
Julie E. Nevins, Special Counsel, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Seth B. Schafler, Senior of Counsel, Covington
Eric B. Stern, Partner, Kaufman Dolowich Voluck LLP
Our success as a publication relies on expertise and insights from insurance thought leaders. For the duration of 2022, we’re privileged to be able to call on the following experts to help shape our coverage.
These leaders come from a broad cross-section of the industry and have varying levels of experience.
The individuals who comprise the Editorial Advisory Board will provide us with a better picture of where the insurance law industry is today and where it’s going in the next few years.
You’ll be hearing more from the Board throughout 2022 and into 2023.