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Archive for August, 2010

LinkedIn’s Reinsurance Claims Group is 100 Members Strong!

August 24th, 2010 Reinsurance Claims, Reinsurance Claims Group, Reinsurance Social Media Comments Off on LinkedIn’s Reinsurance Claims Group is 100 Members Strong!

 On July 30, 2010 we announced the formation of LinkedIn’s Reinsurance Claims group. (Post here)  On August 14, 2010 we introduced the co-managers of the group:  Nigel Shepherd, Robert Bear, Marc Lanzkowsky, Theresa Hajost, Bill Hook and me.  (Post here)  Today we are happy to report that we admitted our 100th member after having been in existence for less than one month!

The group actively discusses issues concerning U.S. and international ceded and assumed reinsurance claims.  It enables members to share information; discuss and debate issues; access a number of excellent reinsurance- and insurance-related blogs; and network with others in the domestic and international reinsurance community.  

The group welcomes new members, and encourages (but does not require) active participation.  The only requirement for membership is a bona fide interest in reinsurance claims.  The group is not a forum for, and does not permit, advertising or blatant self-promotion, so our members need not be concerned about being subject to sales pitches and the like. 

If you are already a member of LinkedIn, please click here to apply for membership in the group.  If you are not a LinkedIn member, please click here and you will be guided through the process of creating a profile (which does not need to be completed in one step).  Once your profile is started, and you have a user name and password, you can click here to apply for membership in the group.  Joining LinkedIn is free, as is joining the group.

We look forward to meeting you online!

[Editor’s Note:  If you are also interested in reinsurance and other types of arbitration and mediation, then we invite you to join LinkedIn’s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group, which is now over 900 members strong.  (Post here, which contains information on how to join.)]

LinkedIn’s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group is 900 Members Strong and Growing!

August 23rd, 2010 ADR Social Media, Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group, Mediation, Reinsurance Mediation Comments Off on LinkedIn’s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group is 900 Members Strong and Growing!

As regular readers know, we own and co-manage with Don Philbin, Jr., Karl Bayer, Robert Bear, and Victoria VanBuren  LinkedIn‘s Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group.  The group actively discusses issues pertaining to domestic and international ADR, and features a distinguished and diverse membership of arbitrators, mediators, business people, attorneys, law professors, students, and other persons interested in ADR.  Our members hail not only from the United States, but many other countries as well. 

The group, which was formed in May 2009, is now 900 members strong and is growing by the week.  Many different industries are represented, including the insurance and reinsurance industry.  The group enables members to share information; discuss and debate issues; directly access numerous excellent ADR-related blogs; and network with others in the domestic and international ADR community. 

The group welcomes new members, and encourages (but does not require) active participation.  The only requirement for membership is a bona fide interest in ADR.  The group is not a forum for, and does not permit, advertising or blatant self-promotion, so our members need not be concerned about being subject to sales pitches and the like. 

If you are already a member of LinkedIn, please click here to apply for membership in the group.  If you are not a LinkedIn member, click here, and you will be guided through the process of creating a profile (which does not need to be completed in one step).  Once your profile is started, and you have a user name and password, you can apply for membership in the group (which entails no more than clicking on a button).  Joining LinkedIn is free, as is joining the group. 

We hope you’ll join up!

More on Final Awards: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois v. Organon Teknika Corp. LLC

August 20th, 2010 Appellate Practice, Arbitration Practice and Procedure, Final Awards, Functus Officio, Practice and Procedure, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Comments Off on More on Final Awards: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois v. Organon Teknika Corp. LLC

A.   Introduction

Regular readers have heard us preach about the importance of knowing arbitration law cold (here), understanding and identifying when an arbitration award is final (here), and being keenly aware of Federal Arbitration Act deadlines (here).  The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently decided a case that illustrates these points well.  See Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois v. Organon Teknika Corp. LLC, ___ F.3d ___, slip op. (7th Cir. July 27, 2010) (Easterbrook, C.J.). 

The Court held that, in the circumstances, an arbitration award was final notwithstanding a provision in the award that said the arbitrator reserves his right to change his mind.  But there is more to it than that.  Continue Reading »

Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum is a LexisNexis Top 50 Insurance Law Blog for 2009!

