Reinsurance Team Obtains Summary Judgment in Asbestos Bodily Injury Reinsurance Arbitration

The reinsurance team of Anthony Gambardella, Peter McNamara and Jay Kenigsberg obtained summary judgment in a reinsurance arbitration filed by the cedent petitioner against our client, the reinsurer, seeking recovery in connection with thousands of asbestos bodily injury claims.

The cedent argued that it was entitled to recover at a rate in excess of the reinsurance treaty language because it had consistently applied a “long standing” billing methodology when billing quota share reinsurers.  Through depositions, we established that petitioner misinterpreted and misapplied complicated Loss Payable provisions of the reinsurance treaty.  The extensive summary judgment briefings submitted by both parties addressed matters of reinsurance contract construction, custom and practice in the industry, the course of dealing between the cedent and our reinsurer client over the course of more than a decade, and the relationship of the reinsurance treaty to the insured’s reinsurance program.

Following a full day of argument, the Panel granted our client’s motion in its entirety, bringing this hotly contested reinsurance dispute to a conclusion and avoiding a costly hearing before the Panel that was scheduled to commence following the ruling.  Although summary judgment is rarely granted in a reinsurance arbitration, this marks the third such ruling for our reinsurance team.