Commentary on insurance and reinsurance disputes and related issues and the website of Schiffer Law & Consulting PLLC
Commercial property insurance policies written in hurricane-prone jurisdictions often contain arbitration clauses. Can a policyholder avoid arbitration and bring breach of contract claims into court instead? Earlier this year, a Louisiana federal court said no.
Continue reading “Louisiana Federal Court Compels Arbitration Over Hurricane Property Damage Losses”
The US Supreme Court has had a busy term deciding arbitration issues. In a second opinion in a matter of a week, the Court has addressed another arbitration issue that could affect insurance and reinsurance disputes. This time, the issue was conflicting contracts.
Continue reading “US Supreme Court Clarifies That Courts Decide What Contract Governs Dispute”
For some time, there has been a federal circuit split on whether a district court may dismiss a case where a dispute is subject to arbitration under section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and one of the parties asks the court to stay the action pending arbitration rather than dismiss the proceeding. That question has now been answered by a unanimous Court.
Continue reading “US Supreme Court Clears Up the Stay/Dismissal Circuit Split”
Some reinsurance disputes repeat. Either they involve different reinsurers on the same contract or different reinsurers on the same claim or different reinsurers on similar contracts on the same basic issue. Where a cedent loses an arbitration on an issue that repeats in a subsequent reinsurance dispute, should the cedent be estopped from seeking a reinsurance recovery from the other reinsurer? A Michigan federal court recently addressed this issue.
Continue reading “Cedent Denied Second Bite at the Apple in Dispute Over Reinsurance Coverage”
Parties to reinsurance arbitrations often file in court to confirm (or vacate) arbitral awards. Some file even though the adverse party has complied with the arbitration award. When doing so, they invariably invoke the confidentiality agreement in the proceeding to seal the award and other related documents used in the petition to confirm. Must the court confirm and must the court seal the documents? We have seen this movie before.
Continue reading “Arbitration Award Confirmed In the Face of Recapture and Request to Seal Is Denied”
Reinsurance arbitrations are typically cloaked in confidentiality, often through a written confidentiality agreement or order. Some arbitration agreements include confidentiality provisions as well. In recent years, parties have gone to court to confirm reinsurance arbitration awards, sometimes as an end-around the confidentiality agreement. In 2023, the Second Circuit, in a non-reinsurance case, rejected an attempt to do an end-around an arbitration confidentiality provision.
Continue reading “Second Circuit Rejects Attempted End-Around Arbitration Confidentiality Provision”
In 2023, arbitrability and who must arbitrate continued to be litigated issues, with courts often sending the parties to arbitration consistent with public policy. Courts also addressed arbitrator bias, allocation, discovery of reinsurance information issues, jurisdiction, and direct right of action. And in one case, the court addressed a lost policy issue.
Continue reading “A Brief Review of Reinsurance Trends in 2023”
Below are the Top 5 Posts from Schiffer on Re-Insurance in 2023:
When Claims-Made Primary and Occurrence Excess Policies Clash
Cedent Prevails on Back-to-Back Reinsurance Recovery
Pesky Facts Result in a Denial of Summary Judgment in a Post-Settlement Allocation Case
Court Appoints Umpire in Coverage Dispute
Court Finds No Personal Jurisdiction in Reinsurance Dispute and Dismisses Case
Let me know your favorite post. Tell your friends and colleagues to register to receive new blog posts. Some Schiffer on Re-Insurance Blog Posts are available as Podcasts on Spotify via Anchor. Thank you for reading and I hope you continue to read in 2024. I am happy to entertain topic ideas. I hope you find my blog helpful. Let us all have a happy and safe and healthy 2024.
When a party receives and arbitration demand and there is a dispute about whether there is an agreement to arbitrate between the parties, participating in the early stages of the arbitration may be problematic for a subsequent effort to dispute arbitrability. This issue can arise when there has been an assignment or transfer of a reinsurance agreement or the right to the reinsurance receivables to an assignee who seeks to arbitrate against the original counterparty. In a recent case, a New York state court had to address these issues.
Continue reading “Participation In Early Stages of Arbitration Dooms Petition to Stay Arbitration”
IRMI.com has published my latest Expert Commentary on Reinsurance. This commentary focuses on the preclusive effect of a prior arbitration award and who gets to decide whether the prior arbitration award in a reinsurance dispute has any preclusive effect on a subsequent dispute. You can read the commentary here.
