Jones Walker’s representation of insurance industry clients involves an assortment of litigation, including products liability defense, personal injury and accidental death claims, breach of contract representation, intellectual property claims, ERISA, property damage claims, worker’s compensation claims, and fire damage and toxic mold claims. Our attorneys have extensive litigation experience, from class action suits to multi-district proceedings. “Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” has ranked Jones Walker in the first band for litigation among firms in Louisiana since 2003, the year the rankings were established. We also counsel clients on an extensive variety of issues, including brokerage, coverage, reinsurance coverage issues, compliance and regulatory issues, health insurance policies, drafting and interpreting insurance policies, and reviewing IRS coverage guidance.
Our litigation experience in this field includes:
- Agent errors and omissions
- Agent misrepresentations
- Appearances before insurance commissioner’s office and regulatory agencies
- Bad faith litigation
- Class action defense of life, health, and disability insurance, and ERISA claims
- ERISA claims, preemption, and fiduciary issues
- Insurance and reinsurance arbitration
- Interpleader
- Policy exclusions, including suicide, intoxication, criminal conduct, and intentional self-inflicted injury
- Reinsurance and stop loss policy
- Rescission and misrepresentations in application
- Sales practice and market conduct class action defense
- State insurance laws and conformity of policies with statutory requirements
- Subrogation
- Unfair claims settlement practices
We have advised insurance clients on insurance company formation and compliance, both in the U.S. and abroad; foreign regulatory issues with respect to variable life and annuity products, including in connection with sale of offshore insurance products; health insurance policies; foreign laws governing authorization, licensing, marketing practices, agents and brokers, and bancassurance; and the drafting and interpretation of insurance policies.
Our attorneys regularly counsel clients with respect to offshore funds and alternative investment products, financial services company mergers and acquisitions, international dispute resolution, corporate governance/compliance, and money laundering. They have represented health insurance companies in both domestic and foreign transactional and regulatory matters, and have advised foreign governments in connection with insurance and pension reform legislation.
Within the realm of financial services, Jones Walker’s attorneys regularly advise clients on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the WTO Agreement, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Foreign Assets Control Regulations administered by OFAC; the USA Patriot Act; and U.S. bilateral investment treaties with foreign governments, NAFTA, and CAFTA.
Our attorneys representing insurance company clients often work closely with our Government Relations practice, based in Washington, D.C. We represent a broad variety of insurance and financial services entities before various government departments and committees. Our government relations team is comprised of a mix of attorneys who work together to attend to insurance clients’ lobbying needs and connections to the legislature; clients benefit from the knowledge and experience of former chairs of committees in both Louisiana houses and a former senior life insurance company executive. This group handles matters before the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, and has interacted with the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
