ACLU Mourns Passing of Sen. Inouye

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DREAMers Challenge Michigan’s Policy Denying Driver’s Licenses

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Successful Lawyer Exhorts New Lawyers To Be More Successful

Harvey Dent was a lawyer who made his own luck. How did that work out for him?

I think one of the biggest differences between Republicans and Democrats (beside, apparently, gun ownership) is that Republicans tend to worry about making the world safe for successful people, while Democrats are a little more worried about making the lives of unsuccessful people not so crushingly terrible. I’m not talking about specific policies, so much as I’m talking about attitudes. In broad strokes, Republicans want people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, and Democrats are worried about the people who don’t have any boots.

What I just said above isn’t a new idea, but I think that kind of dichotomy is playing out in responses to the legal job market, somewhat regardless of party affiliation. There is one group of people who are a little more concerned with how a young graduate can make it in these challenging times, and there is another group of people who are more worried about the masses of people who won’t “make it.” Unlike national politics, I don’t think there are obviously right and wrong perspectives on this, I just think that it’s more useful to focus on the structural problems that cause so many to fail, as opposed to the happy circumstances that lead a few to succeed.

It’s not going to surprise anybody that a prominent conservative commentator, Ted Frank, has a different perspective than I do….

Over on Point of Law, Frank wrote a piece today telling recent law grads to stop “whining,” and start going out there and making some opportunities for themselves. After listing some examples from his own personal experience, Frank says this:

Your career ideas don’t have to be my ideas. You went to law school for a reason; find a cause you love, and advocate for it, and, to the extent it’s not entirely crazy, the money will follow; even if it doesn’t, you’ll be happier….

But stop whining. The minute you become a member of the bar, you’re a member of a cartel that permits extraordinary rents. And with 21st-century technology, you don’t need a lot of help to make it out on your own.

Yeah, the problem is that “the reason” most people went to law school was “money.” The “cause” most people signed up for was “risk-averse earning potential.” Frank is essentially telling a group of mercenaries to find a cause they believe in and fight for free for a time, and then the money will come. And it’d be great advice except for that fact that most mercenaries didn’t get into the business for a cause, they’re in it for the cash.

Look, if the majority of young law graduates had the entrepreneurial spirit to start their own thing, they’d have gone to business school, not law school. And recent grads that do have that kind of spirit are out there doing pretty much what Frank suggests. They’re not sitting around waiting for advice, they’re out there making it happen.

And I applaud them.

But for everybody else, for the so-called “whiners,” plotting a course from “I’m a member of a cartel” to “I can charge extraordinary rents” isn’t as easy as it sounds. Not everybody has the skills to start their own business, and it’s not like law school spends a lot of time — or any time whatsoever — teaching and training people in the art of making money with a J.D. Heck, there are hard-working, incredibly intelligent partners at law firms who have no freaking clue how to market themselves or their legal expertise. We call them “service partners,” and they’d probably be working for the hourly rates of an SAT tutor if it weren’t for “rainmakers” with business savvy who know how best to turn talent into money.

Scraping clients together is hard, not everybody knows how to do it, and law schools aren’t teaching people.

It’s easy to give anecdotes about other people who have made it. Some people always make it, and some people are going to fail no matter what you do for them. But in the middle, where most people live, the difference between success and failure is not the difference between whining and doing. If you really want to unleash the power of a generation of recent lawyers, you have to do the things that inspire creativity and entrepreneurship, instead of the things that reduce the flexibility of young people and recent graduates.

You can live in Ted Frank’s world, where people “whine” and “complain” too much, and thus assume that individuals are the architects of their own failure. Or you can live in my world where there are structural and institutional problems which hold people back who desperately want to succeed. Neither viewpoint is mutually exclusive, but I feel like it’s more important to make sure that people aren’t hobbled before we start yelling at them to run faster.

Stop complaining about the legal job market

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Morning Docket: 12.21.12

Seven out of nine sitting Supreme Court justices were silent when it came to the passing of Robert Bork. Justice Antonin Scalia, of course, issued a public statement, as did liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (surprise!).

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Sports Law, Spaw, Lorts: Assault Weapons and the 2-3 Zone

Celebrity opinions are the worst. On this, I think we can all agree. Unlike our pundit class, celebrities have very few advanced degrees and are never held to account for their prognostications. When a talking head on TV or the internet or even books gets something wrong, he’s fired immediately. The marketplace of ideas demands nothing less. Someone more inclined to bad puns would say that as a marketplace, being fired for being wrong is more than laissez… fair.

And so we hate celebrities mouthing off like they are wont to do because they don’t get fired from their jobs when they’re wrong. This is especially true of the sports world, where the famous people not being fired for voicing opinions also represent our favorite teams, like the Chicago Bears. Or even our least favorite teams, like the Syracuse Orangemen.

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim spoke out about gun control this week because a bunch of children were murdered recently and a bunch of microphones were stuck in his face. The men holding the microphones said, “Hey Jim, let’s talk sports.”

Jim didn’t want to talk sports. Let’s talk sports….

BOEHEIM STEAMROLLER

Jim Boeheim is an exceptionally annoying sports figure, largely because of his nasally voice and insistence on being a whiny jerk. That said, he’s also a phenomenally successful coach who recently won his 900th game, all at Syracuse. This is a big deal, of course. Only two other whiny jerks had won 900 games before, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight. A big deal for whiny jerks, I guess you’d say. Anyway, on the occasion of his 900th win, Jim Boeheim had this to say about the recent massacre in Newtown:

“If we cannot get the people who represent us to do something about firearms, we are a sad, sad society,” Boeheim said, speaking in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shooting tragedy. “If one person in this world, the NRA president, anybody, can tell me why we need assault weapons with 30 shots — this is our fault if we don’t go out there and do something about this. If we can’t get this thing done, I don’t know what kind of country we have.”

I suppose the credited answer to this question has to do with fighting off the other guy with the assault weapon with 30 shots. Right? I assume an assault weapon capable of firing 30 shots is necessary to defeat the hypothetical other dude who had one. The bad guy. It’s the only answer I can think of to Jim Boeheim’s question. Maybe another answer, a more Rumsfeldian one, has to do with going to war with the weapons you have, not the weapons you need. Has nothing to do with need, I guess. Hell, I don’t know.

Jim Boeheim annoys me and Syracuse beat Kansas for the 2003 national championship, which is an unforgivable sin in my book. But I don’t see a whole helluva lot wrong with his exasperated outrage in this particular instance. Not that anyone cares what celebrities have to say about stuff.

OWNERS BEHAVING BADLY

This week, we have news of two NBA owners acting like douchers. The first, Miami Heat minority owner Raanan Katz, is alleged to have gotten a blog shut down because the blog, among other things, posted a goofy picture of him. In order to shut it down, Katz sued both Google and the blogger, arguing that the picture in question was copyrighted. Or, well, owned by Katz somehow. You can see the picture pasted all over Deadspin’s article about the case here.

At any rate, the end result of Katz’s legal maneuvering has been to get a Florida court to shut down a blog with only the slightest of legal arguments that what it’s shutting down is defamatory. I’ve perhaps already said too much…

The other owner is Donald Sterling, who was sued for being a terrible landlord and worse human.

RAP SHEET ROLL CALL

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A Holiday Message From Touro Law

What can you get a prospective law student who has everything? How about a free application to Touro Law.

I’m assuming of course, that you’re getting gifts for people you hate. If you like this prospective law student, you should get them the gift of a slap upside their head whenever they talk about taking the LSAT.

Anyway, back to Touro. The Dean of the Law School, Patricia Salkin, sent an interesting message to Touro alums this holiday season. She asked them to “share their stories” with students who are still on the fence about going to law school.

Yes, Touro grads, by all means, share your cautionary stories with people who can still pull themselves back from the law school precipice….

Touro has a bit of a reputation problem. They have low standards of admission, charge tons of money, and their graduates have trouble getting jobs.

In response to this, the Touro dean is telling alumni to go home this holiday season and “tell their story.” Here’s part of her letter to alumni:

You may have the opportunity now or in the near future to speak with people who are considering a legal education. We know that when our alumni tell their

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Moonlighting: Getting Business People to Listen to You

Holiday season is in full blast now, so what better time to discuss traditional end-of-year topics like performance reviews, gifting at the office, and what it’s like to advise business clients. Okay, so maybe that last one’s not quite the merrily common topic at around this time. But I’m already getting weary of all this have a happy holiday however it is you celebrate, and here are also some brand-spanking new year wishes! thing, so bah. This is what we’re talking about today.

