IRI Litigation Summit Speakers

Transcription

1 IRI Litigation Summit Speakers Litigation Summit Moderators: Markham Leventhal Markham R. Leventhal is a litigation partner at with a national practice focusing on the defense of financial institutions, insurers, and business interests in complex federal and state litigation. Mr. Leventhal is frequently called upon to defend national and state class actions and other high exposure cases involving allegations of fraud, inadequate disclosure, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, regulatory violations, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, violations of RICO, TILA, ERISA, antitrust statutes, and state consumer protection laws. His litigation experience extends to reinsurance litigation, securities litigation, unfair competition, intellectual property matters, arbitration, and federal and state court appeals. Mr. Leventhal has litigated in federal and state courts across the United States, and has defended over 150 class actions. He has served as lead or national coordinating counsel in multiple jurisdictions including New York, New Jersey, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas. He has assisted clients in managing complex litigation, multijurisdictional litigation, including MDL proceedings, and parallel civil and regulatory proceedings. Mr. Leventhal is a veteran appellate practitioner known for his legal writing and technical skills. He has served as lead counsel in appellate matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, and state appellate courts throughout the country. Mr. Leventhal is the chair of the firm s National Trial Practice Team. Phillip E. Stano Phillip Stano is a partner in Sutherland s Financial Services Litigation Practice Group. He focuses his practice on class action, market conduct and financial services litigation. Mr. Stano is heavily involved in counseling insurers on all major regulatory and litigation issues and government relations. He is currently lead counsel in dozens of class action and other cases in state and federal courts nationwide. Mr. Stano regularly represents annuity, life, long term care, health, title, and property and casualty insurers in complex litigation. He previously served as chief litigation counsel at the American Council of

2 Life Insurers (ACLI), where he filed more than 350 briefs on significant issues affecting insurers marketing life, annuity, disability, long term care and health insurance products. Beyond litigation responsibilities, Mr. Stano organized and directed ACLI s class action, state tort/judicial reform, insurer legal privileges, arbitration and insurance anti fraud legislative reform efforts. Prior to ACLI, he was Assistant Attorney General and General Counsel of the Alabama Insurance Department, where he litigated numerous civil matters at the trial and appellate levels. He has extensive experience in insurer rehabilitation and liquidation proceedings and is presently Special Deputy Receiver of a company in liquidation. Mr. Stano is a frequent speaker on insurance matters. He has published numerous insurance articles and has lectured before the America s Health Insurance Plans, American Bar Association, American Council of Life Insurers, Association of Life Insurance Counsel, Insured Retirement Institute, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations. Litigation Summit Panelists: Wilson G. Barmeyer Associate Wilson Barmeyer is an associate in Sutherland s Financial Services Litigation Practice Group. He focuses his practice on complex business litigation and class action defense, primarily involving financial services, insurance, ERISA, and consumer finance. Mr. Barmeyer has represented clients in the life insurance industry on issues such as retained asset accounts, cost of insurance, and long term care insurance, and is currently counseling clients on unclaimed property audits and related market conduct examinations. He is representing several life insurers in unclaimed property litigation pending in West Virginia. In other recent matters, Mr Barmeyer successfully defeated class certification in a multi million dollar putative class action filed in California federal court against a national consumer finance company, and successfully challenged a controversial audit methodology being used by several states in state tax audits. He has published frequently on the enforceability of arbitration provisions and has secured several federal court rulings upholding the validity of arbitration provisions within various agreements. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Barmeyer served as a law clerk for the Honorable William T. Moore, Jr. of the Southern District of Georgia. Thomas W. Cuvin Tom Curvin is a litigation partner at Sutherland and the leader of the litigation practice group in Atlanta. He joined Sutherland in 1994, after a clerkship with U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Florida. At Sutherland, Mr. Curvin focuses on business litigation, with emphasis on class action defense, insurance coverage and extra contractual litigation, and professional liability defense. In the class action area, he has defended insurance and consumer credit companies in class actions involving sales practices, underwriting, claims handling, and reinsurance, in federal and state courts, at the trial and

