Our Team

Michael L. Cohen

• Insurance Coverage
• Excess
• Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation
• Reinsurance Pools
• Insurance Corporate and Regulatory
• Professional Errors and Omissions
• Directors & Officers
• Insurance Company Insolvency, including Transnational Insolvencies
• General Liability Defense
• Financial Institutions Insurance

• International Insurance and Reinsurance Practice.
• Managed Runoff of Major Municipality Liability Program for London Insurer.
• Handled two large London Market Runoffs for one of the largest U.S. Property and Casualty Companies.
• Represented Liquidators, Guaranty Associations, Reinsureds and Reinsurers in Insurance Insolvencies.
• Opposed High Profile Certification of a U.K. Part 7 Transfer by U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
• Provided expert advice in London arbitration on the application of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a large construction project in the Middle East by one of the major U.S. oil companies.
• Successfully arbitrated long tail allocations and aggregation issues on behalf of reinsurers.
• Served as Director on Boards of Several Domestic Insurers and U.S. Branch of Foreign Insurers and as first President of Legal Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland.
• Obtained the approval of the non Lloyd’s marine market (more than 100 companies) as Reinsurers in Maryland to establish its port of entry into the United States.
• Established first toxic tort trigger favoring insurers in the State of Maryland.

Michael Cohen

• Former General Counsel to the Maryland Insurance Administration
• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Practice & Litigation Sections
• Former Chairman, Professional Liability Insurance Committee, Maryland State Bar Association
• University of Pennsylvania (J.D. 1977)
• The Johns Hopkins University (B.A. with General Honors & Departmental Honors in History & Philosophy, 1971, M.A., 1974)
• Princeton University 1971-1972

Thomas A. Buckley

• Complex Civil Arbitrations and Litigation
• Primary, Excess, Surplus Lines and Reinsurance Coverage, Counseling, Arbitration, and Litigation
• Insurance Defense, including general liability and professional errors and omissions.
• Personal Injury Claims & Suits

• Defended and prosecuted complex commercial arbitrations and lawsuits.
• Defended and prosecuted malpractice lawsuits relating attorneys and insurance and real estate brokers/agents.
• Represented manufacturers of forklifts, tractors, ski equipment, pharmaceuticals, and asbestos-containing products.
• Represented developers, home inspectors and contractors in construction defect suits.
• Represented automotive manufacturers and dealerships in claims of breach of warranty (lemon law) and improper sales practices.
• Represented transportation and trucking companies in tort suits.

Thomas A. Buckley

• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Section
• University of California, Hastings (J.D. 1987)
• University of Santa Clara (B.S. 1984)

John H. Haley

• Reinsurance Arbitration and Litigation
• Commercial Insurance Coverage Disputes, including Professional Liability of Lawyers, Accountants, D&O, Brokers, CGL, Property, Life, etc.
• Insurer/Reinsurer Corporate and Regulatory
• Expertise in the Law of Corporate Governance for Insurers and Reinsurers
• Insurer Insolvency, representation for and against Liquidators and Rehabilitators in a number of states
• London Market and Bermuda insurance/reinsurance experience
• Policy Drafting and Interpretation
• Program Insurance Business
• Commercial Litigation and Appeals
• Service as Expert and Mediator

• Won major reinsurance case on behalf of cedant at NY Court of Appeals, 1990 establishing standards for waiver of rescission claims
• Primary Author of Legal Malpractice Chapter for West Group’s treatise, General Practice in New York.
• Author of Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Chapter for Matthew Bender & Co.’s treatise, New York Insurance Law.
• Review and evaluation of books of insurance and reinsurance business in connection with M&A, purchases and reinsurer reviews
• Representing Vermont Liquidator, persuaded a California court to abstain in favor of Vermont liquidation proceeding
• Persuaded Illinois federal court not to enforce a cut-through endorsement against foreign reinsurer
• Co-chair/Organizer of Practicing Law Institute seminars re Legal Malpractice
• Claims Counsel for many D&O Carriers handling claims against D&O’s of Fortune 500 companies and nuclear power plants
• Former Sr. Vice President and Associate General Counsel of large U.S. reinsurer
• Representation of foreign purchaser of a large U.S. insurer in state approval hearings
• Representation of NY Liquidation Bureau and other insurer liquidators in insurance and reinsurance disputes
• Coverage Counsel for the largest writer of lawyers professional liability coverage in New York State
• Frequent seminar panelist on insurance and reinsurance matters, including attorney ethics

John H. Haley

• ARIAS Member and Certified Arbitrator
• Graduate of Fordham Law School (J.D. 1975)

James W. Wiggin III

• General business and commercial litigation
• Construction disputes
• Reinsurance and insurance disputes
• White collar crime defense

• Successfully represented purchaser of insurance company in complex litigation arising from post-closing adjustments and involving claims and counterclaims totaling $30 million.
• Successfully represented niche insurer in two, multi-million dollar arbitrations to enforce long-tail reinsurance agreements covering numerous underlying claims.
• Successfully represented niche insurer in $2 million arbitration to recover reinsurance for settlement of bad-faith claims arising from electrical contact case against primary insurer.
• Successfully represented Fortune 500 corporation in $30 million, international arbitration against major Asian corporation arising from demise of joint development agreement for cutting-edge technology.
• Successfully represented owner before AAA Blue-Ribbon construction panel in arbitration with contractor over 86 claims and counterclaims totaling $100 million arising from construction of cross-country pipeline.
• Successfully represented contractors and construction managers in various multi-million dollar actions involving construction defects or delays.
• Successfully defended alarm company against major subrogation claim brought by insurer of home destroyed by fire.
• Successfully defended manufacturer against multi-million dollar patent infringement claim.