How companies expect their lawyers to advise them differs among companies. If you’re lucky, you work among people who appreciate and value lawyers for both their legal advice and their business sensibilities. (And if you’re really lucky, among people who are strangely okay with you blogging on a gossipy legal news site.) Business people who listen to your legal and business advice may respect that you work across several business units and get to see stuff that the individual groups don’t. Or they may just blindly trust you. That works too (for you).

At other companies, business people just want the in-house lawyer to stay focused on talking about legal issues and only legal issues, and don’t want to hear about any of the non-legal perspectives the lawyer may have to offer. And of course, there are other business people who don’t even really care for listening to any of the legal stuff (this may pose a bit of a problem if lawsuits or jail are some of the things they are interested in avoiding).

To be fair, the level of appreciation that business people have for their counsel’s advice, whether legal or non-legal, depends a lot on the individual lawyer’s capabilities….

The ideal business environment is collaborative and team-work oriented. The ability to be creative and adaptable is highly valued and important for the success of most companies. So yeah, we lawyers are kind of screwed from the get go. But never fear! With experience, even we who colored inside the lines at six weeks of age can learn to think out of the box! (Or at least appear to be trying to cooperate with others.)

According to In-house Lawyering 101, the following is not a satisfactory response:

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Keystone Insurers Group Adds 2 Georgia-Based Agencies

December 20, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Keystone Insurers Group announced the addition of two independent agencies in Georgia to its franchise business for a total of 10 in the state. The new franchise partners are Jowers-Sklar Insurance and The Harbin Agency.

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Charges Filed Against Former Utah Insurance Agent

December 20, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Utah Insurance Department’s fraud division has filed criminal charges against former insurance agent Stewart Ian Rodgers.

Rodgers has been operating under the name

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Lawsuits Cast Darker Shadow Over Banks Than Libor Fines

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 CommentsWhile banks appear to be brushing off record fines for rigging interbank interest rates, investors are starting to worry about a rising tide of civil lawsuits from disgruntled customers.

UBS shares touched 18 month highs after U.S., Swiss and British regulators on Wednesday fined the bank a near record $1.5 billion for fiddling interest rates, the second regulatory fine for manipulating the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and its euro equivalent Euribor.

But the “big unknown” cost of repairing the damage caused by the fixing of rates used as a benchmark for pricing trillions of dollars worth of financial contracts is civil litigation, said Paras Anand, European equities head at Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

“That is one thing at the back of our minds that we have to be cognisant of,” Anand said. Fidelity Worldwide holds around 1.2 percent of UBS stock.

An early indication of the possible cost to the banking industry came hours after UBS was fined when the U.S. federal watchdog estimated mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which had to be bailed out during the 2007/08 financial crisis, could have lost more than $3 billion as a result of Libor manipulation.

The watchdog urged the regulator to consider whether the losses warranted a lawsuit against the banks that set Libor.

Since June, when the first fine for manipulation was levied on Britain’s Barclays, there have been a series of U.S. Libor-related claims.

Claims have come from large investors, local governments like the city of Baltimore, home owners claiming rate rigging made their mortgages more expensive, and small U.S. banks that have filed lawsuits accusing their big cousins of collusion.

In August, New York lawyer Brian Murray filed a lawsuit on behalf of investors in Alaska – as well as investors in Wyoming, North Dakota and about 20 other states – accusing banks of rigging Libor.

In Britain, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said Libor fiddling could have caused “serious harm” to other market participants. Lawyers, who are starting to circulate guides to Libor litigation, say potential claims are trickling in.

“I think there are going to be a large number of claims – and, more importantly, a small number of those will be incredibly high-value claims,” said Ali Akram, senior lawyer at UK firm Lex Law.

Long Road

The manipulation of Libor casts doubt on every contract that has used it as a reference point, including commercial borrowers with loans linked to Libor, parties to interest rate derivatives such as swaps, investors holding portfolios of floating rate securities, guarantors of borrowing linked to Libor and savers being paid a rate of interest referencing Libor.

There are also potential claims by shareholders for any falls in stock prices as the scandal escalates.

Lawyers believe Libor manipulation has caused extensive losses to investors and borrowers worldwide. The scale of payouts could run into tens of billions of dollars, analysts estimate.

But as Libor rates are calculated by averaging out bank submissions and stripping out the highest and lowers outliers, calculating losses and proving individual bank conduct caused a loss can be complex.

“We’re at the beginning of a long road,” said Stephen Rosen, a lawyer for UK firm Collyer Bristow, which has a handful of clients eyeing Libor-related claims.

To date, just one case has been brought in Britain against Barclays by Guardian Care Homes, a residential care home operator. It is suing for up to 37 million pounds ($60 million) over the alleged mis-selling of interest rate hedging products that were based on Libor rates.

Economic Spillover

But the scandal is escalating.

Britain’s RBS is also expecting to be fined by next February, while more than a dozen banks such as Deutsche Bank , Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and HSBC remain under the spotlight as authorities in Europe, Japan and North America probe the Libor scandal.

Barclays, Citi, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lloyds, Rabobank and RBS have all said in previous releases that they are subject to civil or private lawsuits filed in the United States over Libor.

Barclays said the first class action lawsuit filed was in April 2011, and the complaints are similar and seek an unspecified amount of damages.

Regulators and politicians are mindful of the impact of lawsuits on economic recovery and stability, some experts say, coming on top of the fines. While UBS was fined three times more than Barclays, fears of spiralling settlements could be overdone as authorities seek to balance the fallout.

“There will be a round of going through pain before politicians get scared and step in … At some time politicians and regulators will wake up and see that it will hit the economy,” said Chirantan Barua, a senior banks analyst at Bernstein Research.

Baruna estimated about 15-20 banks could be implicated in the Libor manipulation once global investigations are completed, which could give claimants plenty of fodder for lawsuits.

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: AP / Reuters, banks, LawsuitsHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Progressive Releases Terms for Usage-Based Insurance Licensing Program

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Progressive Insurance is making the intellectual property it owns available to companies interested in implementing usage-based insurance (UBI) programs under a new licensing program.

Progressive said licensing may be available for UBI programs under the following terms:

Term of Agreement: Commences the date license is executed through April 2022Waiting Period: Licensees will not rate insurance based on its customers’ driving habits prior to April 1, 2015Licensing Fee: Annual royalty payment equal to licensee’s countrywide Private Passenger Auto insurance direct written premiums for the most recently reported year, multiplied by two basis points (0.02 percent)Progressive also has the right to licensor recognition

Application for Licensing under these terms is open through June 2013, with payments commencing with usage on or after April, 2015.

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New Mexico Bicyclist Gets $2.1M Verdict But Half The Blame

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle4 Comments

An Albuquerque, N.M. bicyclist has won a $2.1 million judgment for injuries he received in a crash with a delivery truck but will likely collect only half that amount because a jury said he was partly to blame.

Bicyclist Simon Lees crashed into the three-ton truck in 2009 and spent weeks in a hospital recovering from broken ribs, a punctured lung, a fractured clavicle, a dislocated left shoulder and dislocated bones in his right hand and wrist.

The Albuquerque Journal reported a jury on Wednesday awarded the money but found the 48-year-old auto dealership manager was half at fault.

Lees was in a bike lane when he entered an intersection where traffic had backed up and was hit by a westbound truck turning left in front of stopped eastbound traffic.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: jury award, lawsuitHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Fired Nurse Sues Oregon Hospital For $250K

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A registered nurse who worked for three months at a Bend, Ore., hospital has sued for $250,000, contending she was fired for reporting the misdeeds of co-workers.

The Bend Bulletin reported that according to the Circuit Court lawsuit, Sonia Anderson experienced problems from the start of her time at St. Charles Bend.

In one instance, her lawsuit says she described a male patient’s wound as caused by friction from bedsheets. Anderson says a co-worker said she would characterize the wound as a pressure ulcer so the hospital could get Medicare approval to pay for a special bed. Anderson informed her manager, saying she believed that approach to be Medicare fraud.

In another case, Anderson told a manager that a newly hired employee was cutting away dead tissue from wounds without certification.

The lawsuit says Anderson was fired for “poor communication and team interaction skills.”