3 appellate level. In recent years, Mr. Curvin has served as lead counsel in successful appeals in the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits and the Supreme Courts of Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Mr. Curvin also is a frequent speaker and writer on attorney ethics, professional liability, attorney client privilege, and expert witnesses. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America and is recognized by Chambers USA: Guide to Leading Business Lawyers in the area of litigation / general commercial. Mr. Curvin is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Miami. Rolland C. Goss Rollie Goss, partner in the Washington, DC office of, and chair of the firm's Reinsurance Industry Group, specializes in reinsurance disputes, reinsurance transactional counseling and the defense of class actions and other complex litigation and arbitration matters. He has been responsible for the arbitration and litigation of reinsurance issues relating to life, property and workers' compensation risks and disputes involving reinsurance brokers, U.S. risks, London market risks and Bermuda domiciled reinsurers. Mr. Goss had a lead role representing a major life insurance company in the preparation and trial of a major insurance market conduct class action lawsuit and represented a major life insurance company in a thirty seven state collaborative market conduct examination of its deferred annuity business. He also specializes in the settlement of class action lawsuits and multistate regulatory matters. Mr. Goss has counseled clients on reinsurance strategies and a range of reinsurance transactional issues, represented the ceding insurer to the largest fully collateralized reinsurance catastrophe bond ever marketed, and created and is the blogmaster of Reinsurance Focus, an award winning Internet blog focusing on reinsurance and arbitration matters. Mr. Goss has written and lectured extensively on reinsurance issues and on electronic discovery issues, and is well versed and experienced with alternative methods of computerized support for our complex litigation and arbitration matters. He is a regular contributing editor to Harris Martin's Reinsurance on line and print newsletter, and is a member of the Editorial Board of West's Insurance Coverage Litigation Reporter. He has been active in Jorden Burt's pro bono program, handling foster care and adoption matters. Stephen Jorden Stephen Jorden is a partner in Jorden Burt s Connecticut office and co chair of the firm s National Trial Practice Team. His practice covers a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters involving insurers and other financial institutions. Mr. Jorden has extensive experience representing insurers and other financial institutions in a variety of complex matters, including major market conduct class actions, commercial contract litigation, and consumer fraud cases. Over the last 7 years he has been heavily involved in significant and high stakes

4 market conduct class action litigation involving annuity sales. More recently, he also has been involved in litigation over cost of insurance rate adjustments. Mr. Jorden also has substantial experience with appellate litigation and matters before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. He frequently represents clients pursuing and defending claims brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Mr. Jorden has represented clients in multistate and individual state regulatory investigations and proceedings. He also has represented U.S. and foreign clients in a variety of transnational disputes W. Glenn Merten Glenn Merten is a partner in Jorden Burt s Washington, DC office, where he is the Vice Chair of the Health Care Industry Group, and Co Chair of the Employment and ERISA Practice Team. He represents insurance carriers, financial institutions and other corporate clients in a wide range of matters, including complex litigation and class actions, administrative investigations, enforcement actions and compliance issues. Mr. Merten has extensive experience in litigation involving consumer fraud claims, suitability determinations, bad faith claims, sales practices issues, bankruptcy proceedings, claims of unfair trade practices, all manner of statutory and regulatory violations, and appellate proceedings. He also has substantial experience in employment litigation, life, health and disability disputes under ERISA, multidistrict consolidation proceedings, negotiating and memorializing employment agreements, antitrust issues, FINRA arbitrations, and settling disputes through alternative dispute resolution. In addition to his litigation experience, Mr. Merten has extensive experience in state administrative proceedings and investigations. He has guided clients through market conduct examinations, state attorney general investigations, civil investigative demands, Congressional subpoenas, and insurance department investigations. In addition, he has represented insurance companies in numerous administrative hearings involving customer complaints. S. Lawrence Polk Larry Polk, who serves with Sutherland s Litigation Practice Group, represents broker dealers, banks and accountants, and concentrates his practice in the areas of securities litigation, securities arbitration, professional liability litigation, commercial litigation and Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions. He has spoken at numerous seminars on securities and sales practice issues, including issues arising from the structured finance and subprime markets. In connection with his securities litigation practice, Mr. Polk represents officers, registered representatives, investment advisors, banks, and broker dealers in a wide variety of proceedings in state and federal courts and before self regulatory organizations such as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He defends claims arising from transactions in a number of investment vehicles, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, variable products, foreign currencies, and structured finance products.

