Prior to beginning his full-time mediation and arbitration practice, Nick DiGiovanni was the Chairman of Chicago-based Locke Lord’s Reinsurance and Insurance Litigation Groups, which includes more than 40 lawyers nationally and internationally.
He has more than 35 years of experience in commercial litigation, concentrating in reinsurance and insurance-related issues. His practice and experience involve national and international reinsurance and commercial disputes across all lines of business in litigation, arbitration, insolvency and rehabilitation proceedings. His clients include many of the world’s major insurance and reinsurance companies in their roles as ceding companies, reinsurers and retrocessionaires.
As a litigator and trial attorney, Mr DiGiovanni has significant experience in defending insurers and reinsurers in arbitrations, jury and non-jury cases in the areas of:
- Professional malpractice
- E&O
- Breach of representations and warranties
- M&A and stock and asset purchase agreements
- Yearly renewable term life reinsurance
- Asbestos, pollution and health hazard risks
- Late notice
- Aggregation and accumulation of mass tort claims
- Directors and officers liability
- OFAC economic sanctions
- Life insurance insolvency actions
- Anti-Terrorism Act
- Catastrophe treaties and bonds
- Energy claims
- Professional liability
- Bad faith actions
- Cyber security issues
- Regulatory challenges under state insurance laws
The issues involved in these disputes include, among others, claims or fraud, rescission, scope of coverage, treaty interpretation, reformation, bad faith, punitive damages, extra-contractual obligations, XPO claims and scope of arbitration clauses.
Mr DiGiovanni has handled matters involving all forms of insurance and reinsurance agreements and entities, including:
- Facultative certificates
- MGA agreements
- Surety bonds
- Yearly renewable term life treaties
- Reinsurance
- Syndicates
- Mutual companies
- Captive insurers
- Cut-through endorsements
- Commutations and recaptures
- Reciprocal companies
- Health care organizations
He has litigated some of the largest and most important insurance and reinsurance disputes in recent history, including:
- Representing a major health care insurer in collecting damages in a $300 million dispute in Texas regarding the sale of two HMOs. The issues included valuation of reserves and the application of actuarial and accounting principles as they relate to the health care industry
- Representing numerous life reinsurance companies regarding rate disputes involving yearly renewable term treaties
- Defending the London market in connection with disputes involving a captive insurance company and over $1.5 billion in environmental and health hazard claims. The case was litigated in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, Northern District of New York, the Supreme Court of Bermuda and House of Lords in London
- Representing a life reinsurance company in a case of first impression regarding YRT Treaty Rate increases
- Representing a large international reinsurer in collecting $45 million of amounts due under a quota share treaty reinsuring Argentinean Pension Fund business
- Prosecuting a case for a major U.S. reinsurance company with respect to claims of rescission on $40 million of retrocessional coverage relating to a small group medical quota share treaty
- Defending a major U.S. life reinsurer in a $30 million dispute regarding contract interpretation of recapture provisions
- Representing an international property and casualty reinsurer concerning large catastrophe losses associated with Hurricane Katrina
- Obtaining a $12 million rescission judgment for a large international property and casualty reinsurer
- Representing a large international insurer and reinsurer regarding aggregation of COVID-19 related losses
- Acting as National Coordinating Counsel for a large U.S. insurer with respect to workers compensation claims related to COVID-19
- Represented a U.S. bond insurer regarding a $25 million dispute with the Department of Justice regarding immigration and bail bonds
- Represented a large U.S. reinsurer regarding surety bond disputes
Mr DiGiovanni has also participated in a host of seminars, lectured on numerous topics related to reinsurance disputes, presented a mock reinsurance arbitration before the American Bar Association annual meeting, and has written and lectured on numerous topics, including arbitration, trial practice and procedure, trial ethics and insurance and reinsurance coverage issues. Mr DiGiovanni has been a consultant on many industry-wide projects, including the drafting of proposed model arbitration clauses. He is actively involved in the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society.
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