James W. Wiggin III

• University of Cincinnati College of Law (J.D. 1985)
  • Editor in Chief, Law Review
• Dartmouth College (B.A. 1980)

Jessica L. Johnson

• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Employment discrimination and wrongful discharge
• OSHA and FMLA
• Personal injury
• Medical malpractice

• Capital University Law Review, Executive Articles Editor.
• Order of the Barrister, Presidential Scholar.
• Jessup International Law Moot Court, Top Ten Oralist.

Jessica L. Johnson

• Ohio University, B.S. Journalism, 1999, Summa cum laude.
• Capital University Law School, J.D., 2004, Magna cum laude.
• Former city hall reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette
• Former Labor and Employment Litigation Section law clerk, Lane, Alton & Horst, LLC

Richard P. Regan

• Arbitration/ADR/Litigation – Reinsurance and Insurance
• Insurance Coverage; Reinsurance Contracts
• Transactional and Regulatory Matters
• Managing General Agency (MGA) Relationships
• Pooling Arrangements
• Managing Agents and Underwriters
• Syndicates, Captives, Pool Managers, Commercial Policy Holders and Third-party Administrators
• London and Foreign Markets, as well as the U.S.
• 20+ years Insurance/Reinsurance Experience
• Litigation experience including:
  • Environmental
  • Employment
  • Product Liability
  • Franchising
  • Securities
  • Real Estate
  • Business Torts
  • Intellectual Property

• Represented company member of the industry’s premier pollution liability insurance pool in a successful multi-year arbitration and litigation proceeding in Illinois, obtaining rescission based upon fraud.
• As co-counsel to a major New York law firm, represented underwriting manager in a series of arbitrations and litigations involving liability for nearly $1 billion in losses in the workers compensation carve out market, involving parties in the US, London and Bermuda markets, resulting in a favorable panel decision in the principal arbitration and successful resolution of related disputes.
• Represented reinsurance division of a major US insurer in arbitration over asbestos products and non-products losses, obtaining a panel ruling interpreting contracts in favor of the client.
• Advised Pennsylvania-based direct insurer concerning application of its claims made E&O policies for bad faith exposures of the company and its agents.
• Assisted pool manager in a mediation against pool’s retrocessionaires to recover for asbestos losses.
• Represented specialty insurer seeking favorable interpretation of statutes and regulations governing managing general agents in the State of Maryland, ultimately obtaining opinion letter from the Insurance Department supporting client’s position.
• Served as co-counsel to major domestic insurer in multi-year arbitration matter seeking reinsurance recoveries on behalf of client fronting for a London market casualty pool; obtained favorable panel ruling after hearing.

Richard P. Regan

• Arbitrator in Securities Industry Disputes for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
• Licensed as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
• Georgetown University, J.D., 1984, cum laude
• Fairfield University, B.A., 1981, cum laude

James R. Stirn

• Complex Coverage Matters
• Assumed and Ceded Business
• Property and Casualty Commercial Lines
• Allocation and Aggregation
• Pooling and MGA Arrangements
• Commutations
• Corporate and Regulatory Matters
• Reinsurance Arbitration
• Underwriting Issues
• Mass Tort Liability Claims, including:
  • Asbestos
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Construction Defects
  • Tainted Blood
  • Fen-phen
  • Breast Implants
  • DES
  • Enron
  • Broker Liability

• Represented client in arbitration with London reinsurers over asbestos products losses, obtaining full recovery of seven-figure billing plus a portion of attorney’s fees.
• Acted as co-counsel and helped to obtain a favorable ruling for major domestic insurer in a multi-million dollar arbitration seeking reinsurance coverage for liabilities incurred as a member of a London market casualty pool.
• Negotiated favorable settlement for ceding insurer in dispute with major U.S.-based reinsurer over apportionment of defense costs and XPL damages between two different treaties.
• Represented manager of a reinsurance pool in a mediation with its London retrocessionaires over coverage of two policyholders’ asbestos non-products losses.
• Served as co-counsel for a domestic ceding insurer in a successful arbitration with its treaty reinsurer over recovery of lead paint claims and application of ECO coverage.

James R. Stirn

• Arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
• University of Pennsylvania, J.D., 1980, Cum laude.
• Yale University,. B.A., 1974, Magna cum laude.
• Former clerk for Judge John J. Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Kathryn P. Broderick

• Reinsurance/Insurance Arbitration/ADR
• Insurance Coverge/Reinsurance Contracts
• Drafting and Analyzing Proposed Insurance and Reinsurance Contract Language
• Pooling and MGA Arrangements
• Commutations
• Corporate and Regulatory Matters
• 25+ years Reinsurance/Insurance Experience
• Ceded and Assumed Claim Matters including:
  • Asbestos
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Construction Defects
  • Tainted Blood
  • Fen-phen
  • Breast implants
  • DES
  • Director and Officer Liability

• Major participant in cooperative efforts among reinsurers and cedants to improve the process of reporting environmental claims information to reinsurers, culminating in the Preston reporting form and the Carpenter protocol.
• Expert witness on U.S. insurance and reinsurance law in foreign arbitrations and litigation, including the Lark v. Outhwaite litigation and Hiscox v. Outhwaite arbitration in the U.K.

Kathryn P. Broderick

• Member of the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Neutrals.
• Member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel.
  • Past chair of the Reinsurance Section.
  • Past vice chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.
• Member of Litigation and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Sections, American Bar Association
• Member of ARIAS-U.S.
• Member of Defense Research Institute
• The George Washington University, J.D., 1978, with highest honors.
• Duke University, B.A., 1975, Summa cum laude.