St. Charles spokeswoman Lisa Goodman declined to comment on pending litigation.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: lawsuit, Medicare fraud, OregonHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Lawsuit Focuses on Flood Insurance Claims, Classification of Basement

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A recently filed class action lawsuit in New Jersey is alleging “improper handling” of certain flood insurance claims arising out of Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The lawsuit focuses on the classification of the lowest floor of the buildings and whether classifying such floors as

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Proceeds From Storm Relief Concert Go to N.J., N.Y., Conn.

December 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Robin Hood Foundation says it is beginning to distribute $50 million in proceeds from last week’s benefit concert to organizations helping victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Madison Square Garden spokeswoman Michelle Isaacs said Wednesday the money was raised through ticket sales, merchandising and charitable auctions at the Dec. 12 show, which featured Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. More revenue is expected to come in.

Robin Hood says it is distributing roughly 40 percent of the money to organizations based in New Jersey, with the rest in New York and Connecticut.

The devastating storm tore into the New York metropolitan region on Oct. 29.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: Robin Hood Foundation, Sandy, Sandy benefit concert, Superstorm SandyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Deposit Insurance Bill Is Blocked in the Senate

The Senate on Thursday failed to clear a bill that would have extended for two more years a program that provided federal insurance for deposits kept in no-interest accounts at federally insured banks.

The arrangement, known as the Transaction Account Guarantee program, was created during the financial crisis to help shore up banks by increasing their deposit base. In the months after the program began in 2008, some $500 billion flowed into the accounts, which now total about $1.5 trillion, analysts say.

On Thursday, however, a bill that would have extended the policy through the end of 2014 failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to end debate and bring the measure to a vote.

Small to midsize banks supported the extension, as did the Obama administration, but larger banks and credit unions opposed the bill. Analysts said they expected $200 million to $300 million in cash to move from the accounts into money markets and other interest-bearing instruments in the weeks ahead.

A similar procedural hurdle was easily cleared on Tuesday by a vote of 76 to 20. This time, however, only 50 senators supported bringing the proposal to the floor.

The drop in support largely came from Republicans who had voted affirmatively on Tuesday. On Thursday, however, Republicans raised a budget point of order, saying that the bill violated the Budget Control Act because it authorized additional government financing.

The cost of the program is not borne by the government but by fees paid by banks participating in the program. Nevertheless, if a bank failed with those types of deposits, taxpayers would be responsible for paying.

Senate aides said the defeat also had less to do with the substance of the bill than with a continuing fight between the two parties over Senate rules. After the Tuesday vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, proposed placeholder amendments that shut out any chance for Republicans to offer amendments.

That tactic led Republicans to invoke the point of order, which required 60 votes to override.

Frank Keating, the president of the American Bankers Association, said that while his members were disappointed, they were prepared for the setback.

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Bank of America Sues Bond Insurer MBIA Over Tender Offer

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsBank of America Corp. has sued bond insurer MBIA Inc. in a New York state court for allegedly interfering with a tender offer to buy MBIA’s bonds.

At issue is a change MBIA sought to make to the terms of some bonds to eliminate the risk that it might be considered in default if a troubled unit were put into rehabilitation or liquidation by New York regulators.

Bank of America countered with an offer to buy the bonds, saying it believed the changes would increase the risk of MBIA’s insurance unit being placed in rehabilitation or liquidation, which could jeopardize all policyholder claims.

On Thursday, Bank of America said it had purchased $136 million of a senior note in that tender, and issued a default notice over the attempt to change terms.

The bank claims the consent solicitation was the latest of MBIA’s “premeditated and subversive actions” since 2008 to benefit executives and stockholders to the detriment of Bank of America and other policy holders.

In the suit, filed late Thursday, Bank of America alleged that MBIA illegally interfered with its tender offer and asked for the consent solicitation and amendment to be declared invalid. The bank also is seeking punitive and other damages.

An MBIA spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the suit. MBIA shares fell 1.9 percent to $8.36 in morning trading.

 

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: Bank of America MBIA lawsuit, bond insurer MBIA, MBIA tender offer interferenceHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Washington To Pay $11 Million In Foster Home Abuse Case

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The state of Washington will pay $11 million in a case filed by six people who claimed they were abused by their foster parents.

The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a lawsuit against the Department of Social and Health Services and 21 social workers filed in August 2011. The suit the children were sexually and physically abused over a period of years while they resided in the Tacoma foster home of Jose and Juanita Miranda, who are both now deceased.

According to the lawsuit, DSHS approved Juanita Miranda as a foster parent despite a long history of drug use and criminal violations. An investigation began in 2005 after Jose Miranda confessed to a nurse while he was hospitalized. Jose Miranda was charged in 2007 with three counts of first-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree assault of a child.

The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court early next year.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: abuse, Department of Social and Health Services, lawsuit, WashingtonHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Beebe: Arkansas to Stick With Partnership Exchange

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Gov. Mike Beebe said Arkansas will move forward on a partnership with the federal government for an online insurance marketplace required under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, though he believes the state can revisit that decision later.

Beebe said he hadn’t found support from lawmakers to opt for a state-run model of the insurance exchange, in which households and private businesses shop for private coverage. Beebe had told the federal government that Arkansas would opt for a partnership model in a letter last month, but left open the possibility of a state-run plan after the Obama administration extended the deadline.

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Treasury Completes Final Sale of AIG Stock

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle37 CommentsThe U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it has completed its final sale of common stock in American International Group, reducing its shares in the insurer to zero four years after a massive government bailout.

Treasury said it received $7.6 billion in proceeds from the sale of its remaining 234 million shares at $32.50 per share. Overall, Treasury and the Federal Reserve received a $22.7 billion positive return on their combined $182.3 billion bailout, the department said.

“Today officially begins a new chapter at AIG,” Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said in a statement.

The sale is part of Treasury’s efforts to wind down its Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), created in 2008 to help rescue companies stricken by the financial crisis.

More than 90 percent ($380 billion) of the $418 billion disbursed for TARP has already been recovered to date through repayments and other income, Treasury said in a statement.

AIG was rescued just before it would have been forced to file for bankruptcy, as losses on risky derivatives mounted. It was bailed out as the financial system stood at the brink of disaster, shortly after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America.

AIG shares were down 0.7 percent to $34 in midday trade on Friday.

 

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCompanies: AIG (American International Group)Categories: National NewsTopics: AIG bailout profit, AIG stock sale, American International Group, Business Moves & Mergers, Robert Benmosche, TARP, Treasury sale of AIG stock, Troubled Asset Relief ProgramHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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UN Report: Melting Permafrost Seen as New Peril in Global Warming

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 CommentsPermafrost lands across Siberia and Alaska that contain vast stores of carbon are beginning to thaw, bringing with it the threat of a big increase in global warming by 2100, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

A thaw of the vast areas of permanently frozen ground in Russia, Canada, China and the United States also threatens local homes, roads, railways and oil pipelines, the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said in the report which was released at the U.N. climate talks being held this week and next in Qatar.

“Permafrost has begun to thaw,” Kevin Schaefer, lead author at the University of Colorado told a news conference in Doha.

An accelerating melt would free vast amounts of carbon dioxide and methane which has been trapped in organic matter in the subsoil, often for thousands of years, the report said.

Warming permafrost could release the equivalent of between 43 and 135 billion tons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, by 2100. That would be up to 39 percent of annual emissions from human sources.

Permafrost now contains 1,700 billion tons of carbon, or twice the amount now in the atmosphere, it said.

HIGHER TEMPERATURES
And a melt of the permafrost meant that U.N. projections for rising temperatures this century “might be too low”, Schaefer said.

UNEP issued a report last week saying that rising world greenhouse gas emissions were on track to push up temperatures by between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius (5.4

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Florida Commission to Decide Nuclear Plant Insurance Rate Offset

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The state Public Service Commission is considering annual rate adjustments sought by Progress Energy Florida including a charge for power purchased to replace output from a crippled nuclear reactor.

The commission will decide on fuel, purchased power and other adjustments after resolving a dispute over how much insurance money Progress can expect in 2013 for the damaged reactor at Crystal River.

The utility anticipates only the remaining $327.6 million not yet received on a $490 million replacement power policy.

Groups representing commercial customers contend Progress should expect a second $490 million because the reactor’s containment building sustained two separate cracks in two different years.

That would reduce the replacement power costs passed on to customers by an equal amount.

