Stevens & Lee offers a wide range of legal services to property and casualty, title, life and health insurers and reinsurers; risk retention groups and other captive insurance entities; intermediaries and brokers; and investor groups and investment banks that focus on the insurance industry. Our lawyers provide a wide range of industry-specific services, along with traditional legal services, such as employment, litigation, employee benefits and others.

Although mature, the insurance industry continues to change through the introduction of new business models, innovative technologies and other evolutionary developments. Because of this, Stevens & Lee has invested the time and resources into bringing creative ideas and solutions to the industry. For example, Stevens & Lee effected legislation in Pennsylvania to make the conversion of mutual insurance companies to stock insurance companies both easier and economically viable; one of our lawyers drafted the Act. As a result, we have counseled numerous industry clients on the demutualization process.

Corporate and M&A
Stevens & Lee represents clients in connection with various capital formation options, such as equity, including demutualizations; debt, including the issuance of surplus notes; mutual holding company formation; capital investments by reinsurers and private placements by downstream holding companies. We also represent clients, both buyers and sellers, in mergers, acquisitions, merger conversions, stakeout investments and divestitures. Recent transactions include:

-       Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. and Educators Mutual Life   Insurance Company merger conversion

-       Mercer Insurance Group’s demutualization

-       Mercer acquisition of Financial Pacific Insurance Company

-       Nationwide acquisition of Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company

Regulatory
Our insurance regulatory lawyers offer comprehensive counseling and transactional services to insurers, reinsurers and others in the insurance industry. We interact regularly with state insurance departments on behalf of our clients, especially in connection with issues relating to new product development. Our team works closely with our clients to deliver responsive and practical results-oriented solutions to the challenges arising in today’s complex insurance and financial services marketplace.

Litigation
Stevens & Lee has litigated insurance coverage disputes involving environmental coverage, directors and officers policies, errors and omissions policies, surety and construction bonds, fidelity and employee dishonesty policies and CGL policies. Our insurance expertise also includes extensive experience litigating bad faith claims.

Reinsurance
Hiring skilled and experienced counsel with a sophisticated, in-depth knowledge of the reinsurance business can play a significant role in determining the outcome of your dispute. Stevens & Lee serves a wide range of cedents, reinsurers and other market participants of all sizes. From active writers to run-off operations, Stevens & Lee assists both economically strong and distressed reinsurers operating in the U.S., London and Asian markets.

Our services include:
• Handling disputes involving third-party service providers, including intermediaries, brokers, MGAs, MGUs, TPAs, accountants and independent auditors
• Handling matters involving requests for U.S. judicial assistance in proceedings pending abroad
• Assisting with commutations, including negotiating and drafting commutation agreements
• Acting as U.S. reinsurance counsel, including assisting the client in formulating and implementing global strategies designed to improve and coordinate its claims handling and reinsurance collection efforts, assist with arbitrator, local counsel selection and supervise other law firms handling reinsurance arbitrations and litigations
• Assisting with subpoena compliance and internal investigations
• Assisting with NAIC finite reinsurance review and attestation process

Captive Insurance
Our captive insurance attorneys remain on the cutting edge of change. Involved in evaluating, structuring and forming captive insurance companies and other risk financing vehicles, our attorneys provide legal counsel in connection with the design and implementation of alternatives to traditional commercial insurance, and have represented investors and organizers in forming captive insurance companies, risk retention groups and self-insurance trusts.

In a dramatic initiative to address the Pennsylvania malpractice issue, Stevens & Lee collaborated with insurance intermediaries to create a number of off-shore and domestically domiciled captive insurance vehicles for physicians and post acute care providers. This initiative not only created a viable alternative to traditional malpractice insurance for thousands of Pennsylvania’s health care providers, but also prompted the opening of the Firm’s office in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the leading states that provides favorable legislation and the established infrastructure to support the captive insurance industry.

Bankruptcy/Workout
Stevens & Lee is highly experienced in handling bankruptcy, workout and insolvency matters related to insurance companies and insurance coverage. Our knowledge of the industry and thorough understanding of its unique needs helps us to consistently generate cost-effective results for our clients. 

Stevens & Lee has handled workout, reorganization and insolvency and bankruptcy matters for a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance clients. We represents insurers in asbestos, mass tort and environmental bankruptcy cases and work with clients in the acquisition and financing of financially distressed businesses. Among our notable clients in this area are Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, ACE Group, Admiral Insurance Company, American International Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and St. PaulTravelers.

For more information contact Jeffrey P. Waldron at jpw@stevenslee.com.