5 Mr. Polk defends dealers in actions arising from the sale of debt and equity derivative products. He defends class actions filed against banks, accounting firms, underwriters and corporate officers. Over the past 30 years, Mr. Polk has tried numerous cases through award or verdict, and he has defended individuals and firms in dozens of FINRA arbitrations throughout the country involving sales practice issues. His experience in regulatory matters includes representing broker dealers and individuals in enforcement proceedings, advising clients, and performing special compliance audits. Brian L. Rubin Brian Rubin heads Sutherland s Securities Enforcement and White Collar Litigation Practice Team. He represents broker dealers, investment advisers, investment companies, public companies and individuals being examined, investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and states. He also represents securities clients in litigation and arbitration, and counsels them on regulatory and compliance matters. In addition, Mr. Rubin conducts internal investigations. Recently, he represented firms and individuals on matters involving variable annuities sales practice and supervision, non traded real estate investment trusts (REIT), mutual funds, advertisements, retention, markups/markdowns, Ponzi schemes, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and sales to seniors. Before joining Sutherland, Mr. Rubin was Deputy Chief Counsel with the NASD s Enforcement Department, where he managed attorneys and examiners in the Washington, D.C., home office and in the district offices. Previously, he was Senior Counsel in the SEC s Division of Enforcement, where he investigated and prosecuted violations of federal securities laws. Mr. Rubin has been named to The Best Lawyers in America in litigation, for the categories of both securities and securities regulation, and he was selected for inclusion in Washington, D.C., Super Lawyers in the area of securities litigation. He received his JD and an MA in Economics from Duke University and his BS, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania s Wharton School of Business. Mark Smith Since 1981, Mark Smith, an attorney with, has advised clients on (ERISA), tax and other issues related to retirement, executive compensation, insurance and other employee benefits plans. He is engaged on behalf of insurance companies, broker dealers, investment advisers and managers, banks, consulting firms, other service providers and plan sponsors for a wide range of consulting, transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. He is also proficient in the taxation of corporate and nonqualified insurance products, including corporate and bank owned life insurance (COLI/BOLI) policies.

6 From 1999 to 2007, Mr. Smith serves as partner in charge of Sutherland s Washington, D.C. office and firm wide Executives. Before joining the firm, Mr. Smith clerked for then Chief Judge Clement Haynsworth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Noah Sorkin General Counsel AIG Advisor Group Noah Sorkin serves as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Advisor Group as of April His is responsible for managing all legal and regulatory functions impacting the independent broker dealers of Advisor Group. He joined Advisor Group from Fidelity National Financial, Inc. where he served as Senior Vice President, with responsibility for supervising all litigation matters and regulatory investigations involving the firm s direct operations and independent agents. Mr. Sorkin began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney with the King s County District Attorney s Office in Brooklyn, New York, as Senior Trial Counsel, prosecuting felony cases. He then joined Prudential Financial, Inc. where he assumed additional responsibility and was named Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President. At Prudential, Mr. Sorkin managed a geographically diverse group of legal professionals and was instrumental in guiding the company through numerous regulatory settlements. He also worked with regulators and sales professionals in coordinating the implementation of new processes. Following Wachovia s merger with Prudential Securities Division, Mr. Sorkin joined Oppenheimer & Company, Inc., a full service broker dealer and investment advisory organization, where he served as Deputy General Counsel and Director of Litigation. Mr. Sorkin received his B.A. from Connecticut College in 1979, his J.D. degree from George Washington University National Law Center in 1982 and his LL.M in Taxation from New York University School of Law in He and his wife Stephanie live in Chappaqua, NY with their two children, Dana and Matthew. Steuart H. Thomsen Steuart Thomsen, the Washington D.C. Office Leader of Sutherland s Litigation Practice Group, focuses his practice on complex business litigation, in a wide variety of matters in federal and state courts. Mr. Thomsen has represented and counseled clients, including many in the financial services industry, in connection with insurance litigation, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation, class actions, unclaimed property issues, retained asset accounts, tax litigation, intellectual property litigation (including at the International Trade Commission), false advertising claims, contract and other commercial disputes, securities fraud cases and Administrative Procedure Act challenges. He also advises clients during the prelitigation phase of disputes in an effort to avoid or prepare for potential litigation. Steuart speaks and writes on litigation and ethics issues and serves as Vice Chair of the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee as well as on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the

7 Council for Court Excellence. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Thomsen served as a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph H. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Michael Valerio Since joining Jorden Burt, Michael Valerio has focused his practice on the representation of insurance companies, broker dealers, and other financial services industry clients in complex litigation, arbitration, and regulatory enforcement matters. Current litigation engagements in which Mr. Valerio is substantially involved include the defense of an annuity issuer in nationwide RICO and state unfair trade practices class action litigation relating to sales of deferred annuity products, and the representation of a private placement variable life insurance provider in individual and class action matters relating to alleged losses attributable to Madoff feeder fund investments. Mr. Valerio also regularly represents industry groups as amicus curiae in appellate litigation involving class certification, ERISA, and other issues of significance to the financial services sector. Over the course of his career, Mr. Valerio's litigation management, trial, and arbitration experience has encompassed many areas, including class actions and individual claims involving the sale of life insurance, annuity, mutual fund, and retirement products, ERISA, securities fraud, consumer fraud, unfair trade practices, misappropriation of trade secrets, thrift institutions, insurance coverage, brokerdealer and investment related disputes and investigations, professional liability, product liability, general commercial disputes, and government contract claims and civil fraud matters. Earlier in his career, Mr. Valerio was an in house complex litigation and investigations counsel for a major international telecommunications provider, where he handled domestic and international disputes among and between telecommunications providers and commercial customers, as well as securities, antitrust, and other competitive and regulatory matters involving the industry.