A commission staff recommendation sides with the utility.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: nuclear insurance, Progress Energy FloridaHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Independent Insurance Agents of Texas Offers WAHVE Staffing Services

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) is offering its members remote staffing services provided by WAHVE (Work At Home Vintage Employees) on a preferred basis.

WAHVE provides experienced insurance professionals to insurance agencies and other insurance firms on an outsourced basis for full-time, part-time, or project work. WAHVE’s workers are vintage insurance professionals who are in “phased” retirement and work remotely from home. IIAT is offering WAHVE’s staffing services to its members with a special discount on the setup fee.

IIAT President Patrick Watkins noted: “One problem that we consistently hear from members is that they have a hard time finding, hiring and training talented staff for their agencies. Having experienced and knowledgeable workers to fulfill responsibilities to clients and support sales activity is vital to every insurance agency’s success. WAHVE’s domestic outsourcing services provide an additional workforce option to IIAT members.”

Agencies that outsource to WAHVE save on the costs of hiring, training, salary and benefits, payroll taxes, and office space. Through WAHVE, independent agencies can tap insurance talent from around the United States, Hunt noted.

WAHVE also offers remote staffing services on a preferred basis for members of Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York, IBA West, Independent Insurance Agents of Connecticut, and Maine Insurance Agents Association. WAHVE is a participating employer in AARP’s Work Reimagined initiative and is listed as a work-at-home option by Clark Howard.

Source: WAHVE

 

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Wisconsin Agent and PIA Member Wins Re-Election to State Assembly

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Wisconsin insurance agent and member of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), Mary Czaja, on Nov. 6 won her race to capture the 35th Assembly District in northern Wisconsin.

Czaja is a Republican who ran on a pro-business platform.

She is a member of the national board of directors of PIA, representing Wisconsin.

“We are absolutely thrilled with Mary Czaja’s victory for the 35th Assembly seat in Wisconsin,” said PIA of Wisconsin executive vice president Ron Von Haden. “With her knowledge of insurance and small business and her tremendous work ethic, she will be an invaluable asset to the people of her district and the State of Wisconsin. PIA worked hard to help Mary in her race, not only financially but also by knocking on doors and delivering literature for her in the district.”

Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes and businesses.

Source: PIA

 

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Regions Insurance New Atlanta Office to be Headed by Breedlove

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Regions Insurance has established a new office in Atlanta and hired industry veteran, Mike Breedlove, to lead the new office, its first in Georgia.

Serving Atlanta and the state of Georgia, the new 10-person staff has expertise in transportation, contracting and manufacturing as well as employee benefits.

Breedlove, a 25 year insurance veteran, began his insurance career in Atlanta with the firm of Merritt McKenzie. Prior to joining Regions Insurance, he spent 20 years with W. S. Pharr and Co. He served for five of the 20 years there as president and chief operating officer.

Also joining Regions Insurance from W. S. Pharr are Frank Glenn and Greg Mosely. Glenn is a 20 year insurance veteran specializing in domestic and international commercial insurance. Mosely will focus on employee benefits, having 29 years of insurance company and agency experience.

Dave Cox will also join the Atlanta office. Cox has worked in insurance for 25 years, specializing in insurance for the transportation industry. Prior to joining Regions Insurance, he was owner of the Atlanta insurance firm Transportation Insurance Specialists.

Birmingham-based Regions Insurance, an affiliate of Regions Bank, serves customers in 16 states across the South, Midwest and Texas.

 

 

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Plaintiffs, BP Urge Judge to Approve $7.8 Billion Oil Spill Settlement

November 9, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsBP Plc and lawyers representing over 100,000 individuals and businesses claiming economic and medical damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Thursday urged a U.S. judge to approve a proposed $7.8 billion class-action settlement.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier initially approved the deal in May, but called the “fairness hearing” to weigh objections from about 13,000 claimants challenging the settlement to resolve some of BP’s liability for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

BP still faces civil and potential criminal liability charges brought by the U.S. government and U.S. states.

Barbier did not issue a final ruling at Thursday’s hearing in a New Orleans court, but he appears poised to grant final approval to the deal in the coming days, legal experts said.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of the forest for the trees,” Barbier said at the end of the hearing, saying that some objections “were not frankly made in good faith and bordered on being frivolous.”

London-based BP’s Macondo well spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days. The torrent fouled shorelines from Texas to Alabama and eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in severity.

Lawyers for some affected parties say they will “opt out” of the deal, reached in March between BP and lawyers representing plaintiffs ranging from restaurateurs, hoteliers, and oyster men who lost money from the spill to recovery workers and coastal residents claiming medical damages from the cleanup.

“The settlement zones are inherently unfair,” said Stuart Smith, a lawyer for Florida business owners, referring to boundaries set by the deal which are meant to compensate businesses and homeowners based on their proximity to the spill.

Barbier said he had no authority to tweak the deal as written, but merely to approve or reject it.

“It sounds to me that maybe your gripe is that you weren’t in the room and that you would have done things differently,” Barbier told one of the objectors’ lawyers. “I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect settlement.”

Jim Roy, a lead plaintiffs’ attorney, said the deal would resolve “well in excess of 100,000 claims.” BP in March estimated the deal’s cost at $7.8 billion, but damages are uncapped and could rise to far exceed that, Roy said.

“This is not a bunch of insurance adjustors trying to save money for BP,” Roy said of the deal, but rather “a way to quickly get a fair and objectively determined settlement and to avoid litigating for potentially 20 or more years such as what happened in the Exxon Valdez.”

Rick Godfrey, an attorney for BP, said the settlement should not be delayed by the “miniscule” number of objectors.

“BP has no intent of allowing justice to be delayed, much less denied, as a result of this tragic event,” he said.

Barbier is likely to approve the settlement in coming days, said Blaine LeCesne, a law professor at Loyola University, citing the judge’s initial approval of the deal as the strongest signal of its eventual fate.

“It’s inevitably going to leave some people unsatisfied,” LeCesne said. “But it casts a very wide net and includes a remarkably high number of potential claimants.”

BP has been locked in a year-long legal battle with the U.S. government and Gulf Coast states to settle billions of dollars in civil and potential criminal liability from the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and caused the massive spill that soiled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states.

Absent a far-reaching settlement, Barbier will preside over a sprawling three-part non-jury hearing to decide BP’s liability for the spill, now set to begin on Feb. 25, 2013.

 

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: BP settlement, Gulf oil spill damages, Gulf oil spill plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Carl BarbierHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Activists Plan to Sue Massachusetts Nuclear Plant Owner

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

Massachusetts activists have announced plans to sue the owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station for what they say is the continuous pollution of Cape Cod Bay over the last 16 years.

The three activists, represented by Ecolaw, notified the Environmental Protection Agency last Friday of their intent to sue the plant’s owner, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. They say the Plymouth plant damaged the local ecology by discharging chemical pollution and water heated far above allowed standards.

The activists say Pilgrim has more than 33,000 violations of the Clean Water Act since 1996 and charge that the company could be liable for $831 million in penalties, at $25,000 per violation.

In a separate letter last Friday, Ecolaw also told the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection it intends to sue the agency for allegedly allowing Entergy to damage the environment.

Pine duBois, one of the three residents who signed the notification to the EPA, said regulators have a duty to enforce anti-pollution laws. “Our ocean is not Entergy’s dump,” she said in a news release. “Cape Cod Bay belongs to all of us.”

The Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday it had just received the letter.

“We are currently reviewing each allegation contained in it,” the agency said in a statement.

Messages were left for Entergy and the EPA.

Pilgrim was relicensed earlier this year after 6 1/2 years of review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The relicensing means the commission has certified that the plant, built in 1972, can operate safely for another 20 years.

NRC officials have noted its staff devoted approximately 14,600 hours to the review, which was the longest of any renewal application in the agency’s history.

Ecolaw said it notified state and federal agencies of its intent to sue under laws that allow citizens to act if the government fails to enforce the law.

The group told the EPA it’s able to sue Entergy if the agency doesn’t act within 60 days of the notification. And it says under Massachusetts law it can sue the Department of Environmental Protection if the state does not act with 21 days of its Friday notification to that agency.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: lawsuitHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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LSU Gets $1.5M to Study Sustainability of Louisiana Coast

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Louisiana State University has been awarded $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation to investigate whether southern coastal Louisiana has reached the tipping point, becoming too costly to sustain.

The interdisciplinary research project will investigate the sustainability of coastal communities that are especially vulnerable to natural resource loss and natural hazards.

