William G Passannante

Practice Areas

Insurance Recovery, Directors and Officers Insurance Recovery, Corporate and Finance Litigation,

Corporate and Finance Litigation

Career

William G. Passannante is a nationally recognized authority on policyholder insurance recovery in D&O, E&O, asbestos, environmental, property, food-borne illness, and other insurance disputes, with an emphasis on insurance recovery for corporate policyholders and educational and governmental institutions.

According to clients quoted in Chambers USA, he is touted as, "A terrific policyholder lawyer" and "a tremendous tactician and an incredible trial lawyer." According to Chambers USA, he is the “go-to attorney for high-dollar insurance coverage litigation,” and “knows the industry inside-out.” "Mr. Passannante is well regarded for his client counseling and impressive advocacy, and has the perceptive ability to wade through legalese and identify the most salient and important issues. He relates to his clients with integrity, determination and devotion. He has a good sense of humor and is passionate about his work."

Mr. Passannante is co-chair of Anderson Kill's Insurance Recovery Group. He is also a member of Anderson Kill's Cyber Insurance Recovery Group and the COVID Task Group. He has represented policyholders in major precedent-setting cases argued in trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Law360 recognized Mr. Passannante as 2013 MVP in the Insurance category, and he has been recognized in Chambers USA in every year since 2006 as a leading insurance recovery attorney. The Legal 500 United States consistency includes him on their elite "Leading lawyers" list and he is recommended for Insurance - advice to policyholders. Since 2010, Mr. Passannante has been selected by his peers for listing in The Best Lawyers in America. He has also been rated "AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated," the top rating, 5.0 out of 5.0, by his peers and was also designated a 2020 Top Rated Lawyer as listed in Martindale Hubbell.

He has represented The Glidden Company, The Trustees of Princeton University, The City of Peekskill, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Franchisees of Taco Bell, HLTH Corporation/WebMD, Yum! Brands, Picker International, Weyerhaeuser Company, Occidental Chemical Company, Imperial Chemical Industries, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., The Lefrak Organization, Quest Diagnostics, Automatic Data Processing, Fleming Companies, Inc., and others.

Mr. Passannante was a drafter of the precedent-setting Weyerhaeuser case in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, which held that no overt threat against a policyholder is required to trigger insurance policies. Mr. Passannante co-chaired the program "Current Issues in D&O and Professional Liability Insurance" sponsored by the ABCNY and the ABA, and chairs the firm’s annual D&O Insurance Conference.

He has testified before the New York State Legislature regarding the insurance industry response to the victims of terrorist attacks. Mr. Passannante is an editor of the book, "The Policyholder Advisor,” and has published widely including in "Risk Management," "The (ABA) Brief," "Corporate Counsel Magazine," "Policyholder Advisor," "Copyright World," "Healthcare Financial Management," "Insurance Litigation Reporter," and "Mealey's Insurance."

Mr. Passannante is a Regis High School class representative (2006-present), and was a member of the Regis High School Alumni Board (2006-2009) and the school’s Executive Council (1998-2006). Prior to joining Anderson Kill, Mr. Passannante was a Financial, Industrial, and

Professional Memberships

Fellow, American Bar Foundation (2019-Present), New York State Bar Association, Vice-Chair of the Professionals, Officers and Directors Liability Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association (Past), a member of the Directors and Officers Liability Committee of the Insurance Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Past); member, Securities Litigation Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Past); Federal Bar Council; and International Bar Association.

Association Memberships

National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA) (Past), American Bankers Association; American Judicature Society.

Publications

New York Courts Reject Insurance Companies’ Attempts to Recoup Defense Costs

New York Law Journal / May 24, 2024

Why Insurance Companies Should Lose the Battle over Recoupment of Defense Costs

DRI : For The Defense / November 15, 2023

Breaking Down Insurers’ Improper Recoupment Efforts

Law360 / November 3, 2023

Bumping the Bump-Up Exclusion: A Policyholder’s Guide to Resisting Improper Coverage Denials

New York Law Journal / October 1, 2023

Insurance Coverage For ChatGPT Legal Fiasco: A Hypothetical

Law360 / July 20, 2023

Older publications: https://andersonkill.com/people/william-g-passannante/

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admissions

New York

New Jersey

District of Columbia

Court Admissions

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

United States Court of Appeal for the First Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Seventh Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Eighth Circuit

United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit

Supreme Court of the United States

Experience

ity of Peekskill New York – Represented City of Peekskill for insurance recovery related to the claims of wrongful arrest, conviction and incarceration in Deskovic v. City of Peekskill, 894 F.Supp.2d 443 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

Crestview Advisors – Represent policyholder to recover D&O liability insurance related to underlying Delaware corporate litigation. Crestview Advisors, L.L.C. v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., New York Supreme Court, Index No. 651386/20 (New York County 2020).