August 17th, 2010 Reinsurance Social Media Comments Off on Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum is a LexisNexis Top 50 Insurance Law Blog for 2009!

On June 27, 2010 we announced that the Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum had been nominated to be one of LexisNexis Insurance Law Community’s Top 50 Insurance Law Blogs for 2009.  (Post here)  Yesterday LexisNexis posted its list of the Top 50 Insurance Law Blogs for 2009, and we are happy to say that the Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum made the final cut!   (Read LexisNexis’s post here.)

We are also pleased that The Claims SPOT — an excellent insurance and reinsurance claims blog owned by our good friend and fellow LinkedIn Reinsurance Claims group co-manager, Marc Lanzkowsky — also made the top 50 list.  Congratulations, Marc and keep up the great work! 

Making LexisNexis’s Insurance Law Community’s Top 50 list is a great honor and privilege, and we would like to thank the LexisNexis Insurance Law Community for selecting The Claims Spot, the Loree Reinsurance and Arbitration Law Forum, and the 48 other great blogs that made the list.

Meet the Reinsurance Claims Group Co-Managers

August 14th, 2010 ADR Social Media, Reinsurance Claims Comments Off on Meet the Reinsurance Claims Group Co-Managers

On July 30, 2010 we announced the formation of LinkedIn’s Reinsurance Claims group, which is a forum for the discussion of issues concerning U.S. and international ceded and assumed reinsurance claims.  (Post here)  We would like to introduce the co-managers of the group:  Nigel Shepherd, Robert Bear, Marc Lanzkowsky, Theresa Hajost, Bill Hook and me.  It is an honor to work with such a talented and professionally diverse group of people, and their commitment to the group bodes well for its success.    

But there is more.  Every one of these people is a great human being that is a pleasure to know and with whom it is a privilege to collaborate.  All are readily approachable and willing to share freely their impressive knowledge, skills and experience.  And that is what makes for a great Web 2.0 discussion and networking group.     Continue Reading »

Reinsurance Nuts & Bolts: What is an Aggregate Extraction Clause?

August 10th, 2010 Accumulation of Loss, Aggregate Cover, Nuts & Bolts, Nuts & Bolts: Reinsurance, Reinsurance Allocation, Reinsurance Claims Comments Off on Reinsurance Nuts & Bolts: What is an Aggregate Extraction Clause?

A.   Introduction

Over a year ago we ran a Reinsurance Nuts & Bolts feature entitled “Aggregate Extension Clauses”  (here).  To our considerable surprise, that article was, and remains, one of our more popular ones. 

At the close of the article we said (tongue in cheek):  “If you, the reader, have gotten this far, then perhaps you would like to delve into a discussion of ‘Aggregate Extraction Clauses.’  But these clauses – which conjure up some of the more frightening scenes from Marathon Man (1976) – are better left for another day.  .  .  . ”  Brace yourselves, for we fear that day has arrived.  .  .  .       Continue Reading »

United States Law Week Quotes Philip J. Loree Jr. Comments on Fensterstock

August 4th, 2010 Arbitration Practice and Procedure, Class Action Arbitration, Class Action Waivers, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, United States Supreme Court Comments Off on United States Law Week Quotes Philip J. Loree Jr. Comments on Fensterstock

Last week I was interviewed by Tom P. Taylor, a reporter for The United States Law Week, about the Fensterstock v. Education Finance Partners, No. 09-1562-cv, slip op. (2d Cir. July 12, 2010), class-action waiver case (blogged here).  Yesterday, Tom’s excellent article on Fensterstock was published in 79 U.S.L.W. 1111 (Aug. 3, 2010) (BNA), and he quoted some of my comments in it. 

U.S. Law Week is a subscription only publication, but I received permission from the Bureau of National Affairs (“BNA”) to post a copy of the article on my LinkedIn profile.  So, if you are a member of Linkedin, you can access a copy of the article here (it does not appear in my “public” LinkedIn profile).

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tom P. Taylor for conducting a very professional interview and following up with a very professional article.  We would also like to thank Bernard J. Pazanowski, who co-authored the article with Tom.