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Katrina Victims Take on Hurricane Tour Operators

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Some New Orleans residents and city officials are pushing back against tour operators who bus out-of-towners into the city’s Lower 9th Ward, where Hurricane Katrina unleashed a wall of water that pushed homes off foundations and stranded residents on rooftops when the levees failed.

About 9 million people visit New Orleans each year, mostly to see its stately homes along oak-lined avenues, dine at its renowned restaurants and take in the jazz and ribaldry of Bourbon Street. But Katrina’s devastation in August 2005 unleashed an unexpected cottage tourism industry, drawing a daily parade of rubbernecking tourists for a close-up look at the city’s hard-hit Lower 9th Ward.

Worried that a flood of tour buses and vans would interfere with clean-up efforts, the City Council approved an ordinance in 2006 banning them from crossing the prominent Industrial Canal entering the neighborhood that received Katrina’s fury. Now, tour operators are crying foul, claiming the ordinance had been thinly enforced until recently.

They say a business that is bringing them and the city tourist dollars is being hurt.

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SullivanCurtisMonroe Adds Crouch as Vice President In Southern California

October 3, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Irvine, Calif.-based SullivanCurtisMonroe Insurance Services LLC named Canaan Crouch as a vice president in its Irvine office.

Crouch comes from ACE Environmental, where he was an assistant vice president and northwestern regional manager responsible for managing the profit and loss of a diversified book of environmental liability policies.  Prior to joining ACE, he was a senior underwriter for AIG and before that he was an environmental consultant, where he managed the environmental compliance for a portfolio of sites throughout Southern California.

SullivanCurtisMonroe is focused on middle market companies, offering commercial property/casualty, employee benefits and personal lines coverage.

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IMA Adds 2 to Wichita Office Claims Team

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Insurance broker IMA Inc. has hired Geoff Baker, claims manager, and Maranda Pike, claims advocate, in the company’s Wichita, Kansas claims office.

As IMA’s claims manager, Baker will lead the claims department and will strive to improve clients’ long-term profitability through claims management processes and strategies. Prior to joining IMA, Baker worked in risk management for a large national corporation for 12 years. He is a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Pike will handle claims for clients in various industries including manufacturing and financial services. Prior to joining IMA, Pike spent 12 years as a casualty claims manager for a large national insurance provider. She holds the Senior Claims Law Associate designation.

Source: IMA Inc.

 

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Few Drivers in Alabama Ticketed Under New Texting Ban

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Law officers in some eastern Alabama jurisdictions have yet to issue any citations under the state’s new law banning texting and driving.

The law went into effect on Aug. 1.

The Anniston Star reported that the Anniston, Jacksonville and Oxford police departments and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office all said they’ve issued no citations for the offense.

Alabama State Trooper Charles Dysart said statewide numbers for local agencies weren’t available, but in the first month of the law, the Department of Safety issued 14 tickets on Alabama highways.

 

 

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Florida Approves State Farm 6.4% Homeowners Rate Increase

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

Florida regulators have approved an average 6.9 percent rate hike for State Farm Florida Insurance Co., which is the insurer’s fifth increase in as many years.

The insurer had initially sought an average 14.9 percent increase citing  hurricane and underwriting losses.

In addition to the 6.9 percent average increase in homeowner rates, rates for renters will increase by six percent while rates for condominium owners will drop by six percent. The new rates will apply to renewal policies, effective Feb. 1, 2013.

At a recent public hearing, executives said the Winter Haven, Fla.-based insurer had seen its surplus drop from $822 million in 2007 to $368 million in 2011. They also said that following the 2004 hurricane season it had to borrow $750 million from its parent company, State Farm Mutual, an amount it has yet to pay back.

Regulators, however, objected to State Farm Florida’s proposed 16 percent profit and contingency factor included in their rate proposal and the 10.8 percent commission it said it was paying agents despite not writing new business.

The approved 6.9 figure is fifth increase the insurer has received since 2009. That year, the insurer received a 27.9 percent increase, which was followed by a four percent increase in 2010.  State Farm also received approvals for 6.6 percent and 18.8 percent hikes, which were implemented over a two-year period in 2011-2012.

State Farm Florida spokesperson Michael Bower said the insurer will not appeal the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation decision.

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Aetna to Pay $1.5M in Settlement with Missouri

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Missouri insurance regulators said that insurer Aetna agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty to settle allegations that the company violated requirements for health coverage of autism, contraception and abortions.

The state insurance agency said Aetna sometimes provided coverage for contraceptives without allowing employers to opt out and routinely covered abortions. Officials say Aetna also had excluded coverage for autism spectrum disorders.

A 2001 Missouri law states birth control prescriptions should be covered under policies with pharmaceutical benefits but allows insurers to offer policies without contraception coverage to people or employers who say it violates their moral or religious beliefs. That law also allows people to purchase a plan with contraception coverage if their employer’s plan does not offer it.

A 1983 state law prohibits abortion coverage from basic insurance policies and instead requires payment of an additional premium. And treatment for autism must be covered under a 2010 law.

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Agencies Step Up Copyright Enforcement as Infringers Fight Back

RSS By David Walker

This past July 4, Toronto-based stock photo agency Masterfile sent a $57,030 invoice to an unidentified company for the unauthorized Web use of five images. Pay up within ten days, the invoice said, or

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New SARS-like Virus Detected in Middle East

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

British health authorities have alerted the U.N. of a new respiratory virus that resembles SARS in a severely ill patient who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia, where another man died of a similar illness earlier this year.

The man in the new case was sickened by a corona virus, which causes most common colds but also causes SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. In 2003, SARS killed hundreds of people, mostly in Asia, in a short-lived outbreak.

Britain’s Health Protection Agency and the World Health Organization said in statements that the 49-year-old Qatari national became ill on Sept. 3, having previously traveled to Saudi Arabia. He was transferred from Qatar to Britain on Sept. 11 and is being treated in an intensive care unit at a London hospital for problems including kidney failure.

The Health Protection Agency said it was unaware of any ties the patient had to Britain but that he likely was in a private clinic in the Middle East before being transferred to a London hospital. None of the health workers involved in his care has so far fallen ill with any flu-like illnesses, the agency said.

The U.N. health agency says virus samples from the patient are almost identical to those of a 60-year-old Saudi national who died earlier this year.

Experts said it was unclear how dangerous the virus is. “We don’t know if this is going to turn into another SARS or if it will disappear into nothing,” said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota. He said it was crucial to determine the ratio of severe to mild cases.

Osterholm also said more information was needed on how the virus is spread – whether it’s spread as easily as a common cold or, as in the case of SARS, mostly through close contact and via specific medical procedures like a lung intubation.

He said it was worrying that there had been at least one death from the new virus. “You don’t die from the common cold,” he said. “This gives us reason to think it might be more like SARS.” The SARS virus was particularly deadly and killed about 10 percent of the people it infected.

The World Health Organization says it is trying to determine the public health implications of the two cases but isn’t currently recommending travel restrictions.

Officials are also concerned the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage next month could provide more opportunities for the virus to spread. The Hajj has previously sparked outbreaks of diseases including flu, meningitis and polio.

Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: International NewsTopics: alert, pandemic, SARS, Saudi Arabia, UK, UN, virusHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Penn. Doc Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Overprescribing Drugs

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A federal judge in Pittsburgh has sentenced a physician to more than 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $700,000 to two insurance companies in connection with charges that he overprescribed painkillers to dozens of patients.

Physician Oliver Herndon pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced Monday.

Federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents raided his palliative care practice in upscale Peters Township earlier this year. That came after 87 of 128 area pharmacies told investigators they were refusing to fill prescriptions from Herndon because they questioned whether the large-scale painkiller prescriptions were medically necessary.

Herndon was ordered to repay the insurance companies $700,000 for covering the unnecessary drugs.

 

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Coalition Urges President to Veto NDAA If It Extends Guantánamo Transfer Restrictions

American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union

Because freedom can’t protect itself.

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New Law Criminalizing Online Student Speech Takes Effect Dec. 1

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ACLU-NC Says the First-in-the-Nation Law is Misguided and Chills Free Speech; Group Calls on Students Charged Under the Law to Contact ACLU-NC Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media

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Planned USD Student Center Upgrade Sparks Copyright Lawsuit

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Massachusetts architectural firm has sued a competitor in South Dakota, accusing it of using the firm’s copyrighted designs in a planned upgrade to the University of South Dakota’s student center.