Lord & Taylor LLC — represent policyholder in cyber-related insurance claim. Lord & Taylor LLC v. Great American Ins. Co., No. 1:18-cv-12312 (S.D.N.Y. 2018).

Yum! Brands — represent policyholder to recover retained amount insurance policy under global worldwide insurance program. Yum! Brands, Inc. v. Clarendon America Ins. Co., No.: C-12-05973-LB (U.S.D.C., N.D. CA. 2013).

Ulico Casualty Company — Represent policyholders in recovering unpaid white-collar defense costs in D&O liability insurance matters. Kelly Libby & Hoopes, P.C. and Greenberg Traurig LLP v. Ulico Casualty Company, C.A. No. 05-11859 (D. Mass.).

Ohio Casualty v. Walmart — Represent policyholder in an insurance coverage action brought by insurance companies regarding liability for a settlement related to a truck accident and related case. Morgan v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. Civ. 14-4388 (MAS)(LHG), 2015 WL 3882748 (D.N.J.). The Ohio Casualty Insurance Company et al. v. Walmart Stores, Inc., et al., C. A. No. 3:16-CV-04029-MAS-LHG (D.N.J. Trenton Div.).

MAXXAM Inc. and Charles Hurwitz v. National Union – Represented MAXXAM and Charles Hurwitz to recover D&O insurance for the defense of FDIC claims recounted in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (F.D.I.C.) v. Charles E. Hurwitz, 384 F. Supp. 2d 1039 (S.D. Tex.)(“This is a cautionary tale where the emperor has new clothes — a bandit’s mask.”).

Executive Plaza — Clause limited time in which to bring suit under fire policy to two years from date of fire. Policy says that policyholder may recover cost of replacing destroyed property after property has been replaced. Court held that such contractual limitation period, in situation where property cannot reasonably be replaced in two years, is unreasonable and unenforceable. Executive Plaza, LLC v. Peerless Insurance, 22 N.Y.3d 511, 5 N.E.3d 989, 982 N.Y.S.2d 826 (2014).

U.S. Bancorp — represent bank in professional liability insurance matter regarding so-called “disgorgement” defense. U.S. Bank N.A. v. Indian Harbor Ins. Co., 68 F. Supp. 3d 1044 (D. Minn. 2014).

Colgate-Palmolive — represent policyholder to recover liability insurance for alleged product liability actions. Colgate-Palmolive Company v. OneBeacon America Ins. Co. and Resolute Management, Inc., No. 651193/2011 (N.Y. County 2013).

Acella Pharmaceuticals — represent pharmaceutical manufacturer with regard to insurance coverage. Gemini Insurance v. Acella Pharmaceuticals, LLC, et al., No. 1:2018cv04378 (SJS) (SDNY 2019).

Host Terminals — represent policyholder with respect to fire loss. QBE Underwriting Ltd. v. Host Terminals, LLC, No. 2:19-CV-0054 (HCM) (EDVA).

HEI Hotels — represent policyholder for general liability claims. The Arden Group, HEI Hotels, LLC et al. v. Continental Insurance Company, et al., 2020CV 332064 (Superior Court Fulton County, GA 2020).

Duro Dyne — represent policyholder manufacture with regard to historical alleged asbestos liabilities. The North River Insurance Company v. Duro Dyne Nat’l Corp., et al., 153 A.D.3d 844, 61 N.Y.S.3d 78, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 06285 (August 23, 2017).

Wright Medical — represent policyholder to recover liability insurance related to allegations regarding hip implants in St. Paul Surplus Lines Ins. Co. v. Wright Medical Group, Inc., No. CH-14-0927-3 (Chancery Court of Tennessee, Thirtieth Judicial District, Memphis).

WebMd Health — summary judgment to advance defense costs in D&O insurance case. HLTH Corp. v. Agricultural Exc. & Sur. Ins. Co., 2008 WL 3413327 (2008), appeal as to certain insurance companies Axis Reinsurance Co. v. HLTH Corp., No. 565, 2009 (2010). Final insurance company, New Hampshire Insurance Company withdrew “recoupment” claim (2013).

More at https://andersonkill.com/people/william-g-passannante/

Awards

Education