John LaBarbera

Practice Areas

Energy

Environmental

Financial institutions

High net worth

Life and health

Product liability and product safety

Professional liability

Property damage

Reinsurance

Insurance coverage

General liability

Commercial, IT and outsourcing

Arbitration

Construction

Insurance and reinsurance

Career

John is a partner in the Chicago office. His practice focuses on representing clients in all aspects of the insurance and reinsurance business, including claims counseling, litigation, and arbitration. His practice includes the handling of issues involving commercial insurance, primary, bad faith, umbrella, excess and surplus lines, professional liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and reinsurance.

His experience in the reinsurance area focuses on litigating and arbitrating disputes, representing reinsurers of workers’ compensation programs, insurance pools, and treaty reinsurance programs. He has represented reinsurers of life and health programs in litigation and arbitration matters.

John has served as Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Section for the last seven years. He has spoken at the ABA ICLC Annual Meeting D&O Exposures for Catastrophe Claims, and at the Reinsurance Association of America Re Basics Reinsurance Issues in D&O Matters. He also gave the Keynote Address at the ARC Annual Congress in London (2011).

Publications

Co-author, “Southern District of New York reiterates high standard for arbitrator removal on bias grounds,” published for Kennedys (August 2023)

Co-author, “The latest challenge to Ohio’s allocation law,” published for Kennedys (March 2021)

Work Highlights

Lead trial counsel for excess insurer in dispute with policyholder over primary exhaustion involving underlying asbestos bodily injury claims with total value of more than $150 million.

Lead trial counsel for treaty reinsurer of workers’ compensation self-insurer fund in regulatory dispute with commissioner of insurance.

Lead arbitration counsel for facultative reinsurer in dispute of claim allocation involving significant underlying personal injury claim.

Successfully defended excess insurer policyholder claim of vertical exhuastion under Illinois in coverage dispute involving allocation of asbestos bodily injury claims.

Successfully defended excess insurer from policyholder claims that excess insurer had an obligation to indemnify for defense costs.

Awards