Charles Rose Architects of Somerville, Mass., contends that RSA Architects of Sioux Falls used its drawings and building plans for the Muenster University Center in Vermillion as a template for a 30,000-square-foot cafeteria addition that was scheduled to break ground this summer.

The Massachusetts firm filed a lawsuit last week in federal court in South Dakota. The lawsuit asks a jury to find that RSA Architects used the template in violation of federal copyright law. The firm seeks damages as well as any money paid to RSA for design work on the addition.

USD spokesman Phil Carter told the Argus Leader that no major work has commenced on the addition. He said the area has been fenced off, but nothing further has been done.

Carter declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Officials with RSA Architects did not immediately return messages to the newspaper for comment.

Sioux Falls lawyer Steve Johnson, who’s representing Charles Rose Architects, said there is little precedent in copyright law for infringement on a design, which makes the case unique. Few lawsuits of this nature have been opened and resolved, Johnson said.

He said this lawsuit could provide guidance in future architecture copyright disputes.

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Landrieu: Homeowners Entitled to Insurance Money, not Lenders

September 25, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has urged Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage lenders to ensure that homeowners receive the insurance payments they are entitled to from damage due to Hurricane Isaac.

Following Hurricane Katrina, there were incidents where several mortgage lenders withheld insurance proceeds from hurricane survivors, according to Sen. Landrieu.

Sen. Landrieu sent a letter to HUD on September 10, asking the agency to use its existing authority to curb this issue among FHA mortgage lenders.

As posted on the senator’s website, Sen. Landrieu’s letter reads: “During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there were several unscrupulous mortgage lenders who unnecessarily withheld hazard and flood insurance proceeds from homeowners. These homeowners were entitled to the proceeds from these programs. More importantly, these homeowners were desperately in need of funds to assist them in rebuilding their homes and lives that were impacted by Katrina. Fortunately, the damage incurred recently in many areas is not as severe as it was in 2005. However, there will still be homeowners in numerous hard hit communities who will be entitled to hazard or flood insurance proceeds. In order to avoid a repeat of 2005, I respectfully request that you utilize your existing authority to ensure that homeowners receive the insurance proceeds that they are entitled to.

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October Disaster Loss at $1.08B: Allstate

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsAllstate Corp. expects to report October disaster losses of $1.08 billion, mostly due to superstorm Sandy, the home and auto insurer said on Wednesday.

Allstate, the largest publicly traded home and auto insurer in the country, said its gross losses were $1.28 billion but that it expected to recover about $200 million in reinsurance.

Two-thirds of the losses are in New York state, the insurer said, while 20 percent are in New Jersey and the rest are elsewhere. Allstate said it had already paid $340 million in claims as of last Monday.

Sandy is expected to be the second-costliest disaster in U.S. history, behind only Hurricane Katrina. Industry experts estimate insured losses of as much as $25 billion, excluding any claims paid by the federal flood insurance program.

Allstate’s Sandy losses are not as severe, though, as the $1.4 billion hit the company took from tornadoes in April 2011.

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: Catastrophe, Claims, P&C Companies, Personal Lines, Reinsurance, SuperstormHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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4 Convicted in California for $154M Medical Insurance Fraud

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Orange County prosecutors say four people have been convicted of crimes relating to a $154 million medical fraud scheme in which hundreds of healthy patients underwent unnecessary surgeries to fraudulently bill insurance companies.

Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office, says 64-year-old Roy Dickson, 58-year-old Andrew Harnen, 63-year-old Dee Francis and 66-year-old Rosalinda Landon were found guilty of multiple tax fraud counts.

The four were convicted for their roles in recruiting more than 250 healthy patients to undergo sometimes dangerous surgeries to fraudulently bill insurance companies.

The four were among 19 defendants charged in the case, which has been divided into several trials because of its size.

A total of 13 have been indicted by a grand jury and six others pleaded guilty prior to indictment.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: California, Fraud, insurance fraudHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Markel Adds DataBreach Mitigation to Management Liability Policies

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Markel is now offering DataBreach Mitigation coverage for its management liability product line. The policy includes a sublimit for PR expense coverage, notification and related legal expenses, and voluntary credit monitoring. This coverage extension is offered by Markel on an admitted basis in many states.

The coverage is endorsed as a sublimit to the management liability policy. Markel also offers a broader stand-alone DataBreach policy.

 

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Ohio Insurance Institute Launches Insurance Careers Website

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) announced it has launched www.InsuranceCareers.org, a new website dedicated to providing information on the variety of career opportunities within the insurance industry.

The OII, a property/casualty insurance trade association, said its primary goal is to help Ohioans achieve a better understanding of insurance. To perpetuate this mission, InsuranceCareers.org is designed to educate and inform young adults about the insurance industry, as well as the multitude of career options that align with different professional aspirations and interests.

In addition to industry information, InsuranceCareers.org provides a variety of tools and resources for students and educators, according to the OII announcement.

The Career Survey serves as a starting point for investigating what insurance positions match a student’s career goals. The survey pinpoints specific interests and skills, guiding the prospect to a recommended career pathway(s). This is especially helpful for those who have never considered a career in insurance.

InsuranceCareers.org also offers video interviews with insurance professionals, job descriptions, recommended skills, educational requirements and facts related to featured career paths in the categories of human resources and training, marketing and communications, sales, technology, claims, administration, and underwriting and analysis.

Additionally, through the Ask a Pro program, students can interact directly with insurance experts to ask questions, seek advice or request additional information.

Source: OII

 

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SEC Charges Oil CEO in Insider Trading With Colorado Insurance Exec

November 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced charges against the former CEO of a Denver, Colo.-based oil-and-gas company at the center of an insider trading scheme involving a Colorado insurance executive that the SEC began prosecuting last month.

According to the SEC’s complaint, the insider trading occurred in advance of Delta Petroleum Corp.’s public announcement that Beverly Hills, Calif.-based private investment firm Tracinda had agreed to purchase a 35 percent stake in the company, which pushed its stock value up by nearly 20 percent.

The SEC initially charged insurance executive Michael Van Gilder for his illegal trading in the case, and is now additionally charging his source: Delta’s then-CEO Roger Parker.

Van Gilder, who is charged with five counts of insider trading, is taking an indefinite leave of absence as an employee of the company and as a member of its board of directors. Van Gilder pleaded not guilty in federal court in Denver in late October after the company said he was stepping down as chief executive for personal reasons. A January trial has been set for Van Gilder.

Van Gilder is accused of trading Delta stock in late 2007 and early 2008 based on nonpublic information, including information from an executive that Delta Petroleum was doing fine despite a published report expressing pessimism.

Don Woods, president of Van Gilder Insurance, has assumed Van Gilder’s management responsibilities.

The SEC’s amended complaint made public on Wednesday alleges that Parker, who lives in Englewood, Colo., illegally tipped his close friend Van Gilder and at least one other friend with confidential information about Tracinda’s impending investment. Despite his duty as CEO to protect nonpublic information, Parker repeatedly communicated with Van Gilder following meetings and other developments as the deal progressed, the complaint states. Parker also illegally tipped information about Delta’s quarterly earnings. The insider trading in this case generated more than $890,000 in illicit profits, according to the complaint.

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CAA Insurance Services Adds Benefiel as Agency Manager

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) announced that Lauri Benefiel has joined as the new agency manager of its CAA Insurance Services (CAAIS) division.

CAA has 47 agency members in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Benefiel, who has a background as an operations manager for a large insurance agency, will report directly to CAA’s second vice president Bill Martin. Before joining CAA, she worked for Heffernan Insurance Brokers in northern California. Benefiel began her career at The Hartford in underwriting, sales, and finally management in their Select Customer Insurance Center.

In 2007, CAA opened the doors to CAAIS, a closed brokerage exclusively for member agencies of CAA. This brokerage was developed to provide a solution and a marketplace for many classes of business that cannot be placed with an agency’s current carriers. In 2011, CAAIS generated more than $5 million in annual premiums.

Source: Combined Agents of America LLC

 

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State Elections Wrapup: Some Partisan Realignment; 5 Incumbent Insurance Chiefs Win

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Neil Alldredge has been searching for the unifying “theme” in the results of Nov. 6 state elections around the country but he says it has not been easy to identify one.

