Policyholder Class Action Defense and Other Large Scale Litigation
Results count. Our robust practice defends policyholder class actions and large-scale catastrophe and crisis litigation on behalf of major insurance companies and serves as national class counsel to the nation’s largest property and casualty insurer. We have an outstanding track record of obtaining dismissals and defeating class certification in hostile, notoriously plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. We bring creative, strategic thinking to bear on early exit strategies. But as our adversaries know, our lawyers try cases. We know how to thoroughly prepare a case and our clients’ witnesses for trial, and we distill complex legal and insurance issues into compelling narratives for a jury. We have handled and continue to handle numerous nationwide class actions as lead national counsel.
High Exposure Claims, Coverage & Bad Faith Defense
In jurisdictions across the country, we counsel and defend insurers facing excess exposure and bad-faith litigation. We routinely handle complex coverage issues involving all types of personal and commercial lines (both standard and specialty). Our substantial experience includes general liability, excess and umbrella liability, commercial property, employer liability, intellectual property, cyber liability, environmental liability, professional liability, title, E&O liability, and D&O liability coverage matters. We are engaged regularly as coordinating counsel to oversee and maintain consistent strategy, discovery, and witness preparation in high-stakes litigation that challenges your key corporate business initiatives.
Insurance-Related Antitrust Defense
A core strength of the Alston & Bird insurance team is our resourceful approach to antitrust litigation. Clients regularly retain us to represent them in antitrust trials, class actions, and multidistrict litigation. The intersection of antitrust and insurance is a complex space, and we have the deep bench of talent and proven litigation experience to guide you to positive outcomes.
Regulatory Guidance
Our team frequently provides our clients with regulatory counseling and representation in regulatory enforcement actions (including market conduct examinations), investigations, contested hearings before state regulators, and regulation-driven litigation. We help you traverse the network of regulators that impacts your business, and we advise on the regulatory issues that affect your core strategic business initiatives.
Policy Drafting & Product Development
We deftly assist insurers in policy contract drafting, insurance product development, insurance-specific project consulting, and bundling insurance and noninsurance products and services. Our collaborative services include reinsurance counseling and insurance-related privacy and data security counseling.
Catastrophic Events
Alston & Bird’s insurance litigation attorneys have handled litigation on behalf of insurers (many times serving as coordinating counsel) involving nearly every major catastrophic event and macro event that has touched the insurance industry. For example, our attorneys have represented many of the nation’s largest carriers as national coverage counsel, class counsel, or coordinating counsel in litigation involving the COVID-19 pandemic; Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike; wind-hail events; and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We have substantial experience and know-how in dealing with these types of crises and their myriad regulatory implications and complications.
Compliance Counseling
We’ve handled virtually every regulatory compliance issue imaginable in the insurance field before every state insurance regulator in the country.