Overview
(July 25, 2023 New York) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP has expanded its top-tier Insurance and Reinsurance practice with the addition of partner Michele Jacobson, senior counsel Robert Lewin, and counsels Beth Clark, Michele (Shelli) Pahmer, and Lisa Pach. The team joins Steptoe's New York and Chicago offices.
"Steptoe has long had one of the most prominent insurance coverage practices in the nation," said Steptoe Chair Gwen Renigar. "Michele and Bob's team has an equally strong practice and reputation, especially in reinsurance, and combining forces creates formidable litigation teams. I am thrilled that they’ve decided to join our firm."
Over the past two years, Steptoe's Insurance and Reinsurance Practice has handled a number of significant matters including serving as The Hartford's and W.R. Berkley's national coordinating counsel for COVID-19 business interruption lawsuits, and representing one of three insurers in an insurance recovery litigation brought by billionaire Ronald O. Perelman for five paintings.
Michele Jacobson's practice concentrates on complex insurance and reinsurance matters, using her deep knowledge of the industry to counsel a diverse array of companies in litigating and preventing disputes. She has represented clients in high-stakes reinsurance and insurance disputes, both in court and in arbitration proceedings nationwide, relating to diverse areas such as life, asbestos and environmental, business interruption, surety and financial guarantee, workers compensation, broker negligence and MGA disputes. Michele also counsels clients in insurance regulatory matters, and represents them in contentious regulatory proceedings. Michele's strategic approach to litigation and dispute resolution has helped clients save and recover hundreds of millions of dollars.
Robert Lewin represents insurers and reinsurers in complex, high-profile disputes. Over the years he has handled litigations, arbitrations and appeals involving virtually all insurance products, including life, annuities, property and casualty, workers compensation, environmental, pollution liability, financial guarantee and surety bonds. He represents clients in regulatory matters, including contentious proceedings in the reinsurance area. He has worked with cedents, reinsurers, retrocessionaires, pool members, intermediaries and liquidators in hundreds of disputes. He also has been appointed by arbitrators as special master to oversee discovery disputes.
Michele and Bob have served as lead counsel with respect to industry-significant reinsurance claims such as COVID-19 business interruption and workers compensation claims; California wildfires disputes; 9/11 (World Trade Center); life reinsurance yearly renewable term rate increase disputes; financial crisis reinsurance disputes; Kiwanis Club molestation claims; Hurricane Katrina; and Enron.
Beth Clark's practice focuses on complex reinsurance and insurance litigation and arbitration. Beth has represented cedents, reinsurers, retrocessionaires, intermediaries and liquidators in a wide variety of matters in federal and state court and before arbitration panels. These disputes have involved areas such as the bad faith exception to the late notice/prejudice rule, allocation of asbestos and environmental pollution losses; misrepresentations in connection with the placement of reinsurance and retrocessional agreements; the protection afforded under reinsurance and retrocessional agreements; the accumulation of loss under both property and casualty reinsurance contracts; standards of conduct applicable to ceding companies in dealing with reinsurers; disputes with program managers; and broker negligence. She has also represented ceding companies in connection with their efforts to review and revise contract terms to ensure they have received the protections desired and avoid future disputes.
Shelli Pahmer practices in a wide range of litigation areas, including insurance, reinsurance, securities fraud, employment discrimination, civil RICO, bankruptcy and other general commercial litigations. She has represented defendants, or groups of defendants, in class and individual actions and has tried jury and non-jury cases in federal and state court.
Lisa Pach's practice includes all lines of insurance including first-party and third-party coverage and bad-faith claim handling issues. Through the years, Lisa has represented clients on construction defect, environmental contamination, mass tort, abuse, professional lines, health care, long-term care, standard lines, advertising and personal injury, uninsured motorist and first-party property matters. She has extensive experience in client, third-party depositions, drafting and arguing contested and dispositive motions, and participating in mediation and settlement conferences.
Michele commented: "Steptoe is widely recognized as having one of the country's top-tier insurer-side litigation practices and that was a significant draw to me and my colleagues when considering where to go next in developing our practices. With its significant depth and leading presence, the Steptoe team has achieved extraordinary results for insurers and we look forward to drawing on all the resources and insights the firm has to offer."
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
The diversity of the firm is a critical factor in its success. The firm’s Chair is a woman; the majority of the firm’s elected executive committee is female; the majority of Steptoe's nine offices are managed by women; and the majority of Steptoe’s practice groups have women as leaders. The firm's six-person professional business services leadership is equally diverse, with two women of color, and other leaders who openly identify as LGBTQ+.
