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Posts Tagged ‘English Law’

Holman Fenwick Willan and The Loree Law Firm Give London Talk on U.S. Versus English Arbitration Law

December 7th, 2009 Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC), English Law, Events, London Market, Practice and Procedure, Reinsurance Arbitration Comments Off on Holman Fenwick Willan and The Loree Law Firm Give London Talk on U.S. Versus English Arbitration Law

On December 1, 2009 my friend and colleague Costas Frangeskides , a partner at Holman Fenwick Willan (“HFW” or “Holmans”), and I gave a presentation at HFW’s London offices entitled “Reinsurance Arbitration:  Approaching Things Differently Either Side of the ‘Pond.'”   The program was moderated by Holmans partner Andrew Bandurka, who, like Costas, focuses his practice on reinsurance and insurance dispute resolution.  I have known Costas and Andrew for several years as we were co-counsel in a long-running matter handled by Holmans and my former law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. 

The presentation was designed to provide reinsurance professionals with some insights concerning the differences between U.S. and English reinsurance arbitration practice and procedure.  The principal theme was that U.S. arbitration law is designed principally to enforce the parties’ arbitration agreement as written, placing it on the same footing as all other contracts, while English arbitration law favors party automony, but also imposes a greater number of policy-based norms regulating arbitration, which limit to some extent the parties’ ability to structure their dispute resolution procedure exactly as they see fit. Continue Reading »

House of Lords Hands Down Landmark Reinsurance Decision: Lexington Insurance Co. v. AGF Insurance Ltd.

August 22nd, 2009 Asbestos-Related Claims, Environmental Contamination Claims, Follow-the-Settlements/Follow-the Fortunes, House of Lords, Reinsurance Allocation, Reinsurance Claims Comments Off on House of Lords Hands Down Landmark Reinsurance Decision: Lexington Insurance Co. v. AGF Insurance Ltd.

Part II of a Two-Part Post

Introduction

In Part I we discussed the controversy surrounding the House of Lords decision in Lexington Insurance Co. v. AGF Insurance Co. [2009] UKHL 40.  The House ruled that two proportional facultative reinsurers were not obligated to indemnify the cedent for their share of the entire amount of a judgment a Washington State court rendered against the cedent in an environmental coverage action.  The judgment, which was based on Pennsylvania law, rendered the cedent liable under the policy jointly and severally for property damage caused by environmental contamination that occurred before, during and after the three-year policy period.  The House ruled that the reinsurers could be held liable only for their respective shares of the loss that occurred during the three-year term of the reinsurance contract (which was concurrent with that of the cedent’s policy), not their shares of the total amount of loss for which the Washington judgment held the cedent liable under the reinsured policy. 

In this Part II we briefly summarize the pertinent background of the case, walk the reader through the House’s reasoning and offer a few parting thoughts.      Continue Reading »