EXCESS, SURPLUS LINES AND REINSURANCE
(ESLR)
Fall 2001

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View From the Chair

By: Linda M. Lasley, Excess, Surplus Lines & Reinsurance Committee

  As I sat down to write this, my first message to you as Chair of ESLR, I was struck by how many things that seemed so important to all of us on September 10 had somehow faded into the background of our current concerns and, yes, fears. However, a number of the traits that have characterized the best in the legal profession remain, and indeed, have come to the forefront.

  Among these is the desire to become involved, to “make a difference.” One of the most impressive recent examples of this is the nonprofit organization, Trial Lawyers Care, formed by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America to organize volunteer lawyers who will represent claimants against the federal victims’ compensation fund created last month by Congress to help the families of those injured or killed in the September 11 attacks. As of this writing, over 1,000 ATLA members, working in conjunction with the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (many of the members of both organizations are also TIPS members), have volunteered their time, which may well amount to some 200 hours per case, making this the largest single pro bono legal services program ever established. This is the kind of behavior that truly reflects the best that the legal profession has to offer, and one to which all of us should aspire.

  And it’s not only the trial lawyers who have gotten involved. Corporate and regulatory counsel, working through state and local bar associations, have also stepped up to staff hotlines to guide families of the victims, as well as others more indirectly affected by the attacks, in filing insurance claims and applying for unemployment and other benefits. Various committees within TIPS have begun the process of identifying issues of insurance coverage that may arise as a result of the attacks, and are providing input through the Emerging Issues Committee. Nor can we fail to mention the insurers themselves, who immediately dispatched claims personnel to lower Manhattan, and began issuing checks on the spot to business owners and residents displaced by the attacks.

  In some ways, it’s easier to mobilize people in response to issues of such universal concern as the fallout from September 11. However, on a more prosaic level, ESLR members, who include both plaintiff and defense counsel,working in private firms, insurers and trade associations, have labored over the past several years to develop partnerships between ESLR and other organizations with common interests. A prime example is the close relationship that has developed between ESLR and ARIAS, the international reinsurance arbitration society. ESLR co-sponsored a two-day conference held in conjunction with ARIAS’ annual meeting in New York on November 8-9, which addressed the question of “What Every Arbitrator Should Know About Evidence.” The program was open to anyone with an interest in the topic, and consisted of general sessions, as well as interactive breakouts, in which attorneys representing both cedents and reinsurers discussed various evidentiary issues that may arise in the arbitration setting through the examination of witnesses on a common fact pattern.

  The ARIAS/ESLR conference is only the beginning of what promises to be a year full of interaction between ESLR and a whole host of organizations, some of which we have partnered with before, and some of which will be new. This is but one of the many ways in which your Committee is working to provide value to you, its members. But, in the end, it is the members, not Committee leadership that will determine if ESLR makes a difference in your practice. As Chair, I will be calling upon members to get involved, whether by participating in educational programs, contributing to this newsletter, or identifying other opportunities for partnership between the Committee and the industry in which we all have an interest. With the momentum provided by my immediate predecessors and a lot of help from all of you, I look forward to a year of positive involvement and continued professional growth for all of ESLR.

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