DEPARTMENT PROFILE

Blank Rome LLP

Insurance: Policyholder

3 ranked lawyersBand 2CaliforniaUSA 2021 View ranking table

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What the team is known for

Experienced in policy-side coverage disputes, including issues related to bankruptcy, cybersecurity and political risk. Additional expertise in issues concerning sexual abuse liability. Has a broad client base that includes financial institutions and universities.

Work highlights

Represented Pennsylvania State University in its insurance recovery efforts for amounts spent responding to the Jerry Sandusky sexual misconduct claims.

Notable practitioners

David Thomas is increasingly recognized for his insurance coverage practice and frequently acts for education, agricultural, banking and finance sector clients.

Linda Kornfeld impresses market sources with her adroit handling of complex coverage matters, including those in emerging areas such as cybersecurity and data breaches. She also has specialist expertise in high-value claims concerning business interruption losses and natural disasters.
"She is an expert in her field and knows the insurance dispute market well. She is a pleasure to work with." "She is a great performer and has been at the forefront of the complex work at her firm."

Mary Craig Calkins is a market leader in D&O and other professional liability disputes, especially those pertaining to claims of sexual abuse and harassment.
"She's fantastic and hands-down the best in the business." "She's highly qualified and very knowledgeable - she garners a lot of respect."

Department Information

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Overview

• Among few policyholder-dedicated CA firms
• Our trial/appellate successes recovered $8 billion+ from insurers, brokers over last decade
• For 30+ years we’ve broken ground, set precedent for insureds in specialties (bankruptcy, business-conduct and environmental liability, employment, energy, political risk, business interruption, sports) and the cutting edge (cyber/data privacy, child sex abuse, #MeToo, D&O liability, representation and warranties, credit risk)
• CA team works with Washington, D.C., NY, Houston colleagues and with government contracts and M&A practices on overlapping insurance issues
• Practice size has doubled; 70+ % of additions are women, including CA lateral partners
• Our plaintiff-style approach focuses on maximizing benefits, recoveries for clients (often tort defendants)
• Cutting-edge experience in sexual abuse liability, second to none in the U.S., has recovered $1 billion+ in insurance proceeds and multi-million recoveries for victims
• Advise on insurance aspects of billion-dollar+ transactions for corporations, private equity firms, hedge funds) including due diligence and securing representations and warranties and tax insurance
• Expanding cybersecurity/data privacy insurance representations in CA includes advising on GDPR and CCPA compliance
• CA practice part of Firm’s Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Team, which helps businesses and people across the U.S. access their insurance after devastating weather-related losses