As senior vice president for state and policy affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), Alldredge follows state politics around the country closely. The best he can come up with for a characterization of what happened Tuesday is that it is “almost a return to normal,” with some of the surprising gains Republicans made in state legislatures in 2010 being rolled back, sort of a “reset” to a pre-2008 environment.

Democrats rode President Obama’s coattails to some gains in state legislatures and governors’ offices across the country in the election but not enough to erase the Republican advantage in states.

Also, five incumbent insurance commissioners

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No Change in Rate of Nonfatal Injuries, Illnesses in Private Sector in Texas

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Private industry workplaces in Texas reported a total of 196,642 nonfatal injuries and illnesses during 2011, an incidence rate of 2.7 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, which was unchanged from the previous year, according to the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC).

The rate in Texas was below the national rate of 3.5 cases per 100 full-time workers for 2011.

The 2011 nonfatal injury and illness data in this release are the latest available from the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses conducted by the TDI-DWC in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The occupational injury and illness rates are based on a statistical sample of private and public firms in Texas.

Highlights of the 2011 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII)In the private sector, the incidence rate for goods producing industries increased from 2.8 in 2010 to 2.9 in 2011.The rates in the mining and construction industries increased from 1.4 to 1.8 (29 percent) and 2.5 to 2.8 (12 percent), respectively.Service providing industries incidence rate increased overall from 2.6 in 2010 to 2.7 in 2011. Within this group, the utilities industries experienced a rate increase of 95 percent, from 2.1 in 2010 to 4.1 in 2011.Other industries that experienced increases in the service providing group are wholesale trade, information, financial activities, and leisure and hospitality. Professional and business services (1.2) and education and health services (3.4) remained the same.Of the major private sector industries with the 10 highest incidence rates in 2011, air transportation, and couriers and messengers are the top two.Motion picture and sound recording industries reported the largest increase of 148 percent from 2.5 in 2010 to 6.2 in 2011.Couriers and messengers reported the largest decrease at 22 percent from 9.3 in 2010 to 7.3 in 2011.In the public sector, incidence rates are available for heavy and civil engineering construction and educational services within state government and hospitals within local government. The incidence rates for these industries were 1.7, 3.5, and 7.2 respectively. Of the total cases in each of these industries, the greatest frequency involved other recordable cases, which did not involve days away from work or job transfer or restriction.

Source: TDI-DWC

 

 

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Superstorm Sandy Stress Scenarios Won’t Impact Insurer Ratings: Fitch

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Even an extreme $40 billion scenario for property/casualty insurance industry losses from Hurricane Sandy would not drive material rating changes for insurers, analysts at Fitch Ratings said today.

In a report providing a sensitivity analysis of the event for 10 individual insurers with the largest potential exposure to the event

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EPIC Names Dunn VP of Workers’ Comp Claims in Central California

October 19, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Edgewood Partners Insurance Center named Joe Dunn vice president of workers’ compensation claims in its Fresno, Calif. office.

Dunn will be responsible for workers’ comp claims advocacy, and he will work with EPIC’s Central Valley clients to manage and reduce claims expense, including providing education and training, investigating and overseeing claims and establishing best practices for claims cost control. He will also coordinate and oversee insurance carrier services, ensuring case reserves are not excessive, and he will be charged with ensuring that claims are effectively.

Dunn has 11 years of experience in workers’ compensation, settlement negotiation, and Medicare.

Before EPIC, Dunn worked as a senior workers’ comp claims adjuster for the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

EPIC has a staff of 300 employees working from eight offices across California: Los Angeles, Irvine, Fresno, Folsom, San Francisco, San Mateo, Petaluma and San Ramon.

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Texas Pipeline Builder Sued By Ballplayer Over Ocelot Habitat

October 19, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

Not even the legal equivalent of a fastball under the chin could stop a Texas pipeline builder from clearing acres of brush that Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett claims is critical habitat for the endangered ocelot.

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Laredo by two of Beckett’s companies asks a judge to stop any further work on the natural gas pipeline and specify what the builder must do under the Endangered Species Act. The companies filed a motion for a temporary restraining order Wednesday that included a statement from Beckett describing two occasions when he saw what he believes were ocelots.

But the clearing of about 40 acres of thick native scrub on a 7,000-acre hunting ranch about 100 miles southwest of San Antonio was finished earlier this month despite a warning Beckett’s lawyers sent to Eagle Ford Midstream LP and its parent NET Midstream in August.

The pipeline company had obtained an easement across Beckett’s Herradura Ranch in state court, according to the lawsuit. Beckett Ventures Inc. and Hall of Fame Land Ventures LP claim that they urged the company to choose a shorter, direct path rather than the diagonal swath that was cleared.

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Business Groups Sue SEC Over Dodd-Frank Anti-Bribery Rule

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsFour business groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rule requiring oil, mining and gas companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments.

The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of legal challenges against regulators still struggling to finalize dozens of rules included in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

A key argument in the suit – filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute, and two other groups – is that the SEC failed to adequately weigh the rule’s costs and benefits.

Problems with economic analysis have proven to be a successful tool for the industry in combating prior SEC rules, including its “proxy access” rule that would have empowered shareholders to nominate directors to corporate boards.

“The rule as written would impose enormous costs on U.S. firms and put them at a competitive disadvantage against government-owned oil giants not subject to the rule,” said API Chief Executive Officer Jack Gerard in a statement late Wednesday.

“Not only will the rule hurt the millions of Americans who own shares in oil and natural gas companies, it will also cost jobs and damage America’s energy security by making it more difficult for U.S. firms to gain access to resources abroad.”

SEC spokesman John Nester said the agency is still reviewing the lawsuit, but that the SEC thinks it is on solid legal ground.

“We believe our legal interpretation and economic analysis are sound and we look forward to defending the rule that Congress directed us to write,” Nester said.

The SEC’s resource extraction rule is one of the most controversial Dodd-Frank requirements.

Championed by humanitarian organizations, the rule aims to combat bribery abroad by U.S. energy companies. But industry groups have argued the rule is far too costly and would give rivals sensitive business information.

The challenge to the SEC’s rule is being headed up by Gibson Dunn attorney Eugene Scalia, the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He has a winning-streak in knocking down other SEC regulations, such as the proxy access rule last year.

Late last month, Scalia also helped other trade groups win a court battle against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over another Dodd-Frank rule that would have imposed “position limits” on commodity speculators.

In addition to challenging the rule on the basis of flawed economic analysis, Wednesday’s lawsuit deploys three other legal arguments.

It alleges, for instance, that the SEC “grossly misinterpreted its statutory mandate” in claiming that Dodd-Frank gave the agency no choice but to adopt the rule in the form that it did. The groups say the law only requires companies to provide a “compilation” of the payment data – and not a detailed list of every payment, as the SEC’s final rule calls for.

Scalia used a similar type of argument that helped him win the position limit case last month, after a federal district court judge ruled that the CFTC could not simply claim Dodd-Frank mandated position limits without first showing why they were necessary.

Wednesday’s lawsuit also says the SEC is violating companies’ First Amendment rights because the forced disclosure would be “in violation of their contractual and legal commitments.”

The disclosure required by the rule “does not further the investor protection purposes of the securities laws,” it says.

A First Amendment argument was similarly waged in the battle against proxy access, but the Washington D.C. circuit court did not take it up and based its decision to strike down the rule on the cost-benefit argument.

In addition, the Chamber and API’s case makes use of a legal argument not used in recent challenges to SEC rules – that the agency could have used its discretion to provide an exemption from its rule and failed to consider it. “The commission arbitrarily rejected any exemption from the rule’s disclosure requirements,” the suit says.

The SEC adopted the resource extraction rule in August in a 2-1 vote, with Republican Commissioner Daniel Gallagher voting no and two other commissioners recused from participating. In his dissent, Gallagher said the SEC had failed to determine the benefits of the rule and disregarded the “significant costs” to companies and shareholders.

The other two groups to challenge the rule on Wednesday were the Independent Petroleum Association of America and the National Foreign Trade Council.

The case was filed in both the District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia until it can be determined which court will have jurisdiction to hear the case.

 

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West Virgnia Business Court HQ Opens in Martinsburg

October 12, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The West Virginia Supreme Court’s first division to be located outside Charleston is open for business.

The new business court division’s headquarters opened Wednesday in Martinsburg. The Supreme Court says about 100 people attended the ceremony.

The division will focus on complex issues that arise in commercial litigation, such as contract and shareholder disputes, trade secrets and securities cases. It also will relieve circuit court judges from handling novel or complex issues that they may not be trained to handle.

