This week we are delighted and honored to feature Peter A. Scarpato, Esq. as a guest blogger on the Forum. I have known Peter since 1990, when he was the General Counsel of American Centennial Insurance Company in run-off, and I was an associate at Miller, Singer, Raives & Brandes, P.C. We have stayed in touch over the years and have worked together on matters where Peter was the key client contact, both at American Centennial, and later, at the American International Group.
Currently the President of Conflict Resolved, LLC, Peter is a full-time ADR professional who has extensive experience as an arbitrator, umpire, counsel, mediator and negotiator in hundreds of reinsurance and other commercial disputes, settlements and commutations. He is a run-off specialist for all forms of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance; warranty; surety; and various types of program business. He is an ARIAS-U.S. certified arbitrator and mediator who also holds ADR certifications or positions for FINRA Dispute Resolution (formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD)); Executive Mediator Services; Reinsurance Association of America (RAA); Construction Dispute Resolution Services LLC; the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York; New York State Supreme Court – Commercial Division; and Case Closure, LLC.
From the time he joined American Centennial in the fall of 1985 through the end of his tenure at AIG in 2005, and to date, Peter has accumulated more than 20 years of experience handling and managing every phase of the run-off process. As in-house counsel, General Counsel, Run-Off Manager, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, he has been responsible for the negotiation and resolution of billions of dollars in run-off collections, commutations and liabilities; the prosecution of high-profile and high-stakes arbitrations, litigations and mediations; and the management of dozens of professional insurance and reinsurance run off specialists, including attorneys, accountants, actuaries, claims technicians, systems specialists and underwriters. He is a frequent author and lecturer on the reinsurance and ADR circuit; serves as Editor-in-Chief of AIRROC Matters, the newsletter of the Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run Off Companies; and graciously donates his time to serve as mediator for New York University School of Law‘s Lawyering Program.
Peter has acted as a party-appointed arbitrator in 66 reinsurance-related matters, an umpire in 13, and a mediator in over 75 disputes. He has also acted as an executive coach for persons starting and managing small insurance and non-insurance businesses. You can learn more about Peter and his practice at http://www.conflictresolved.com/.
Peter’s guest-blog feature is entitled “Mediating Reinsurance Disputes: A Case Study.” Peter has taught me that, for certain United States reinsurance disputes, mediation is an available, effective but often misunderstood and underused process for companies seeking an efficient, cost-effective alternative to arbitration or litigation. His guest-blog post takes the reader step-by-step through the key phases of a reinsurance mediation and explains the importance of each phase from the perspective of the mediator. To illustrate his points, he uses an example based on a reinsurance mediation he conducted. Naturally, he does not disclose the identity of the parties or any other confidential information about the mediation. But he gives the reader enough so that he or she is left with a working understanding of how reinsurance mediations are conducted and why they can work.
Peter’s post is recommended reading for clients, mediators, arbitrators, and counsel. It is based on an article Peter published in Issue 108 of JTW News – September 2006, a well-known U.K.-based reinsurance trade publication. If you have any questions about Peter’s guest-blog post, please use the “Comments” feature provided, or e mail Peter at peter@conflictresolved.com.
Tags: guest post, Mediation, Peter A. Scarpato, reinsurance disputes
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