Court officials said in a news release that the Eastern Panhandle’s growing population and business development were factors in locating the business court division’s headquarters in Martinsburg.

 

 

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Chief Investment Officer Blumer to Step down from Swiss Re Post

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Swiss Re’s Board of Directors has announced that Chief Investment Officer David Blumer has decided to leave the company, effective November 1, 2012. His successor will be announced in due course.

Blumer joined Swiss Re in May 2008 as Head of Asset Management and member of Swiss Re’s Executive Committee. In October 2010 he assumedthe role of Chairman of Admin Re

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Best Revises HDI V.a.G., Talanx ICR Outlook to Positive; Affirms Ratings

Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook of the issuer credit rating (ICR) to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the ICR of

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South Dakota Town Hit Hard by Fires; Damage Costs Top $1.3M

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

As Stephanie Bowers sifted through the charred remains of her mother’s books, she paused and cried. Bowers’ mother, Cheryl Roop, 59, died in a trailer home fire in Mitchell, S.C. early on Sept. 29.

Now living in Missoula, Mont., Bowers drove to Mitchell when she heard about the fire. Family members were able to retrieve some mementos of her mother’s life, which Bowers said has provided some small comfort.

Scenes like that have been all too common this year in Mitchell.

Fires caused an estimated $1,390,876 in property damage in the city through August, already more than five times last year’s total of $254,365, according to monthly reports prepared by the Mitchell Fire Division. In that same time period, the total number of fires, 62, already eclipses last year’s total of 57, the reports say.

And those numbers don’t yet include last month, when two homes were destroyed by fire. Another number not reflected in the reports is the two people who have died in fires this year.

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NHC Tracking TS Oscar; TS Nadine

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The National Hurricane Center in Miami has issued an advisory bulletin for tropical storm Oscar, which is centered about 1245 miles, 2005 km, west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands. Maximum sustained winds are around 40 mph, 65 km/h, with higher gusts.

Oscar is moving toward the north-northwest near 9 mph, 15 km/h, and a “turn toward the north is expected later today, followed by a northeastward acceleration tonight and Friday,” the NHC said. “Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 150 miles, 240 km, to the east of the center.” On the forecast track, Oscar would not pose any threat to land.

The NHC is also continuing to monitor tropical storm Nadine, which, if not a very powerful storm, has proven to be a very long-lived one. It has been churning around the mid Atlantic for almost a month. The NHC released its first advisory bulletin on the storm on September 11.

The latest advisory

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Best Agency to Work For: South Central

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

This year six agencies in all received top honors as a Best Agency to Work For. The Best Agencies to Work For in 2012 include: Bryan Insurance Agency, Graham, Texas; Meyer & Cook Insurance, Walnut Grove, California; Walker Myers Insurance & Risk Management, Austin, Texas; Herbie Wiles Insurance, St. Augustine, Florida; Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, Madison, Wisconsin; American Insurance Services, Clark, New Jersey.

Insurance Journal wishes to thank the many customer service representatives, account executives, producers, managers and other agency staff who took the time to nominate their independent insurance agency in this year’s survey.

Right People, Right Fit Makes a Great PlaceAustin, Texas
Walker Myers Insurance

Starting a new business in a healthy economy is a challenge. Starting a new business

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United Heartland Names Hobbs VP of Claims and Managed Care

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

United Heartland, based in New Berlin, Wis., has appointed Rick Hobbs as vice president of Claims and Managed Care.

Hobbs joined United Heartland’s executive team and is responsible for creating, implementing, and monitoring the strategic direction and executing operational plans for continual improvement to the United Heartland Claims department. His main focus will be on field claims and supporting United Heartland policyholders and agents.

Hobbs has 25 years of commercial casualty insurance experience in claims, underwriting and loss control with Wausau Insurance and Liberty Mutual Insurance Cos., serving 20 of those years in claims leadership roles.

Hobbs has earned the Charter Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU); Associate in Claims (AIC) and Associate in Management (AIM) designations.

Source: United Heartland

 

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Surplus Lines: Regulators Vetting of Alien Nonadmitted Insurers

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a non-profit entity that acts as the trade association for state insurance commissioners.

Although the NAIC may play a central role in regulation of the insurance industry, it nonetheless is a private organization that has no apparent governmental or other legal immunity from suit or liability for negligent acts or omissions associated with performance of regulatory functions.

Pursuant to Section 524(2) of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA), the Congress delegated to the NAIC responsibility for determining whether an alien insurer (i.e., an insurer domiciled outside the United States) qualifies to accept risks from a licensed surplus lines broker.

A State may not –

prohibit a surplus lines broker from placing nonadmitted insurance with, or procuring nonadmitted insurance from, a nonadmitted insurer domiciled outside the United States that is listed on the Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers maintained by the International Insurers Department of the NAIC.

As a matter of federal law, the NAIC therefore is vested with the role of gatekeeper to protect the nation’s consuming public from the risk of insolvency — or outright fraud — by insurers domiciled outside the United States.

Infamous frauds not so long ago by the likes of Alan Teal and Carlos Miros, among others, as well as gross mismanagement in yet other cases, led to multiple insurer insolvencies of nonadmitted insurers during the 1970s and 1980s. Transit, Mission, and Mutual Fire are a few that come to mind. Without guaranty association coverage, untold millions of dollars of policyholder claims went unpaid.

What happens if the NAIC fails to detect obvious patterns of failures to pay claims, disregards red flags signaling material financial deterioration, or overlooks outright fraud? Is the NAIC effectively a financial guarantor for having vetted alien insurers?

Surplus lines brokers ultimately are responsible for the security of alien insurers with whom they place business. Nothing in the NRRA provides any immunity for failure to discharge that obligation simply because an alien insurer appears on the NAIC’s approved list.

Nonetheless, in assessing the quality of security, surplus lines brokers, risk managers, and the public rely heavily on any approval that carries indicia of regulatory imprimatur, in this case the NAIC Quarterly Listing of Alien Insurers.

But is the NAIC up to the task to protecting the consuming public from the risk of dealing with unscrupulous insurers beyond the reach of U.S. regulatory jurisdiction?

Prior to the NRRA, state regulators could take or leave the NAIC’s approval of alien insurers. Now that the NAIC is the gatekeeper, how is it going to accomplish this critical task?

For more than two decades active cooperation and market surveillance by and among state regulators, surplus lines stamping offices, and industry groups has kept the bad guys out.

Although the NRRA changed the rules for taxation and regulation of surplus lines transactions, Congress never contemplated that fraudsters posing as insurers domiciled on some atoll in the middle of the Pacific would be quick to exploit NRRA transitional cracks.

Under the NRRA, the NAIC is charged with making sure that does not happen.

There is no lack of financial data. The NAIC already receives ample annual and quarterly data to evaluate the financial bona fides of alien insurers. Necessary but not sufficient.

To effectively protect the public, two key pieces are missing.

The first is the seasoned expertise of senior insurance regulatory personnel who have dealt with problems involving nonadmitted insurers on a day-to-day basis. Over the years, regulatory staff at the larger insurance departments developed their own informal network for information exchange whenever apparent bad actors came to their attention. They did not simply await quarterly or annual financial reports.

Equally if not more important is the second missing piece.

Surplus lines stamping offices, industry trade organizations such as the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) and the American Association of Managing General Agencies (AAMGA), and well-regarded industry leaders have served as an informal market surveillance network to regulators for decades. The latter in particular know the alien insurer players throughout the world and are well-informed about what is happening in the market on a real-time basis. That is their business.

By enacting the NRRA, Congress did not intend to mothball the market surveillance resources that have been so effective in protecting the consuming public from fraudulent offshore insurance operations.

The state insurance commissioners control the NAIC. They have a duty to ensure that their trade organization draws fully on the resources and expertise of state insurance departments, stamping offices, and industry. Congress took it as a given that they would.

Simple regulatory prudence should dictate that the resources and expertise represented by seasoned insurance regulatory personnel and the industry network be deployed sooner rather than later.

No one wants a replay of the era that ushered even Lloyd’s to the brink of extinction only 20 years ago.

Brown is an insurance regulatory attorney who has authored previous articles about the NRRA and its implementation, and made presentations on the topic to industry groups. He regularly represents surplus lines brokers, insurers, and industry organizations in a variety of surplus lines and other regulatory matters. Brown can be contacted at RAB

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